A competition celebrating the life of a Kent football pioneer takes place this weekend.
The final of the inaugural Isaac Newell Trophy will be played at Chatham Town’s Bauvill Stadium on Sunday, May 26 when Rainham Kenilworth take on Riverside.
Strood-born Isaac Newell travelled to Argentina as a 16-year-old and founded Newell’s Old Boys, a football club that went on to win six national titles and produce some of the world’s greatest players, including Lionel Messi.
The Rochester & District League took up the invitation by Medway Sport to run the inaugural trophy competition and what makes it more special is that the agreement was made by R&Ds long-serving secretary Terry Lawrence – his last action while serving the league before his recent death.
Terry Cooper, the R&D chairman, said they are “deeply honoured” to have been chosen to host the new cup competition in partnership with Medway Council Sports department, adding that: “This is an amazing legacy both for Medway Sport and the R&D Football League.”
The Isaac Newell Trophy will now be played annually by teams from the Rochester and District League in memory of the local football hero.
Mr Newell married Anna Jockinsen and together they founded the Anglo-Argentine Commercial School. It was from there that Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys football club was born in 1903, with support from sons Claudio and Lionel and a group of students from the school.
Adrian Pope has for many years been leading a campaign for a statue in Medway to mark Isaac Newell’s achievements and his local connections.
The newly named cup competition is further recognition of the man who is regarded as one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
Mr Pope said: “It has been one of the great privileges of my life to stumble across the story of Strood-born Isaac Newell, bring it back to Kent, and to witness the growing awareness in his birthplace of his life and achievements.
“I have long predicted that there would be a statue of Isaac Newell by the River Medway, and that it would be visited by fans who would also enjoy some of the many other things offered by Strood and Rochester, the wider Medway Towns, and other parts of Kent. But I have also said that I wouldn’t live to see it.
“I must admit, after 22 years, I’m now beginning to worry!
“My hero Sisyphus, from Greek mythology, was condemned to push a bolder uphill for eternity, only to see it roll down again every time he reached the summit. But then football-loving French philosopher came along and suggested that we must imagine Sisyphus happy! I think that’s me.
“I have enjoyed the process, enjoyed meeting so many great people doing great things, enjoyed watching people begin to understand the greatness of a story on our doorstep/riverside, and not seeing the installation of a statue as the be all and end all. But I am beginning to think my “boulder” might be staying up soon! A statue would be great, and the draft image I have seen is fantastic.”
The history of Isaac Newell was first featured in the KM way back in 2003, accompanied by photos of Newell’s Old Boys legends Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta.
Younger football fans will be more familiar with super fan and former Newell’s youth player Messi, former player and manager Marcelo Bielsa – who has cult status at Leeds United – and former player Mauricio Pochettino, the ex Spurs and recently departed Chelsea manager.
In recent years Gillingham Football Club’s matchday announcer Doug Hudson wrote a song titled Campeones, linking Gills and Newell’s, rhyming Hessy with Messi and Cascarino with Pochettino, which he delivered in person to the cultural department of Newell’s, together with a signed Gills shirt and other souvenirs including a plaque from the Kent FA.
Awareness of Isaac’s story was taken to another level when a month-long exhibition of his life and place in Argentine football history took place in Rochester’s Guildhall Museum.
Brought about by John Hatchett at Medway Sports, and curated by Jon Rye, it was scheduled to coincide with the World Cup in Qatar – which Argentina won – and created huge interest in the city of Rosario, and beyond.
More recently, Amanda Thomas, the Strood-raised historian and author who appears on TV, was the driving force behind the creation of the Isaac Newell Heritage Group, of which Italian-based Margarita Newell, Isaac’s great granddaughter, is a member.
And, as the current football season draws to a close, the Isaac Newell Trophy, another Medway Sports initiative, is reaching its culmination.
The match which will be attended by special guests including the leader of Medway Council and the chairman of MEMS – the main sponsors of the Rochester and District Football League. Kick-off will be 6pm with gates open from 5pm.
More information on Isaac Newell can be seen at the Exhibition at Strood Leisure Centre.
Premier Division side Rainham Kenilworth beat Medway Prime on penalties to book their place in the final after the match ended goalless. Riverside won the other semi, beating Pegasus 81 3-1.
