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Steve Bloomer in the static studio pose which is well known. Far less exposed are the two moving images of Bloomer which survive on film

STEVE BLOOMER is considered the greatest ever football player to represent Derby County.

Although it has been written that 'no film of Bloomer survives' this is not the case. In fact there are two known clips.

The first shows Bloomer leading out the Rams at Newcastle United for an FA Cup tie played on 13 March 1911. The date proved an unlucky one in two ways. Derby County were defeated 4-0 and Bloomer appeared to suffer stage fright in the presence of the newsreel cameras! When the ball was tapped to him straight from the kick-off he immediately passed it to an opponent. Unfortunately this is the only known action footage of Bloomer. It is included in a VHS video entitled 'Derby - A People's History' which was first published several years ago.

The second clip shows Bloomer in civvies leaving Liverpool on 4 May 1922 on board the Canadian Pacific liner Minnedosa. He was about to embark for a summer coaching engagement in Canada, where he took charge of the Canadian army football team called the Grenadier Guards, based in Montreal.

The 35 second black and white silent footage was shot as a Pathe Newsreel. For those with a suitable PC, it may be viewed free of charge by visiting the appropriate website. Just follow the steps below.

1. Visit www.itnsource.com

2. At the right of the home page under the 'Dig deeper into our archive' heading click on British Pathe

3. When the British Pathe page comes up, enter "Steve Bloomer" in the search box.

4. One result will come up. Click on the yellow highlighted 'Steve Bloomer' icon.

5. This brings up full details of the film. Simply click on the 'view this story' icon to see Bloomer come to life!

Kinematograph cameras were known to have taken footage of several games in which Bloomer played, but no further surviving footage is known at the present time.

If any You&Yesterday users know of further film or sound recordings featuring Steve Bloomer we would like to hear from you.

Meanwhile, instead of 'Steve Bloomer's Watching' it can now be a case of 'Steve Bloomer...we are watching you'!

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County:  Derbyshire

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