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The
"Wooden Spoon"
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 The
'awarding' of the 'wooden spoon' to the last place team in football
competitions originated back in the 19th century.
First
place winners were given a gold/silver cup/trophy - the last placed
team 'received' the opposite, which was nothing more in value than
a wooden spoon.
The
first known use of 'wooden spoon' in competitions of any sort -
not just sport - seems to have been at Cambridge University in the
mid-1800s.
In
maths competitions, the winners were awarded cups or trophies. It
became a custom to hand the last-placed competitor a wooden spoon.
Over the years, the spoon became larger and larger, instilling itself
as a tradition.
Cambridge
was one of the major institutions playing rugby in 1800s, and it
was no surprise that it transferred to rugby union and rugby league.
Copyright
© Sean Fagan 2000-2007
All
rights of the author are asserted.
No content may be reproduced without written permission from Sean
Fagan / RL1908.
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