Albert James Aldridge (4 August 1863 – 22 June 1891) was an English

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 played as a full back. He was born in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, won 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 ...

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

and played twice for the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

Career

Walsall Swifts

Aldridge started his career as a youth player at hometown club Walsall Swifts, where he spent six seasons (five as a youth player and one as a senior player). He played in nine

ties and scored one goal, in a third round win over Mitchell St George's in January 1885.

West Bromwich Albion

In March 1886 Aldridge moved to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

where he earned his first cap 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 a

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

match against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in Belfast. He had great success in the FA Cup while at West Bromwich Albion, helping them reach the final in 1887, and to win the trophy in

by beating the much-fancied

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in the final.

Walsall Town Swifts

Despite his cup heroics, Aldridge moved back to the newly merged

Walsall Town Swifts Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflec ...

during that summer. He played in 13 matches in the Midland Association for the "Saddlers" in 1888–89 and earned his second, and final, England cap in a match against Ireland in the British Home Championship at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. Aldridge was the second player to play for England while at Walsall, after Alf Jones who appeared for the national side while playing for Walsall Swifts in 1882.

Aston Villa

In August 1889 Aldridge joined

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, where he made 17 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

as Villa finished eighth. His club and League debut was on 7 September 1889 at Wellington Road, Perry Barr, when

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

were the visitors. The ''Cricket and Football Field'' of 7 September reported on the match. It was 1–1 at half-time and 2–2 at full-time. Aldridge played at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Aldridge got a couple of mentions as he did some good defensive work. His last match was on 28 December 1889 when Villa travelled to the County Ground, Derby. Aldridge played in a less familiar position,

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Aston Villa lost 5–0. The "poor health" referred to in Matthews' book meant he missed the rest of the season. Villa kept Aldridge on the books until April 1891, a few months before he died.

Death

Aldridge died on 22 June 1891 at his home in

, due to poor health. He was only 27 years old.

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

winner:

* FA Cup runner-up:

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Albert 1863 births 1891 deaths Footballers from Walsall English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Walsall F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players English Football League players