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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, who represented his regiment at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. 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 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 second international football 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 ...

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 ...

Career

Goodwyn was born at Roorhir,

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now Ruhea,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

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

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, 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 mainta ...

. In August 1871, he was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 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 ...

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

Edmond Cotter Col. Edmond William Cotter (12 February 1852 – 23 August 1934) was an Irish Republican, who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 FA Cup Final. As a soldier, he was engaged in four military campaigns: the Ashanti campaign of 1873–74 ...

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 Major-General Sir Richard Mathews Ruck (27 May 1851 – 17 March 1935) was a British Army officer who served with the Royal Engineers, spending most of his career in the Submarine Mining Service, before becoming the Director of Fortifications ...

, 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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 ...

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

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

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 buildin ...

3–0 (after a goalless draw). Although the Engineers entered the final, played at

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 ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Municipal Corporations in India, municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar, the district headquarters. It is spread over a flat terrain under 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 where his colleagues were defeated 2–0 by

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 ...

.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 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 ...

finalist:

References

External links

*
England football career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwyn, Alfred 1850 births 1874 deaths Men's association football midfielders England men's international footballers English men's footballers Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers A.F.C. players Royal Engineers officers Deaths by horse-riding accident in India British sportspeople in British India

Career

Sporting honours

See also

References

External links