Links With The Past: Rare ‘Super 8’ FA Cup Final Film

This colour film of Leicester City’s 1969 FA Cup Final against Manchester City is owned by Jill Bocock, who is a fan and a collector. It is a recent addition to the Club’s extensive film archive.

The archive contains many formats of film featuring Leicester City matches. Among the oldest of these, kept in tin film canisters, are 16mm films from the early 1970s. As the years passed, VHS videos and CDs have been added to the Club’s collection, which now also includes an extensive digital film archive.

This film is unusual because it is the only ‘Super 8’ film in the archive. This format was first manufactured in 1965 and was very popular until it was largely superseded by videos in the 1970s.  

The film was produced by a firm called Quality Products (Romford) Ltd. Showing the film was subject to strict conditions. It couldn’t be shown in public for payment. It couldn’t be copied or duplicated and it couldn’t be used for television.

Leicester City match action from the past can also be seen online on the Pathe News website. This features notable Leicester City FA Cup matches dating back to 1929 and includes the Club’s semi-finals and finals.

Leicester Fosse’s match at Sunderland in January 1907 can also be found online. This clip is part of the Mitchell and Kenyon collection which is a visual record of everyday life of Edwardian Britain.