Amateurs take on Italian giants

The West Auckland players won the cup in 1909

An amateur football team from County Durham is taking on Italian giants Juventus in a celebration game.

West Auckland has made the journey to Italy to mark the centenary of its winning the first world cup, then known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy.

The club successfully defended the title two years later with a famous 6-1 victory over Juventus.

A £10,000 donation from the Football Association enabled the squad to travel to Turin for the game.

The Italian side are expected to field an under-19 side.

In 1909, Sir Thomas Lipton, a millionaire philanthropist, commissioned the trophy for the competition, which featured sides from the host country as well as Germany, Switzerland and Great Britain.

The West Auckland team, which was made up of mainly local coal miners, beat Stuttgart of Germany in the opening round and went on to beat Winterthur of Switzerland 2-0 in the inaugural final.

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