At the heart of Redbridge Museum is a unique collection of over 7000 objects, oral history and film. Once a week we will be selecting one object from Redbridge Museum’s collection to share with you online.
The FIFA World Cup has started, it is awarded every four years and this year international teams are playing in Brazil.
When researching the history of football it becomes clear that one local Ilford resident named Ken Aston (Kenneth George Aston) helped to build the game into what we know and love today! Also a head teacher at a local school and associated with sport at Barkingisde Recreation Ground, QE II Field.
Ken Aston (1915-2001) was a referee he made his mark on football in many ways including being the first referee to wear black with white trim as an official uniform.
During the 1966 World Cup in England Ken Aston had the idea of issuing yellow and red cards to warn players or send them off. This was to help clarify to spectators and players, when players had been booked or dismissed, something that is still seen today!
This week our Object of the Week is a cartoon lion mascot named ‘World Cup Willie’. It was the first official mascot for the World Cup in 1966 from any country. The idea took off and since then each country had a mascot to accompany the competition.
Title – World Cup Willie mascot
Associated Dates – 1965
Location – Currently not on display
Opening times – Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm & Saturday 10am-4pm
Post author: A Deo
Do More 