Alexander Tod was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who scored for Old Carthusians in its 1881 FA Cup Final win.

Career

Tod was born on board the ship

HMS Trafalgar Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Trafalgar'', after the Battle of Trafalgar: * was a 106-gun first rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for th ...

, the son of Lieutenant Alexander George Tod of the Madras Light Infantry and his wife Isabella, on 25 March 1857. He went up to

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

, an early hotbed of the Association game, in 1869, and captained the "twenty-two" against the "eleven" in an inter-school match in 1873. He made an appearance for the celebrated Wanderers, albeit only as a "substitute", as Charles Alcock could only persuade six Wanderers to turn up to

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

for a match against Charterhouse School, so Tod was one of many schoolboys recruited to help the visitors. His first goal in a "first-class" match was against Weyside in a 2–0 win in early 1874; he scored a hat-trick against the 10th Regiment at Christmas the following year. By 1876 he had left school, and represented the Old Carthusians against the school in February 1877. He took his degree at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, although never represented the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

on the football pitch. The Old Carthusians first entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

1879–80 FA Cup The 1879–80 Football Association Challenge Cup was the ninth staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to sco ...

, and Tod appeared in the O.C.'s first-ever Cup match, a 4–0 win over Acton, as a right-sided forward, scoring the second goal. He did not however play in the second round defeat at the

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

against the Wanderers. In the

1880–81 FA Cup The 1880–81 Football Association Challenge Cup was the tenth staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to sco ...

, he did not appear until the fifth round, this time on the left of the forward line; at that stage the Carthusians knocked out the holders

Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers was from its foundation in 1869 a leading English sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football, association football and rugby union. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club play ...

. He had a decisive impact in the semi-final scoring one of the O.C.'s four goals against

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

, as well as coming close with another shot and claiming a share in the "assist" for another goal. His crowning achievement was scoring the third and decisive goal in the final against the

Old Etonians This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians. Former pupils Politics *Robert ...

, either by deflecting a shot from

Richards Richards may refer to: *Richards (surname) In places: * Richards, New South Wales, Australia * Richards, Missouri, United States * Richards, Texas, United States In other uses: * Richards (lunar crater), on the Moon See also * Richard (dis ...

or finishing a pass from William Page. He played in the O.C.'s three ties in the

1881–82 FA Cup The 1881–82 Football Association Challenge Cup was the 11th staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score ...

, but the defeat in the third round by the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

was his final match in the competition. His final game for the O.C.s appears to have been the club's 2–0 win at

Sheffield F.C. Sheffield Football Club is an English association football, football club, currently based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. They compete in the , on the eighth level of the English football league system, English football pyramid. Founded in October ...

in January 1882.

Personal life

After graduation, Tod became a teacher at Charterhouse, ultimately becoming Master of Verites House. He was also commissioned as an historian to write the history of the school, first published in 1905. Tod died in Clifton, Bristol, on 22 January 1942, leaving an estate of £15,571 2/2.

Honours

Old Carthusians *

winner:

1881 Events January * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tod, Alexander 1857 births 1942 deaths Old Carthusians F.C. players Wanderers F.C. players Men's association football forwards People educated at Charterhouse School People born at sea Teachers at Charterhouse School