Thurston Rostron (21 April 1863 – 3 July 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 his club football at

inside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

for

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and

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 ...

. He made two 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 ...

in 1881, when he was under 18. At the time of his England appearances, he was the second-youngest England player ever. Throughout his career he was known as "Tot" on account of his size, being only 5 ft 6in tall. Rostron is the first cousin three times removed of the football YouTuber Thogdad.

Career

Rostron was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and after youth football with Helmshore and Old Wanderers he joined

as a teenager. He was the youngest member of their team which reached the

FA Cup Semi-final The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutra ...

1881 Events January * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...

played on 26 March 1881, when Darwen FC were beaten 4–1 by the eventual winners, the Old Carthusians. Earlier he had become the second youngest player to represent

when he was selected to play against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 26 February 1881, when he was 17 years 311 days old. Only

James Prinsep James Prinsep (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, Orientalism, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharost ...

was younger on his debut at that time. Subsequently,

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a cl ...

and

Jude Bellingham Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the England national football team, England national team. Finis ...

have appeared for England at a younger age, and thus Rostron now stands fifth in the list of England's youngest players. For the match against Wales, played at

Alexandra Meadows Alexandra Meadows is the home ground of the East Lancashire Cricket Club in Blackburn. Between 1878 and 1881 the ground was used as the home venue for the Blackburn Rovers football team, following their move from the Pleasington Cricket Ground ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, the English selectors had picked an inexperienced team with seven players making their debuts. Rostron's Darwen teammate, Thomas Marshall played alongside him on the right-wing. England were "a little over-confident against the Welsh, who recorded their first victory on English soil with a 1–0 success". Despite this defeat, Rostron was selected for the next international, 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 ...

played 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 ...

on 12 March 1881. Rostron played at

outside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

England 1 Scotland 6, 12 March 1881 (Match summary)
/ref> but England went down to a "humiliating" 6–1 defeat. Rostron left Darwen during the 1883–84 season to play for

Great Lever Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses runnin ...

, but returned for the start of the following season. By January 1885, he had joined

and appeared in an

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 ...

match in January. After this he "drifted out of the game". Originally a

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

by trade, Rostron became a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

keeper, but died on 3 July 1891, aged 28. His name is displayed in a corridor in

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

where the names of the first 1000 people to play for England are displayed.

References

External links

Article on Darwen F.C. website
*
England profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rostron, Thurston 1863 births 1891 deaths Footballers from Darwen English men's footballers England men's international footballers Darwen F.C. (1870) players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Men's association football forwards