- Arthur Savage
Arthur Henry Patrick Savage (18 October 1850 – 15 August 1905) was an English amateur footballer who made one appearance for England as a goalkeeper.
Identity
Football historians have always had difficulty identifying the precise name and details of A.H. Savage who played for the original Crystal Palace club and played for England against Scotland in the fifth international between the countries in March 1876.
The three main contenders are::Alfred Henry Savage, born in
Reading in 1854;:Arthur Harold Savage, of the English & Oriental Hotel inPenang , who died in Penang on 4 August 1930;:Arthur Henry Patrick Savage, born inSydney ,Australia on 18 October 1850.As some contemporary match reports refer to the player as A.H.P. Savage, most researchers now favour the latter.cite book | author=Graham Betts| title=England: Player by player | publisher=Green Umbrella Publishing | year=2006|pages=p.212| isbn=1-905009-63-1]
Football career
Little is known about his club career, although he was registered with Crystal Palace at the time of the international, and he later played representative football for
Surrey . Match reports described him as "big and red-bearded" and commented on his "terrific kick that was well used to set up attacks". Unfortunately, "defensively (he) was prone to being in the wrong place at the wrong time", thus contributing to England's defeat.His sole international appearance came against Scotland at
Hamilton Crescent ,Partick on 4 March 1876. According to Philip Gibbons, at this time "the England side tended to be chosen on availability rather than skill alone."cite book |last= Gibbons|first= Philip|authorlink= |title= Association Football in Victorian England - A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900|year= 2001|publisher= Upfront Publishing|pages=p.46|isbn=1-84426-035-6] England struggled throughout the game, which saw the home team run out winners by three goals to nil. [cite web | title= Scotland 3 - England 0; 4 March 1876 (Match summary) | work=www.englandstats.com| url= http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=5 |accessdate=8 September|accessyear = 2008]Photograph
In May 2008, a photograph of the 1876 England team was discovered in the archives of the
Derby City Council Local Studies Library.Edgar Field had sent the photograph to the Derbyshire Football Express, and the picture was used in an article published on the 50th anniversary of the match. This picture came to light in May and is believed to be the the earliest known picture of an England football team. [cite web | title= Picture unearthed of England's First(sic) Football Team
work=skynews| url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1315369,00.html | accessdate=10 June | accessyear=2008] [cite web | title= First ever England football team picture| work=Daily Telegraph | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1937050/First-ever-England-football-team-picture.html | date= 8 May 2008|accessdate=4 September|accessyear = 2008]References
External links
* [http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=840 Profile at www.englandstats.com]
* [http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=846 Profile at www.englandfc.com]
* [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersS/BioSavageAHP.html Biography at www.englandfootballonline.com]
* [http://www.youandyesterday.com/articles/England_Football_Team_-_World_Exclusive_Picture! Feature on "You and Yesterday"]
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