Reginald Courtenay Welch (17 October 1851 – 4 June 1939) was an English footballer, a key figure in the early years of the sport. He played for the Wanderers in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

s of

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

and

1873 Events January * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat the Unit ...

, and also played for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the first ever international match. During his career he appeared both in

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

and as a defender.

Biography

Welch was born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London on 17 October 1851 and attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. He was the son of John Welch, a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. Following his career in football, Welch was an Army tutor between 1883 and 1895, going on to become principal of the Army College at

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

, Surrey in 1895. He died at the College on 4 June 1939, aged 87, after more than 44 years as its principal. His funeral was held at St John's Church in nearby Hale and he was interred at the Green Lane Cemetery in Farnham.

Football career

While at Harrow, he represented the school at association football (colloquially known as "soccer") and went on to play for Old Harrovians before joining

Harrow Chequers Harrow Chequers Football Club was a football club from London, England, from 1865 to 1876. Derived from former pupils of Harrow School, the club was involved in the formation of the FA Cup in 1871. It was slated to play in three of the first s ...

. As an amateur he also played for The Wanderers, with whom he played as

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the inaugural FA Cup tournament. The match took place on 16 March 1872 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 ...

, London, England, with the Wanderers running out as 1–0 victors over a team from 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 ...

. On 30 November 1872 he was part of the

team that played out a 0–0 draw in the first official international match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In this match he played as half-back in a 1–1–8 or 1–2–7 formation. He is the only player to have represented

Harrow Chequers F.C. Harrow Chequers Football Club was a football club from London, England, from 1865 to 1876. Derived from former pupils of Harrow School, the club was involved in the formation of the FA Cup in 1871. It was slated to play in three of the first s ...

whilst on England duty. His record of having played in both the first FA Cup Final and the first international match is unique. In the next year, The Wanderers reached their second consecutive

and Welch was again on the winning side, this time playing in defence as The Wanderers beat

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

2–0 at

Lillie Bridge The Lillie Bridge Grounds was a sports ground on the Fulham side of West Brompton, London. It opened in 1866, coinciding with the opening of West Brompton station. It was named after the local landowner, Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) and ...

. On 7 March 1874, he made his second (and last) England appearance, now in goal, but this time he was on the losing side as England went down 2–1 to Scotland. He was also a member of The F.A. committee between 1873 and 1875, and again from 1879 to 1890. He was the last survivor of the

team from the inaugural international match, although he was outlived by

Billy MacKinnon William Muir MacKinnon (18 January 1852 – 24 May 1942) was a Scottish association football, footballer who played for Queen's Park F.C., Queen's Park and the Scotland national football team, Scotland national team in the 1870s. With Queen's P ...

Cricket career

Welch also represented Harrow School at

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, playing five matches during the 1871 season. A lower-order batsman, his highest score for the school was 12 in the drawn match against the Lords and Commons Cricket Club. His best bowling figures of 4–17 (4

wickets In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a ...

for 17 runs) came in the game against the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

on 3 June 1871, in which he took the wickets of both

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

batsman Edmund Sutton and

Test player

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was a Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North America and fo ...

. Welch was then selected to play for the Lyric Club in a match against Marylebone in 1891 and five years later, during his time as principal of the Army College in Farnham, he played in matches against the

3rd The King's Own Hussars The 3rd (The King's Own) Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and the Second World Wars, before being amalgamated with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, ...

and the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade.

Honours

; The Wanderers *

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 ...

winners:

;

* 2 Caps

References

External links

*
England profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Reginald de Courtenay 1851 births 1939 deaths Men's association football goalkeepers England men's international footballers English men's footballers Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington Harrow Chequers F.C. players People educated at Harrow School Wanderers F.C. players