Royal Engineers A.F.C.

The Royal Engineers AFC is a football team founded in 1863, under the leadership of Major Marindin of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Sappers. They enjoyed a great deal of success in the 1870s, winning the FA Cup in 1875.

History

The 1875 Cup winning side was:
* Capt. W. Merriman; Lt. G.H. Sim; Lieutenant G.C. Onslow; Lt. R.M. Ruck; Lt. P.G. von Donop; Lt. C.K. Wood; Lt. H.E. Rawson; Lt. R.H. Stafford; Lt. H. W. Renny-Tailyour; Lt. A. Mein; and Lt. C. Wingfield-Stratford.

The team drew 1-1 against Old Etonians with a goal from Renny-Tailyour and went on to win the replay 2-0 with a goal each from Renny-Tailyour and Stafford.

The Royal Engineers were the first football team to go on a tour, which they did to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield in 1873. [cite book |last= Wall|first= Sir Frederick|authorlink= |title= 50 Years of Football, 1884-1934|year= 2005|publisher= Soccer Books Limited|location= |id= ISBN 1-8622-3116-8 ]

Sir Frederick Wall who was the secretary of the Football Association from 1895-1934 states in his biography that the passing game known as the Combination Game was created by the Royal Engineers A.F.C. in the early 1870s. [cite book |last= Wall|first= Sir Frederick|authorlink= |title= 50 Years of Football, 1884-1934|year= 2005|publisher= Soccer Books Limited|location= |id= ISBN 1-8622-3116-8 ] [cite book |last= Cox|first= Richard |authorlink= |title= The Encyclopedia of British Football|year= 2002|publisher= Routledge|location= |id= ISBN 0-7146-8230-6 ] [ [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Fhistory.htm History of Football] ] [ [http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/sport/football/history.htm Royal Engineers - Football - History] ]

The 'Engineers' were the equals of the northern professional Football League teams, regularly beating them up until the late 1880s and were arguably the last bastion of the once great 'gentleman' teams. They have maintained their character as an amateur team (as was the tradition early on in football history) and have not played in top competition since the 1890s, competing instead in matches against other armed forces teams.

Club honours

* FA Cup Winners : 1875
* FA Cup Finalists : 1872, 1874 and 1878

International players

England

Several former engineers went on to represent their country. The following six players played for England whilst on the books of Royal Engineers A.F.C. (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Royal Engineers A.F.C.): [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamClubs/Clubs/RoyalEngineers.html Club Affiliations - Royal Engineers] ]

*Horace Barnet (1 cap)
*Alfred Goodwyn (1 cap)
*Herbert Rawson (1 cap)
*Bruce Russell (1 cap)
*Pelham von Donop (2 caps)
*Cecil Wingfield-Stratford (1 cap)

cotland

The following played for Scotland whilst on the books of Royal Engineers A.F.C.: [ [http://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/clubs/royalengineers.html Scotland players - Royal Engineers] ]

*John Edward Blackburn (1 cap)
*Henry Renny-Tailyour (1 cap)

References

External links

*fchd|id=ROYALENG|name=Royal Engineers A.F.C.
* [http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_article.htm Royal Engineers Museum] When the Sappers won the FA Cup 1875
* [http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/sport/football/history.htm History of the Royal Engineers football team]
* [http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/index.htm Home Page of the Royal Engineers]