Arthur Melmoth Walters (26 January 1865 – 2 May 1941) 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 played as a defender for the Old Carthusians and the Corinthians in the late nineteenth century as well as making nine appearances 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 ...

. He was president of the

Law Society of England and Wales The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as ...

. He and his elder brother, Percy Melmoth Walters, were known as "morning" and "afternoon" in allusion to their initials. The brothers were generally regarded as the finest fullbacks in England for a number of years; according to Philip Gibbons in his "''History of the Game from 1863 to 1900''" this was due mainly to their own defensive system based on the combination game used 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 ...

during the early 1870s.

Family and education

Walters was born in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...

, Surrey, the son of William Melmoth Walters (1835–1926), a solicitor and member of an old Somerset family, and Marian Eleanor Leggatt (b. 1840). He was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

, then Charterhouse where he played for the school football team in 1882 and 1883 before going up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he won a

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in each of the years from 1884 to 1887. In 1892, he married Amy Constance Parbury, the daughter of G. W. Parbury, of Ifield, Crawley and they had 5 sons and 4 daughters, including Amy (born 1894), Anthony (1895), Herbert (1900), Bridget (1914) and Thomas (1917) and Marion Elizabeth (born 1901).

Football career

Corinthian

In his first year at Cambridge, Walters joined the Corinthian club which had been established two years earlier with a view to giving amateur players the opportunity to play together on a regular basis to improve the quality and strength of the England team. Arthur made his debut for Corinthian on 13 November 1884, in a 7–1 defeat by Notts Club. He was unable to take part in the Corinthians tour of northern England in December, but was able to join the Easter tour in which five games were played in six days. Arthur played in four of the five games, including the opening fixture against

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 ...

on 6 April 1885, when he played at left-back with his brother Percy alongside him on the right. This match was the first of many over the next six years in which the two brothers played alongside each other as the two full backs. Amongst the more significant matches were a 6–0 defeat 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 ...

holders,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, in December 1885 and a 7–0 victory over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in March 1886, when fellow Old Carthusian William Cobbold scored four goals. The brothers' final match together for Corinthian was on 8 November 1890 in an eight-goal victory over

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in which younger brother H.M. Walters (who was only playing his second match) scored a hat-trick, with another goal from Percy. The other four goals came from V.G. Manns, who was playing his only match for Corinthian. Shortly after this match, the younger brother died from a football injury inflicted during a match and, in deference to their parents' wishes, both brothers retired from football to concentrate on their legal careers. The withdrawal of the Walters brothers from the Corinthian team had a significant effect on the team's performances as they were "extremely hard to replace, and Corinthian were destined to win only six of their next nineteen games". Despite the promise made to their parents, the brothers made a return to the Corinthians for a multi-sport tournament against the

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

s rugby club in April 1892. Arthur played in the soccer match (without Percy) which Corinthian won 6–0, with

Tinsley Lindley His Honour Tinsley Lindley, OBE (27 October 1865 – 31 March 1940) was an English footballer. He was described as "an ideal centre forward". He scored three goals in his debut aged 16 for Nottingham Forest. He was an amateur who did not wear fo ...

scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. The clubs also played a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

match, which Corinthian won 16–13, although the match was not a very serious encounter and was described by

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

newspaper as "a very amusing game". The rugby match was followed by an athletics meeting in which C. B. Fry was prominent, winning both the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. Finally, the two clubs met a few weeks later in a

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 ...

match in which Percy played alongside several other prominent Corinthians, including Fry, Lindley and

Charles Wreford-Brown Charles Wreford-Brown (9 October 1866 – 26 November 1951) was an English sportsman. He captained the England national football team and was a county cricketer during the Victorian age, and later acted as a sports legislator during the 20th ce ...

. Arthur's final Corinthian matches came when he made a brief come-back at the end of the 1892–93 season with appearances against Bournemouth and Queen's Park. During his time with the Corinthians, Walters made 48 appearances, scoring once.

Old Carthusians

After graduating in 1887, Walters joined the old-boys' team for his former school, the Old Carthusians. His major successes came late in his time with the club, reaching successive

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

finals, winning the cup in 1894, the competition's inaugural year, and reaching the final in 1895.

England

Arthur and Percy made their

debuts together on 28 February 1885 in a 4–0 victory over

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 ...

, with Arthur at right back and Percy on the left. In the 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 ...

on 27 March 1886, nine of the eleven players selected were members of the Corinthian club, although all had their primary affiliation with other clubs. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with England's being scored by fellow Corinthian

. Arthur made a total of nine appearances for England, with the final match being against Scotland in the

1890 British Home Championship Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 189 for th ...

. The match ended 1–1, and as a result England and Scotland shared the championship. Of the nine matches played for England, four were won, three drawn (all against Scotland) and two were lost (also against Scotland).

Life away from sport

Walters spent some time as a volunteer in the army, and in August 1886, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the 3rd Surrey Rifles. Walters eventually qualified as a solicitor in 1899, and joined the family firm. He was president of the

. He became a director of the London Guarantee and Accident Co., and of the Phoenix Assurance Co. He died at his home at Minnickwood, Holmwood, Surrey on 2 May 1941 aged 76. His great-grandson is the journalist

Tom Bradby Thomas Matthew Bradby (born 13 January 1967) is a British journalist and novelist who has presented in the '' ITV News at Ten'' since 2015. He was previously a political editor for ITV News from 2005 to 2015, and presented '' The Agenda with To ...

Sporting honours

Old Carthusians *

winners: 1894 *

finalists: 1895.

References

External links

*
England profile on www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Arthur Melmoth 1865 births 1941 deaths People from Ewell People educated at Charterhouse School English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Cambridge University A.F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English solicitors Presidents of the Law Society of England and Wales Old Carthusians F.C. players People from Holmwood People educated at Windlesham House School