| 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.
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The 1872 association football match between the national teams of Scotland and England is officially recognised by FIFA as the sport's 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.
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