BigSoccer's Players of the Season: 1872

Attendances for the two internationals were respectively 650 and under a thousand. This compares with 2,000 for the FA Cup Final, and 5,000 and 6,000 for the two matches in Sheffield against London (women admitted free of charge). It can certainly be argued that the London v Sheffield matches were more important than the England v Scotland games where, with the exception of Charlie Cregg, the players from both sides were drawn exclusively from London and the south-east.

The London team (12) that faced Sheffield at The Oval was apparently the strongest available and the best yet seen in London. In alphabetical order it was: Alcock, Betts, Chenery, Holden, Hooman, Morten, Stephenson, Thompson, Vidal, RC Welch (Harrow Chequers), Weston and Wollaston.

All apart from Holden, Morten and Welch played in one or both of the England v Scotland games. Morten was not considered for England as he had already represented Scotland, so he refereed the second international instead!

In addition, Bonsor and Walker were selected for one international, the latter scoring two goals. Edgar Lubbock (West Kent) played both matches for England. Baker, Crake and Kenrick played one, but Crake and Kenrick were not originally picked. Charlie Cregg of Sheffield played in the second game.

From the 27 nominees I would leave out Marindin and Merriman since they were not selected for any of the three London/England games when everyone was available. Merriman ranked below Gardner, Morten and Stephenson as a goalkeeper. Charles Stephenson also played as a back and was one of London's best players in the 1-0 win against Sheffield at The Oval. I would include him in the 23.

Although they represented Scotland, William Lindsay and Arnold Smith were both available for London against Sheffield at The Oval and not selected. In later years they would each make a single appearance for England. I would leave both out of the final 23. Sheffield captain Marsh might be the other one to miss out.

Spellings should be Willey and Wollaston by the way.

 

Possible Best XI 1871-72


-----------------------------------------------R Gardner------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------J Taylor--------------------------W Ker-----------------------------------

--------------------------- JC Clegg----------------------TC Hooman------------------------------

-GH Sampson---J Weir---CW Alcock---CJ Chenery---RWS Vidal---CHR Wollaston-


Four from Wanderers, four from Queen's Park, two from Sheffield and one from Crystal Palace.

 

I agree these two players were not as famous as some of the players from Wanderers. However, Royal Engineers were the favourites to win the FA Cup, and could have done so, but an injury to one of their players early on reduced their effective number. The Royal Engineers were unbeaten in the last two years, and were 7 to 4 favourites before the FA Cup final, whereas Wanderers suffered several defeats in this time period.

I have the impression that in these early years the friends and club-mates of Alcock are overrepresented in selections for England.

It would also be good to learn more about the players (e.g. Sampson) from Sheffield. There were several football clubs in that city, and I am not sure which Sheffield club the selected players represented.
Maybe some of the posters has access to a book about the history of Sheffield football clubs that could clarify the situation.

 

Sampson played for Wednesday, Willey for Sheffield FC. Charlie Clegg represented several clubs in the area including Sheffield FC, Norfolk, Broomhill and Perseverance (Temperance).

All three also played as guests for Surrey (Catholic) against Attercliffe Christ Church in October 1871. Surrey had turned up with eight men due to inclement weather. Sheffield player H Ash was playing for the opposition who won 2-0.

Excerpt of Sheffield Independent match report of Wednesday v Fir Vale in February 1871:

GH Sampson's play was plucky, indefatigable and scientific. He is undoubtedly one of the best players in the team or neighbourhood."

 

FA Cup semi-final, 17 February 1872. Crystal Palace 0 Royal Engineers 0.

Bell's Life reports that Chenery and Ottaway made good runs for Palace that were applauded by spectators.

Replay, 9 March 1872. Royal Engineers 3 Crystal Palace 0.

Morning Post says Engineers were very fast and powerful and that one of Renny-Tailyour's goals was very cleverly kicked.

Bell's Life:

Very little dribbling was displayed in the match, and those who took a most prominent part on the side of the Engineers were Rich, Mitchell and Renny-Tailyour. For the Crystal Palace Clenery was, perhaps, the most prominent, but the greatest praise is due to A Morten, the duties of a goal-keeper in this match being most onerous.

Morten is reported to have been "severely mauled".

FA Cup Final, 16 March 1872. Wanderers 1 Royal Engineers 0.

Morning Post:

Many battles were fought with no other result, the Wanderers having it all their own way from the commencement to the end. The Engineers worked hard, but could not alter the state of affairs. It was a perfectly one-sided match, the Wanderers taking it comparatively easy, only defending their goal, having obtained their object by coming into possession of the trophy. The Engineers could never get within many yards of their opponents' quarters. It would be needless to state any other particulars.

Sources for this post and the previous one are from the British Newspaper Archive, managed by the British Library Board.

 

You could leave out
Charles Nepean (Oxford, Scotland)
John Marsh (Sheffield Wednesday)
TC Wiley (Sheffield Wednesday)
F Wood (Sheffield Wednesday)

 

More reports:

England v Scotland 18 November 1871.

According to the Daily Telegraph England goalkeeper Charles Stephenson was the best player on either side, defending his goals "most carefully". When Scotland scored they "at last succeeded in evading the vigilance of Stephenson."

However, the English territory was more frequently invaded than the Scotch, and entirely through the fine play of Stephenson is it due that the Scotchmen did not obtain a second goal, and make a tie match.

FA Cup Final, Wanderers v Royal Engineers.

The Sheffield Independent agrees with the Morning Post that Royal Engineers were completely outplayed with "their backs not at all equal to their opponents." Their "most conspicuous players" were Renny-Tailyour, Mitchell, Bogle and Marindin. No mention of Merriman.

For Wanderers:

Throughout the game Bonsor worked very hard, and was always to be found in the neighbourhood of the ball, while Vidal, Crake and Wollaston also did a fare share of work, the young Westminster captain [Vidal] being frequently singled out for praise by the spectators.


Sources are from the British Newspaper Archive, managed by the British Library Board.

 

A few comments about the 1871-72 season. The split with rugby had just occurred so the two games were still close. Formations were packed with marauding forwards and there was plenty of physical contact. Strength and courage, especially valued in Victorian society, were almost as important as skill. Goalkeepers in particular came in for heavy punishment and the position often rotated from match to match.

All football was amateur with no registration of players, who were free to turn out for different clubs. Many did so. The exceptions were the footballers of London-based Royal Engineers, and Queen's Park in Glasgow, who tended to stick together. The Engineers, nicknamed Sappers, all had the same employer of course. As a result these two sides tended to play slightly more as a team, especially in defence.

The other main football centre was Sheffield. There were many clubs in the area but the local association was tightly-knit, and sides representing it also demonstrated a certain amount of teamwork.

In general, however, play was disorganised, which is why a game proliferating with forwards still produced few goals. The most famous club, Wanderers, relied largely on pressing forward in numbers with individual dribblers doing their own thing.

Nationality was fluid and several men ended up representing both England and Scotland. The two England v Scotland unofficial internationals in November and February were effectively internal London matches. Nobody resident in Scotland was invited. The only player based outside London to feature was Charlie Clegg from Sheffield. For the second match, several players were unavailable for Scotland.

The four most important games of the season, with teams near full strength, were all played at The Oval cricket ground in London:

18 November 1871. England 2 Scotland 1

27 January 1872. London 1 Sheffield 0

5 March 1872, FA Cup Semi-Final. Wanderers 0 Queen's Park 0. The Scots could not afford to travel again for a replay so conceded it.

16 March 1872, FA Cup Final. Wanderers 1 Royal Engineers 0

Charles Alcock and Albert Thompson played in all four matches.

 

Were there any "North vs South" matches in this season?
There was a match on December 17, 1870, but it belongs to the previous season.

 

Queen's Park only played three matches, a win and a draw against a local team and the goalless draw in the important semi-final against Wanderers. Not sure if they should be penalised for lack of fixtures. There was no Scottish FA yet. Gardner, Taylor and Ker (goalkeeper and backs) all had good games against Wanderers. Weir was their best forward at this time. James Smith and Wotherspoon might be less certain of a place in the 23. Smith was available and not selected for Scotland against England in November 1871 so could reasonably be left out.

The start of the FA Cup was important historically. But of the fifty or so member clubs of the FA, only 15 entered the competition this season, and two of those withdrew without playing a game. Travel was the main reason. All matches had to be played in London, which was a massive advantage to clubs based there.

It is quite possible that one of the Sheffield clubs would have reached the final had they entered. Similarly Queen's Park could easily have reached the final and won the cup had they not been asked to travel again to London for the semi-final replay against Wanderers. Several London players did not travel to Sheffield. They would be even less likely to travel to Glasgow for a replay. Royal Engineers were completely outplayed by Wanderers in the final.

I agree though that Royal Engineers present a bit of a dilemma. Because of their fine recent record I wanted to include at least one of them in my team of the season, but could not find any individual I thought warranted a place. Renny-Tailyour scored some goals which is the main reason he gets mentioned. They were more of a team than Wanderers, who did not even have their own ground and whose players mostly appeared for other sides as well. It seems Engineers were short of outstanding individuals.

I could not find any North v South games. They may have been replaced by the returning London v Sheffield matches.

 

Do we know who and when scored the goal for London in this match against Sheffield?

 

It was an own goal by Sheffield goalkeeper WH Carr at the beginning of the second half. Under London Rules the defending team could kick the ball behind their goal-line outside the goal and still get a goal kick. Carr tried to do this on seeing a "phalanx" of Londoners bearing down on him, but sliced the ball into his own goal. Both Sheffield newspapers reporting the match (Independent and Daily Telegraph) described it as a fluke.

Other points of interest. Sheffield headed and "breasted" the ball at times while London relied on their feet and the occasional handball which was not penalised by the referee. London had heavier and more physical players and were also the better side. The Morning Star reported that the slippery conditions hampered their dribblers.

The playing area, 100 x 60 yards, was small by Sheffield standards. When the ball went out of play, spectators handed it to whichever player came to them first, irrespective of who touched it last. That player then took the throw-in.

Under Sheffield Rules, teams changed ends after a goal. This caused a dispute when the goal went in. The Sheffield newspapers said that Alcock gave way and allowed a change of ends. The Morning Star said the only change of ends took place at half-time.

The Sheffield Independent described London's Albert Thompson as the best back they had ever seen.


Sources are from the British Newspaper Archive, managed by the British Library Board.

 

What are your propositions for the best (at least Top3) players of the season?

No1 could be Alcock, the captain of Wanderers and England in all the important matches of the season.

However, the subsequent positions are difficult to decide.
Last week I also nominated Robert Walker (scored two goals against "Scotland", captain of Clapham Rovers) and Charles Clegg (the only player from Sheffield to represent England this season, scoring England’s winning goal).

It is difficult to select any of Queen's Park's players, because of their limited schedule this season.
Perhaps we could also select backs or half-backs, not just goal-scorers. I often select team captains, if there are no more information available.

After this we could move on to the next season, 1872/1873.

I propose to designate the seasons this way (showing two calendar years) until at least WWI, as England and Scotland were the leading football nations and their season ran from autumn to spring.

 

Alcock at Number 1 is fine. The Sheffield press said he was the best dribbler.

I would have Chenery second and Sampson third. Only these two were leading performers in all three London v Sheffield matches. Chenery also played well for Crystal Palace in both semi-final and replay against Royal Engineers.

Sampson was probably the first good header of a ball in football history and the best player in Sheffield. Charlie Clegg was criticised for erratic kicking in one of the matches against London.

I don't think we should attach too much importance to goalscorers. Goals quite often came following rugby-like "scrimmages" where a number of players from both sides piled in after the ball. When the ball fell to a goalscorer it was as much by luck as by good judgement.

The most accomplished English back was Thompson, the only player other than Alcock to appear in all four of the most important games of the season. Whether he was as good as Ker and Taylor of Queen's Park is debatable.

 

Do we know Sampson's full name and the year he was born?

 

All I know is that his initials were GH.

 

He did well when he played. He did not travel to Sheffield for either of the games there, whereas Chenery appeared in both.

 

Nepean seems to played better the two previous seasons.

Someone, could update the list with their roles (maybe nomining FB/HB for some utility players)

 

Positions were not as set as they would later become. Players tended to chase the ball. All nominees were mainly forwards except:

Betts. Usually a Forward but had played as Goalkeeper.
Gardner. Goalkeeper.
Ker. Back.
Lindsay. Back or Half-Back.
Marindin. Back or Half-Back.
Marsh. Cover Goal, which means Back.
Merriman. Goalkeeper.
Morten. Goalkeeper.
Nepean. Had literally played everywhere.
Stephenson. Goalkeeper or Back.
Taylor. Back
Thompson. Back or Half-Back.

Wood's initial was A not F.