
The Dubonnet Cup was an invitational
English football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
exhibition cup game held between 1910 and 1912 and played in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
The game was an annual event the aim of which was to generate interest in the French amateur football leagues and helped lead to the establishment of the
French Football Federation
The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...
.
Trophy
The cup is a large vase trophy
which weighs in at approximately .
As the ''
Swindon Advertiser
The ''Swindon Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had an audited average daily circulation at the end of 2017 of 8,828.
It claims to have been the UK's first provincial 'penn ...
'' reported, following
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded as Swindon A ...
's victory in 1910:
:"It is of massive design, weighing nearly a
hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...
1kg and its style is distinctly French. It is not, perhaps, so attractive and polished a trophy as one might have expected, and when the players themselves first saw it displayed on the Paris ground, and guarded by a
Gendarme
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...
with drawn sword! they did not (in the words of the popular Secretary) think much of it. But a close inspection is sufficient to show that it is a beautiful work of art. It is a facsimile of an historic cup which is now in
the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
."
In the years that followed, the trophy resided at the Swindon Town clubhouse, until it was lost in 1992. By 1997, it was back in the Town fold.
Finals
Swindon Town and
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
were invited to compete for the cup following both teams' performances in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
of
1910
Events
January
* January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military.
* January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...
. Swindon and Barnsley both lost to the eventual winners
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
, Swindon in the Semi-final and Barnsley being Runners-up.
Both clubs sent full-strength teams to Paris for the competition,
and played with the cup being guarded at the pitch side.
Harold Fleming scored both of Swindon's goals
with Lilycroft scoring for Barnsley.
:"The Frenchmen seem to have been highly delighted with the match, which was not in any sense a 'holiday game.' Barnsley played vigorous football, but completely lost their heads towards the finish, when the Town led by 2–1, especially after Boyle had missed a
penalty
Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to:
Sports
* Foul (sports)
** Penalty (golf)
** Penalty (gridiron football)
** Penalty (ice hockey)
** Penalty (rugby)
** Penalty (rugby union)
** Penalty kick (assoc ...
. The kick was given against Tout for handling, but Boyle shot straight into Skiller's hands."
:"The five thousand spectators who, in spite of the rain, witnessed the Swindon-Barnsley match were able to say that they had seen a really good game of Association football. For an hour and a half it was a typical representation of the English national game. It was not an exhibition of football; it was a well-fought game. If it was possible to describe such an encounter, we should do it, because it was an admirable education for our players, who have seen how far one is able to go in the art of playing football. It gave great satisfaction to the French amateurs"
:"Mr Allen, the Swindon secretary, did not hide from me, after the match, the pleasure it gave him to take this magnificent Cup back to Swindon. Boyle, the efficient Barnsley captain, could not conceal his disappointment of not winning the Cup."
Swindon went on to become Runners-up in the
following season's
Charity Shield match versus
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
.
On 7 May 1911
Clapton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...
beat
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
3–0 to win the Dubonnet Cup with goals from Fred Parker,
George Scott and Phil Prior before 12,000 Paris fans.
Swindon and Barnsley met again in the
FA Cup semi-final of
1911–12 with Barnsley winning a
replay 1–0.
Barnsley went on to win the competition.
References
Swindon Town F.C.
Barnsley F.C.
Leyton Orient F.C.
Defunct football cup competitions in England
1909–10 in English football
1910–11 in English football
1911–12 in English football
{{Fulham F.C. matches