Cuthbert Ottaway, first captain of the England international football team, was regarded by contemporaries as perhaps the most versatile sportsman of his generation.

Cuthbert John Ottaway (July 19, 1850-April 2, 1878), one of the most talented and versatile sportsmen of the 1870s, was the first captain of the England Association Football team and led his team in the first international football match ever played. Ottaway was also a noted cricketer until his early death at the age of only 27. 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First... The striker (wearing red jersey) has run past the defender (in white jersey) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to stop the ball. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ...

Early life and professional career

Cuthbert Ottaway was born in Dover and educated at Eton and Oxford, where he won Blues for representing his university at football, cricket, rackets, athletics and real tennis. He trained as a barrister and was called to the bar in 1873. He practised law until his death, in London, as a result of complications from a chill caught in the course of a night's dancing. Map sources for Dover at grid reference TR315415 Arms of Dover Borough Council This article is about the English port town. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known independent school for boys, which is often described as the most famous school in the world. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... A University Sporting Blue is earned by sportsmen at Cambridge University and Oxford University and some other universities in a designated sports (e. ... Racquets (Commonwealth English) or rackets (American English) is an indoor racquet sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. ... Typical outdoor red rubber track Athletics, also known, especially in American English, as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sport events, which can roughly be divided into running, throwing, and jumping. ... Real tennis is the original racket sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis, or tennis, is descended. ... A barrister (advocate in Scotland and the Channel Islands, barrister-at-law in Ireland and elsewhere) is a lawyer found in some Common law jurisdictions who principally, but not exclusively, represents litigants as their advocate before the courts of that jurisdiction. ... In England and Wales, barristers (i. ... This article is about the British city. ...

Footballing career

Ottaway's greatest successes came as a footballer. He attended school and university at a time when the new Association code was gaining considerable popularity, and - as was often the case in the earliest days of the amateur game - represented several teams, playing for both Old Etonians and Oxford University A.F.C. The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College. ... Oxford University Association Football club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford. ...

As a club player, Ottaway took part in three successive FA Cup finals between 1873 and 1875, losing 1-2 with Oxford University against Wanderers F.C. in 1873, winning 2-0 with Oxford against Royal Engineers a year later, and then representing Old Etonians against Royal Engineers in 1875. He played on the wing in the 7- and 8-man forward lines then considered the tactical norm, and was noted for his speed and dribbling ability - this at a time when "the dribbling game", in which one man retained control of the ball for as long as possible until tackled, had yet to be superceded by the "combination" (passing) game in England. The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... The Wanderers Football Club were an amateur football club, who were one of the leading clubs in English football in the 1860s and 1870s. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ... The Royal Engineers AFC is a football team founded in 1863, under the leadership of Major Marindin of the Corps of Royal Engineers. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Ottaway played an important part in two of his three finals. In 1874 he captained Oxford and, match reports note, pinned the Engineers back in their own half for long periods with extended excursions down the wing. He also participated in a three-man dribble that took the ball almost the whole length of the pitch and resulted in the scoring of his team's second and decisive goal. In 1875, Ottaway captained Old Etonians, but received a severe hack on his ankle midway through the second period of the final and was forced to leave the field; in his absence, the Old Boys held on for a 1-1 draw with their opponents after a period of extra time had been played. Ottaway failed to recover in time for the replay, held only three days later, and Etonians also lost the services of three other players who had prior commitments. Unable to obtain adequate replacements, the Old Boys arrived at the ground an hour late and lost the delayed replay 0-2. 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

As an international, Ottaway was selected to lead the England team travelling to Partick to meet Scotland on 30 November 1872 in what is now recognised as the first international match to be played. (England had met a "Scotland" team in a friendly two years earlier, but this match was not regarded as official as the Scotland players were drawn solely from those then domiciled in England.) England dominated the match, played before a crowd of around 4,000 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club, but were unable to break down an obdurate Scottish defence and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Patrick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Scotland 9 - 0 Wales (Glasgow, Scotland; 23 March 1878) Worst defeat Uruguay 7 - 0 Scotland (Basel, Switzerland; 19 June 1954) World Cup Appearances 8 (First in 1954) Best result Round 1, all European Championship Appearances 2 (First...

Ottaway did not play in the return fixture, arranged in London for 8 March 1873, but again captained his country in the third England-Scotland international, played once again at Partick on 7 March 1874. On this occasion the result was a 2-1 victory for Scotland. This article is about the British city. ...

The reasons for Ottaway's selection as England captain in 1872, while he was still at university, have not survived. It is, however, noteworthy that he was then already widely regarded as the finest sportsman to represent Oxford in many years, and that the Oxford University team contributed no fewer than three players to the England squad, while eight other clubs supplied only a single player each.

Cricketing career

As a cricketer, Cuthbert Ottaway represented Oxford University, Gentlemen, South of England, Middlesex, Kent and M.C.C., also touring the United States with an England team in 1872. He played as a right-handed batsman, scoring two first-class centuries, both notched at the end of his career. Middlesex County Cricket Club is a first-class cricket club in England, named after the historic county of Middlesex in which their home ground, Lords Cricket Ground in London, is located. ... Kent County Cricket Club is an English county cricket club based at Canterbury, Kent. ... Lords 2005 The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), founded in 1787, is a private members club and was the original governing body of cricket in England and across the world. ... The English cricket team is a national cricket team which nominally represents England and Wales, but is a de facto United Kingdom team. ...

While at Oxford, Ottaway played in four Varsity Matches against Cambridge, the most notable of which was his first, in 1870 - a game still remembered as "Cobden's Match". Scoring 69 in Oxford's second innings - the highest total in the match - and taking an exceptional catch one-handed at long on, Ottaway played a full part in helping his team to a position in which, with three wickets remaining, they needed to score four runs from the final four-ball over to win the game. Bets were taken among the spectators at 100-1 on for Oxford to win from this position, but they were thwarted by the Cambridge bowler Frank Cobden, who took a hat-trick with his last three balls to leave Ottaway's team one run short of a draw and two short of the total required for victory. "By superior bowling and infinitely superior fielding, Oxford reached a position where they could not lose; and they lost," commented the History of the OUCC. A varsity match refers to a sporting fixture between two university rivals. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... In sports, a hat-trick (more often rendered in North America as hat trick, without the hyphen) is associated with achieving something in a group of three. ...

References

• Gibbons, Philip (2001). Association Football in Victorian England: A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Leicstershire: Upfront Publishing. ISBN 1-84426-035-6.
• Gibson, Alfred, and William Pickford (1906). Association Football and the Men Who Made It. London, 4 vols.: The Caxton Publishing Company.
• Wall, Sir Frederick (2006 reprint of 1935 original). 50 Years of Football 1884-1934. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books.

External links

• [1] Ottaway's record as England football captain
• [2] 19th century international football records
• [3] England internationals and the England captaincy
• [4] Ottaway's first-class cricket record
• [5] BBC report on the first England-Scotland football international
• [6] 1873 FA Cup Final
• [7] 1874 FA Cup Final
• [8] 1875 FA Cup final
• [9] Cobden's Match