Morning Advertiser 18.01.1869

The County Ground at Islington (also known as The Cattle Market Ground) was no longer in use for cricket in 1869. 
Some familiar names in the line ups.

The Wanderers' Last Match

December 18th, 1883. Kennington Oval. The great Wanderers, the dominant force in early Association football, 5 time FA Cup winners, play their last ever game, the annual match with Harrow School.

Kinnaird's own goal

The Hon. Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird (Lord Kinnaird from 1887) has a distinguished FA Cup record.
He appeared in 9 finals (he played for Wanderers and Old Etonians), was on the winning side 3 times, playing as a forward, halfback,  back and goalkeeper. He scored twice in Finals.
He also has the distinction of being the first player to score an own goal in a final.
The incident occurred in the 15th minute or thereabouts of the  Wanderers versus Oxford University Cup Final of 1877.
Some contemporary accounts ( I've read the ones in the London Evening Standard, and Sheffield Independent)  credit the goal to Waddington.

There is plenty of evidence for the own goal:
...a long kick by Waddington drove the ball sharply into the centre of the posts and Kinnaird inadvertently stepped back between the posts with the ball in his hands. An immediate appeal was made to the umpires and after some consultation the verdict was given in favour of Oxford- a decision that seemed to be quite correct and fully confirmed by the spectators in the immediate vicinity of the wanderers goal.
Oxford University Herald 31.03.77

Waddington made a splendid kick clear from the centre of the ground, and Kinnaird misjudging it, to the amazement of the spectators, falling back into his goal, the umpires, after a lengthy consultation, properly awarding a goal to Oxford.
Nottinghamshire Guardian 30.03.77

An oft repeated addendum to this story is that Kinnaird later used his influence to have this goal expunged from the records until it was reinstated 'some 50 years after Kinnaird's death'. 
If that was the case football history books, annuals, newspaper reports etc from the first 70 odd years of the 20th century would show the score as being 2-0 in favour of Wanderers, 
Try as I might I have not been able to find any evidence of the score being recorded as 2-0. 

A curious Cup Final goal

Illustrations of Association matches in the 1870s are hard to find, so apologies for relying on these overused images of  England v Scotland matches. Look at the goalposts. Rather flimsy looking constructions held in place by pegs and guy ropes. The tape, rather than a crossbar, was used until 1882. These posts don't look like they would withstand a blow from a rain sodden leather ball or a falling player.
An incident from the 1876 FA Cup Final illustrates this point.
The first match, played at The Oval, ended in a 1-1 draw between The Wanderers and Old Etonians.
The Old Etonians' equalizer, scored in the 50th minute, was awarded when the ball was kicked through the area where the goals had been.
Contemporary reports give us the detail:

The corner kick by A C Thompson produced a bad scrimmage right in front of the Wanderers goal, and though in the melee the posts were overturned altogether the ball was rushed through the space marked and the umpires very properly awarded a goal to the Etonians.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph 13.03.76

  ...after a furious scrimmage in which the posts were torn to the ground a goal was achieved by the Eton forwards.
Sheffield Independent 13.03.76

  ... a general attack was made upon the Wanderers goal, which fell in more senses than one, as owing to the wind and its defenders being forced back upon the posts, they were knocked down, and ball Wanderers and Etonians in a body went through the space between them which the tape should have covered.

Sporting Life 15.03.76

I am not sure where the modern convention of identifying Alexander Bonsor as the scorer arose, as no contemporary publications credit him with the goal.

The Oval, 1869-70 season

Having secured the use of the Surrey County Cricket ground at Kennington Oval The Wanderers put it to good use for the 1869-70 season.
Contemporary reports reveal that the Association game was still very much in its infancy. More than one of these fixtures was played between unevenly matched teams who failed to field eleven players.
Of the 19 known matches to have taken place at The Oval that season Wanderers featured in 15. They won 9 of these games and scored 29 goals.
The Wanderers had not yet reached their zenith. During the following 2 years football would undergo significant advances with the introduction of the FA Cup and international matches. The Oval would then assume the mantle of England's premier football venue.
Let's take a look at the first season:

09.10.69	Wanderers	0	2	West Kent
23.10.69	Wanderers	0	2	Old Etonians
27.10.69	Wanderers	3	0	Rochester
06.11.69	Wanderers	2	1	Upton Park
10.11.69	Wanderers	2	1	Royal Engineers
13.11.69	Civil Service	0	1	West Kent
20.11.69	Wanderers	0	0	Gitanos
01.12.69	Wanderers	4	2	Civil Service
04.12.69	Wanderers	2	0	Hampstead Heathens
11.12.69	Wanderers	1	2	Crusaders
14.12.69	Wanderers	1	2	Desperadoes
18.12.69	Civil Service	1	2	Old Harrovians
15.01.70	Wanderers	1	1	Gitanos
19.01.70	Wanderers	1	0	Harrow Pilgrims
22.01.70	Wanderers	3	0	Civil Service
29.01.70	Civil Service	0	2	West Kent
26.02.70	Wanderers	7	0	Forest
05.03.70	English	1	1	Scotch
	This was the first 'Alcock International'
19.03.70	Wanderers	2	1	Hampstead Heathens

Postponements/ cancellations:

24.11.69	Wanderers	P	P	Crystal Palace
05.02.70	Civil Service played a scratch team instead of the advertised match with Old Etonians
12.02.70	Civil Service	P	P	Old Harrovians
	English v Scotch was arranged for this date…
12.02.70	English	P	P	Scotch
	Postponed due to frost.
19.02.70	Wanderers	P	P	West Kent

Result or whether played unknown:

18.12.69	Gitanos	?	?	Harrow Pilgrims
05.03.70	Civil Service	?	?	Crusaders
14.03.70	Civil Service	?	?	Royal Engineers

Advertised but not played:

21.12.69	Gitanos	v	Bedouins
	Played at Blackheath.
08.01.70	Wanderers	v	Brixton
12.01.70	Wanderers	v	Bedouins

The World ...1871

In 1871, when the Wanderers were beginning to feel their omnipotence, they issued a challenge to the Rest of the World.
A number of the players from the 1867 matches were still involved.  The World remained a very metropolitan outfit- R Smith of Queen's Park was now London based and also played for South Norwood.

The match was played at The Oval  on 25.03.71. It ended in a 1-1  draw, with goals from Howard and Dixon .

Both teams lined up 1-1-8
The World: W.R Dent (Forest Club)
W.S Rawson (Westminster School)- capped twice by England 1875-77

R.H Birkett (Clapham Rovers)- represented England at Association and Rugby.

S.R Tatham (Hampstead Heathens)

R.S.F Walker (Clapham Rovers)

G Holden (Clapham Rovers)

H.B Dixon (Westminster School)

W.C Butler (Civil Service)

R Smith (Queen’s Park) - represented Scotland in the 1872 international

R Barker (Hertfordshire Rangers) - played for England in the 1872 international

C.J Morice (Crystal Palace)- England international.

Wanderers:
A.F Kinnaird
W.H Gladstone
Q Hogg
C.W Alcock
A.J Baker
W.P Crake
A.W.H Howard
C.E.B Nepean
Hon T.H Pelham
T.C Hooman
R.W.S Vidal

The Oval

In the 1860s London's football was played in public parks such as Clapham Common and Battersea Park. There were no enclosed football grounds.
A significant change occurred on Saturday October 9th 1869, when The Wanderers v West Kent was played at the Kennington Oval, the home of Surrey Cricket Club. This was the first football match to be played at the famous venue.
The cricket ground had been laid out in 1845.
Charles Alcock had good connections in the cricket world. He played for Middlesex and would, in 1872, become secretary of Surrey. He was able to persuade the current Surrey secretary, William Burrup, that allowing the footballers to use the outfield in the winter months was a good thing.
The orientation of pitch was east to west.

Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle - 13.10.69

Charles Nepean, scorer of the 1st goals at The Oval 

Over the following 23 seasons The Oval was England's leading football venue, hosting 22 FA Cup Finals (including 2 replays) and 10 internationals (8 v Scotland, 2 v Wales). It was also used as a venue for Rugby.

In 1892 Surrey County Cricket Club made it known that they wouldn’t be allowing any football to be played at The Oval until the end of October.Then, in January 1893, it was announced that because the square had been relaid there would be no football at The Oval that season.

The World...1867

It's hard to imagine a time when football did not enjoy mass popularity, and unless you've ever tried to organise a works or pub team , it's equally difficult to appreciate the obstacles that Alcock, Kinnaird et al overcame in order to bring the game to a wider public.
 As Alcock himself reflected in 1880:
What was ten or fifteen years ago the recreation of a few … has now become the pursuit of thousands – an athletic exercise, carried on under a strict system … almost magnified into a profession.

The world of Association football in the 1860s and early 1870s was narrow and parochial, described in correspondence to the press as a 'local clique.'
A great sense of fun also reaches out to us across the years- these were hip young men engaged in something novel and almost esoteric.

Alcock, in particular, was always on the lookout for novelty- ultimately it was this desire that gave us both international football and the FA Cup.

In 1867 a combined Eton and Harrow team challenged The Rest of the World.
A fitting example of how the most rag tag scratch matches in which these pioneers were involved has retained a place in the annals of the Association game, for the first match , which took place on January 8th 1867 , The World (referred to in some quarters of the press as The Universe) could only muster 8 players.
The 8 who took to the field at Westminster's Vincent Square ground were:

C.W Alcock (Old Harrovians / Wanderers)

K Muir McKenzie (Old Carthusians / Wanderers)

M Muir McKenzie (Old Carthusians / Wanderers)

H.F Deacon (Civil Service)

H.G Phipps (Old Harrovians)

J.E Tayloe  (Old Westminsters)

C.M Tebbut (Wanderers)

C.G Waudby (Civil Service)

Selected but absent were:

F Lucas (Old Westminsters)

S.H West (Westminster School)

W.J Dixon (Westminster School)

The Eton Harrow line up was: A.F Kinnaird (E), E Freeth (E), C.J Thornton (E), E.L Corrie (E), E.A Owen (E), A Crompton (H) & F.R Broughton (H).

The game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The Vincent Square playing fields can still be seen in London SW1.

For the rematch, held at the same venue on 23.01.67, The World turned out only 7 players. Despite the fact that Eton and Harrow had a one man advantage The World (who were practically Old Carthusians) ran out 0-2 winners.

K Muir McKenzie (Old Carthusians / Wanderers)

M Muir McKenzie (Old Carthusians / Wanderers)

J Butter (Charterhouse School)

E.C.S Gibson (Charterhouse School)

C.E.B Nepean (Charterhouse School)

J.A Foote (Charterhouse School)

J Kirkpatrick (Civil Service)

Selected but absent were:

O.S Walford

W.J Dixon (Westminster School)

E.C Bovill                            

H.J Smith

The Eton Harrow line up was: A.F Kinnaird (E), A.L Gallus/ C.W Alcock (H), E Freeth (E), C.M Tebbut, S.T Holland, J.H Morgan, E Trower & H.F Deacon.

I note that Tebbut played both for and against The World.

The matches that shaped Association football- pre 1870

The earliest games in our list of influential matches predate the establishment of the Association.
Before 1863 there was no Association football, and throughout the 1860s the game was fluid in nature as experimental rules came and went, Spectators (and there were few) witnessed a change from an 'everyone behind the ball' game in which catches and handling played a significant role, as did touchdowns for a while, into something more akin to modern soccer, Having said that by 1870 Association football was still far from being the finished article. There were still no corner kicks or crossbars, ends were changed after every score, and the goalkeeper was not a recognised position

Football at Harrow - played with a pudding shaped ball...

Harrow- 1850s
The Football Association's  Laws of the Game were developed in order to unify existing codes that were in use in various schools and colleges. The Harrow rules were one such code. Given the later importance of Charles Alcock in the development and promotion of the Association game, we must acknowledge the importance of Alcock's earliest footballing experiences.  Alcock attended Harrow from 1855 to 1859 ; he was in Drury's House. The Houses played each other for the honour of being 'Cock House'. It was the format of these knockout competitions that inspired the FA Cup.
The press (in particular Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle) carried reports on football matches played at all the leading public schools. I have only been able to find one contemporary press report of Alcock playing football at Harrow- Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (12.12.58) has an account of a match between Rev. B.H Drury's and Rev. Dr. Vaughan's (the Houses took the names of the leading masters). Drury's won by 1 base to 0 (base was the Harrovian term for a goal)- the base was obtained by 'a capital kick by Mr Alcock'. The result confirmed Drury's as Cock House for the season.

Sheffield FC v 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot- 1858
It is impossible to overlook the importance of Sheffield's contribution to the development of the Association game. The Sheffield Rules predated the Football Association by 6 years, and were adopted by many clubs and associations in the midlands. Sheffield was a frequent source of inspiration as the Laws of the Game evolved during the 1860s and 70s. During the early years of its exsitence the Sheffield club played scratch matches between its members. 
Sheffiled versus Hallam in 1860 is often referred to as the earliest club football match, however, there are references to Sheffield FC playing a team from the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot in 1858. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any accounts of this match.

Barnes v Richmond 1863
The Presidents side v The Secretary's side, played at Battersea Park on 9th January 1864 was scheduled to be the first encounter under the newly drafted Football Association Laws of the Game.  However, EC Morley et al were keen to get on with it, and on December 19th 1863 the very first game of football played under Football Association rules took place at Limes Field, Mortlake, between Barnes FC and Richmond FC.
 The 15 a side game, ' distinguished by no disputes about the rules' , ended in a 0-0 draw.


The Association game continued to be played on an informal basis throughout the decade, mainly by clubs in the metropolitan area. Sheffield football also flourished, and both sets of rules underwent gradual changes and slowly a spectacle bearing a closer resemblance to modern football emerged, as handling, fair catches and touchdowns were eradicated. 


London v Sheffield 1866 
The first representative match under the auspices of the FA.  Sheffield FC had initially asked the FA for a match with one of the FA member clubs. The FA however selected a Football Association XI, drawn from 4 metropolitan clubs- Wanderers, Barnes, NN's and Civil Service. 

The Youdan Cup 1867
February 16th 1867 saw first round of the first ever knockout football tournament. It was played under Sheffield Rules during a period where the 4 yard goal and the rouge were in use (thus distancing it somewhat from modern soccer). The eventual winners, Hallam, defeated Heeley 2-0 (and 2 rouges to 1) in their first round match. 

Middlesex v Kent-1867
Another venture masterminded by CW Alcock to stimulate interest in the Association game was an attempt to introduce inter county matches.
The first of this sporadic series was due to take place on November 2nd at Beaufort House, but Lord Ranelagh, being in dispute with the Amatuer Athletic Club, in whose name the ground was leased, withdrew his permission for his land to be used, and the game was played 'in the wilds' of Battersea Park. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.
The ground was described as being 'in wretched order' but the match itself ('a most stubbornly contested game') was given a good write up.
In these days in which the FA were working hard to spread the appeal of the game it is worth remembering when reading enthusiastic and glowing reports of 0-0 draws played in unfavourable conditions that the author might well have been none other than C.W Alcock! 


Queen's Park v Thistle- 1868
I'm not going to turn these posts into a catalogue of the first games of all significant clubs, but i'll make an exception in the case of Queen's Park. Queen's Park assumed the status of an institution within the Scottish game in its earliest days, and fulfilled the functions of a national association. As with Sheffield (above) the earliest games were between scratch sides drawn from club members. 
On 1st August 1868 Queen's Park had their first fixture against outside opposition: Played at the Recreation Ground (South Side Park?) fellow Glaswegians,Thistle FC were beaten by  'two goals within an hour'.
Having kept a clean sheet in their debut match Queen's Park didn't concede a goal until March 1875 and their unbeaten run went on until 1876.

Wanderers v West Kent 1869
 In the 1860s London's football was played in public parks such as Clapham Common and Battersea Park. There were no enclosed football grounds. 
On Saturday October 9th 1869 The Wanderers v West Kent was played at the Kennington Oval, the home of Surrey Cricket Club. This arose from CW Alcock's involvement with Surrey Cricket Club.
As well as generating (negligible) income for the cricket club in the winter months, it meant that the Football Association now had access to a large enclosed venue capable of accommodating thousands of paying spectators. During the course of the following decade The Oval became a regular venue for club fixtures and hosted big events such as FA Cup Finals and semi finals, internationals, and The Varsity match.

A.H. Chequer

This rather solemn looking cricketer should be a familiar face to all students of Association football history. 
On March 16th 1872 at The Oval The Wanderers played The Royal Engineers in the first ever FA Cup Final. Fifteen minutes into the match Wanderers' 18 year old forward Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal succeeded in dribbling the ball a considerable distance into the Engineers' territory. Vidal centered and a teammate finished off the move from an acute angle.  The goalscorer was listed on the teamsheet as A.H Chequer. 
His actual name was Morton Peto Betts, known as Monty, a 24 year old  Old Harrovian and Cambridge University student. 
Bett's pseudonym arose from his membership of Harrow Chequers, It was common in the amateur era for players to be members of a number of clubs simultaneously.  As an Old Harrovian Betts was naturally a member of their old boys' side- the Chequers, founded in 1865. 
Chequers had been drawn to play against Wanderers in the first round of the FA Cup, but had withdrawn. There has been speculation that Betts chose his rather transparent alias to avoid being 'cup-tied.' It may, however, simply have been an example of the humour of the day. I note that in one early West Kent fixture one of the forwards is listed as A Chizelhurst- Chiselhurst  being the home of the West Kent club. I  can't help but wonder if this might also have been Betts!
Betts' name crops up frequently in the sporting annals of the 1870s and 1880s.
The earliest references I have found to him as a footballer come from 1870. His name does not feature in any reports of House matches at Harrow in the years when he would have been at school. In November 1870 he appears on a Wanderers line-up. Betts was also on a shortlist to represent England in the 2nd Alcock International on November 19th, but he wasn't selected and instead appeared in the role of Umpire (discharging  his duties with commendable impartiality throughout according to the press). December 1870 sees the first mention of Betts as a West Kent player, and he also played for South vs North during that month.
An example of multiple club membership giving rise to possible divided loyalties can be seen in January 1871. West Kent played Wanderers. Betts played for West Kent. In November that year Betts represented England in the 4th Alcock International. 1871 also saw the beginning of Betts' 20 years service as a member of the Board of the Football Association .
Betts' status within the game is reflected by his captaincy in 1872 of Middlesex (for a county game vs Surrey) and of Old Harrovians vs Old Etonians. This meant that he captained teams containing such natural leaders as Alcock and Kinnaird. 
Betts also featured regularly for London in their series of matches with Sheffield, and captained London in 1877.
By now Betts had 'matured' into a goalkeeper (although he does not appear to have been Old Harrovians' regular 'keeper in the 1876-77 season). On March 3rd 1877 Betts won his one and only official England cap when he played in goal against Scotland at The Oval.
Scotland won by 3 goals to 1. Contemporary reports attributed the Scots' success to combination play. England, on the other hand, retained the old singular approach.
This match did not signal the end of Betts' involvement with the international game. In 
1885 and 1888 he appeared as an Umpire in the  England vs Scotland matches.