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Charles William Alcock (December 2, 1842 - February 26, 1907) was a very influential sports administrator and player. Remarkably, he was a major instigator of the development of both international football and cricket, as well as being the creator of the FA Cup. Born in Sunderland*., his family moved south at an early age. Educated at Harrow School, Alcock was a keen schoolboy footballer, and formed the Forest club with his elder brother John in 1859. He was then a prime mover in the 1863 foundation of Forest's more famous successor, Wanderers F.C., initially a predominantly Old Harrovian side. As a player, Alcock was renowned as a hard-working centre-forward with a very accurate shot. In his only international game, he captained England against Scotland on March 6, 1875. He also scored a goal in that game. The Football Association's influence on the game in the early days was largely confined to organising inter-county friendlies, but this all changed when, on July 20, 1871, Alcock, then FA Secretary, proposed Then it was Alcock's idea again that led to the statement, Alcock would have captained the England side that drew 0-0 at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick but was injured, so represented his country as Umpire instead. The captaincy was awarded to Cuthbert Ottaway. After joining the FA committee in 1866, Alcock served as FA Secretary for 25 years (1870-95) before also serving as Honorary Treasurer and Vice President. He also refereed the 1875 and 1879 FA Cup Finals and was a journalist, responsible for compiling the first "Football Annual" in 1868. He was also very influential in the sport of cricket, captaining Middlesex in the first county match in 1867. He also played for Essex and between 1872 and 1907 served as secretary of Surrey. Repeating his interest in sporting internationals, in 1880 he arranged the first Test Match in England at the Kennington Oval against Australia. He edited the Cricket newspaper for almost a quarter of a century.
Reference Booth, Keith. The Father of Modern Sport: The Life and Times of Charles W. Alcock, Parrs Wood Press. 2002. ISBN 1-90-315834-6 | ||||||||
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