The first mention of a football team in Pachuca came in 1892, with a local newspaper article reporting on a reorganisation of the team due to a “schism”.
“There had been a rift between those in Pachuca and ‘the mountain men’, meaning those in Real del Monte.
“When I read this I laughed, I thought ‘how Cornish’. The Cornish love a schism.
“They were told to get their acts together and make their team stronger.”
In 1895, there was a meeting held by Rule that led to the decision to amalgamate the Pachuca Cricket Club, the Pachuca Football Club and the Velasco Cricket Club to create a stronger entity.
Thus was formed Pachuca Athletic Club.
Rule donated a piece of land near his hacienda for the club to host games, on the condition that games would not be played on a Sunday because of his Methodist beliefs.
By 1902, other clubs had started to pop up in areas such as Orizaba in Veracruz.
To this day Orizaba contest the view that Pachuca were the first club in Mexico, and claim that title as their own.
These two clubs, as well three others, came together to create the first recognised football league in Mexico, the Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association.
Orizaba won the first league title in 1902, with Pachuca having some success of their own in the early seasons, winning the title in 1904-05.
It was not just the mining men enjoying the football on the pitch – Cornish women were also a key part of the matchday spectacle.
“They loved to turn out [for matches] and often wore the club colours,” says Dr Schwartz.
“The first reference to pasties being consumed [in Mexico] was when play stopped in a cricket match. I can imagine those were cooked by the Cornish ladies.”
Pasties were an essential for miners at the time, with their thick crust acting as a ‘handle’ for dirty hands and pastry tough enough to survive being dropped down a mineshaft.
