Sport in Cornwall - Association Football

Association Football

Association football and cricket are played in most villages and towns. While rugby is widely held to be the most popular sport in Cornwall, association football has increased in popularity. Truro City F.C. have the largest following; and currently play in the Conference South. This fits in with their Chairman's (Kevin Heaney) ambitions to eventually play in league football, a prospect that is realistically expected to take around 5 years, as they still have several steps to progress up the pyramid structure of leagues. Truro City F.C. became the first ever Cornish football club to win a national competition when in 2007 they won the FA Vase, defeating AFC Totton 3-1 in the final. There are no professional clubs in the county, so most of Cornwall's football fans follow Plymouth Argyle, who play just over the Devon border.

The Cornish Football Association was founded in 1889. In 2007, Truro City became the first Cornish team to play at Wembley, where they won the FA Vase. In 1966, Cornishman Mike Trebilcock scored two goals for Everton in the FA Cup Final. John Gilbert Jack Cock DCM MM (14 November 1893 - 19 April 1966) was a Cornish footballer who played for various English club sides as a striker. He also had the distinction of being the first Cornishman to play, and score, for the England national team. He was a decorated World War I soldier, and an actor. Chris Morris represented the Republic of Ireland at the 1990 World Cup & the 1988 European Championships. In 1901 Cornish miners founded the first football team in Mexico, Club de Futbol Pachuca. Originally, they practised only as a pastime during their free time they had while working at the mines. From 1917 to 1920, Pachuca was champion of the league under Cornish born coach Alfred C. Crowle.