| Birth name | William Robert Badger Fletcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 10 December 1851 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kensington [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 20 April 1895 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | (registered in) Kensington, London (aged 43 years 131 days) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Marlborough College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Fletcher (1851–1895) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1873 to 1875. [1]
William Fletcher was born on 10 December 1851 in Kensington. [1] He attended Marlborough College, and went on to study at the University of Oxford. [2]
At Oxford, Fletcher won four blues (1872, 1873 (2), 1874) and played in the first varsity match against Cambridge University in 1872. [2] Fletcher made his international debut on 3 March 1873 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow in the Scotland vs England match. [1] He played his final match for England on 8 March 1875 at Edinburgh in the Scotland vs England match. [1]
Fletcher became a merchant in London. [2]
The 1872–73 season was the second season of competitive football in England. When the Football Association football was formed in 1863, the sport was played mainly by public schools, or teams with public school roots, and amateurism was the norm. This remained the case until the 1880s, when working-class teams began to vie for supremacy. The Football Association staged the second edition of the FA Cup, with Wanderers retaining the trophy by defeating Oxford University in the final.
The following are events in the 1840s decade which are relevant to the development of association football. All events happened in English football unless specified otherwise.
The following are events in the 1850s decade which are relevant to the development of association football. Included are events in closely related codes, such as the Sheffield Rules. All events happened in English football unless specified otherwise.
Cuthbert John Ottaway was an English footballer. He was the first captain of the England football team and led his side in the first official international football match.
William Slaney Kenyon-Slaney PC was an English sportsman, soldier and politician.
Alexander George Bonsor was an English footballer, one of the earliest in the sport.
The 1873 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers F.C. and Oxford University A.F.C. on 29 March 1873 at the Lillie Bridge Grounds in London. It was the second final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. Unusually, the final kicked-off in the morning to avoid a clash with the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race which was held on the same day. The Wanderers reached the final without playing a match, as the original rules of the competition stated that the holders would receive a bye straight to the final and other teams would compete to gain the other place in the final and challenge them for the trophy. Oxford reached the final by a walkover when their semi-final opponents, the Scottish club Queen's Park, withdrew from the competition.
Reginald Courtenay Welch was a key player in the early years of association football. He played for the Wanderers in the FA Cup Finals of 1872 and 1873, and also played for England in the first ever international match. During his career he appeared both in goal and as a defender.
The 1872 association football match between the national teams of Scotland and England is officially recognised by FIFA as the first international. It took place on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, the West of Scotland Cricket Club's ground in Partick, Glasgow. The match was watched by 4,000 spectators and finished as a 0–0 draw.
William Stepney Rawson was an amateur footballer who played at full-back in the 1870s, and was also an FA Cup Final referee in 1876. Born in Cape Colony, he played for the England national team.
Arnold Kirke Smith was an English footballer who played for England as a forward in the first international match against Scotland, as well as captaining Oxford University in the 1873 FA Cup Final. Smith was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1875 and after various clerical appointments he became vicar of Boxworth where he remained until his death on 8 October 1927.
Alfred George Goodwyn was an English Royal Engineer, who represented his regiment at football. He was a member of the Regiment's team that was defeated in the very first FA Cup final. He also represented England in the second international football match against Scotland in 1873.
Francis Hornby Birley was an English footballer who played as a half back. He won the FA Cup three times in the 1870s and made two appearances for England in 1874 and 1875.
Dawson Turner was a rugby union international who represented England from 1871 to 1875.
The Rev. Charles Edward Burroughs Nepean was an English amateur cricketer and footballer who later became a vicar in the Church of England. As a cricketer he played ten first-class matches for Oxford University and Middlesex between 1870 and 1874, whilst in football he was in goal for Oxford University, the winning side in the 1874 FA Cup Final.
Revd. Charles Maude Meysey-Thompson was an English clergyman who, as an amateur footballer, won the FA Cup in 1873 with the Wanderers. He also played in the 1876 FA Cup Final for the Old Etonians and for the Scottish XI in the last representative match against England in 1872.
James Mackinlay (1850-1917) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1872 to 1875.
Ernest Cheston was a rugby union international who represented England from 1873 to 1876.
Sydney Morse (1854–1929) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1873 to 1875.
John Robert Edwards Sumner was an amateur footballer who played for Oxford University in the 1873 FA Cup Final. He was later a rancher in the United States.
