Alfred George Goodwyn (13 March 1850 – 14 March 1874) was an English

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

, who represented his regiment at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. He was a member of the Regiment's team that was defeated in the very first FA Cup final. He also represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the second international football match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

1873 Events January–March * 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 defe ...

Career

Goodwyn was born at Roorhir,

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now Ruhea,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

). In 1869, he entered the Royal Military Academy at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. In August 1871, he was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

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

. Fellow graduates on the same day were two of his fellow FA Cup finalists, Edmond Cotter and

Herbert Muirhead Col. Herbert Hugh Muirhead (10 December 1850 – 4 March 1904) was a British soldier, who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 FA Cup Final. Family Muirhead was born at 3 Oriental Place, Brighton, the son of James Patrick Muirhead (1813– ...

, as well as Richard Ruck, who played in the 1875 FA Cup Final. RoyalEngineers1872

He played football for the regiment, generally playing in defence, and was a member of the team who reached the first final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

. En route to the final, the Engineers did not concede a goal and defeated

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding ...

5–0, Hampstead Heathens 3–0 and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

3–0 (after a goalless draw). Although the Engineers entered

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, played at

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 16 March 1872, as "favourites to win the trophy", their opponents, the Wanderers, won the match 1–0. He was selected for the second official international match between

and

played at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 8 March 1873, together with his Royal Engineers colleague, Pelham von Donop who played alongside him in defence. England won the match 4–2. In its report on the match, the ''Glasgow Herald'' (Monday, 10 March 1873) noted that "the back play of A G Goodwyn ... was faultless". In 1874, Goodwyn was posted back to India with his regiment, where he died, at

Roorkee Roorkee (Rūṛkī) is a city and a municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar city, the district headquarter. It is spread over a flat terrain under Sivalik Hills of Himalayas. The ...

, on 14 March 1874 (the day after his 24th birthday) as a result of injuries suffered two days earlier in a horse riding accident and ironically on the same day as the

1874 FA Cup Final The 1874 FA Cup final was a football match between Oxford University and Royal Engineers on 14 March 1874 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the third final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup ...

where his colleagues were defeated 2–0 by

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.The Early FA Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs, a Who's Who and Match Facts 1872 to 1883, pp=42,81 He was the first England international footballer to die.

Sporting honours

Royal Engineers *

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

finalist:

References

External links

*
England football career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwyn, Alfred 1850 births 1874 deaths Association football midfielders England international footballers English footballers FA Cup Final players Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers A.F.C. players Royal Engineers officers Deaths by horse-riding accident in India British people in colonial India

Career

Sporting honours

See also

References

External links