County Durham-based West Auckland’s claim to immortality came after the original invitation to the inaugural competition was offered to the English Football Association, which was asked to nominate a team, but they declined.

Tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton, who provided the trophy, insisted that Great Britain was represented and it is thought that an employee of his recommended West Auckland.

The team was in the Northern League but it funded its own trip to Italy to represent Great Britain, where it won the trophy without conceding a goal, beating FC Winterthur of Switzerland 2-0 in the final on April 12, 1909.

Two years later they returned to Turin and beat Juventus 6-1 to win the Sir Thomas Lipton trophy outright.