Rhubarb October 2022

By Chris Nathan, School Archivist Early Teddies and THE ROUND BALl game

FA Cup winners 1881, the Old Carthusians (Property of the Charterhouse Archives)

With the introduction of football (or soccer) as a sports option for all pupils in all year groups, starting in the SpringTerm 2023, we thought it would be interesting to look back at the history of this sport atTeddies.

MARTYRS

I n days gone by, just having a game of soccer at Teddies for a little bit of exercise on the Lower Fields was seen as ‘poor show’ and if spotted carrying the round ball back across the Quad, one risked a fierce rebuke from any passing Prefect, especially if he was also a member of the current School XV! In the early years, though, there were fewer qualms and the School was happy to have connections with association football.The game of rugby football involved a lot of ‘dribbling’ the ball, an art at which some pupils became extremely proficient.

out for Corinthian-Casuals. He was killed in action in the First WorldWar at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Fast forward to the SecondWorldWar and Neil Watson Smith was on Arsenal FC’s books as an amateur in 1942 and played for the England Amateur XI in 1942/3. Interest in soccer was not restricted to playing the game,Warden Fisher was known to be a keen supporter of Sheffield United and the fearsome CCF RSM SamTero in the 1950s was a lifelong follower of Northampton Town ‘The Cobblers’. introduction of a girls’ XI last year, the School has introduced football across all year groups for girls and boys, with fixtures against Radley, Marlborough and MCS. It is also a popular activity with a fiercely fought inter-house competition each year.This summer the pupils enjoyed a friendly game of football against the Oxfordshire Youth Refugee Football Team, who visited the school as part of the Beyond Teddies Partnership programme – the Refugee Team won but fun was had by all! In 2022, following feedback from pupils and parents, and building on the successful

honour at the replay, which Barnsley won and afterwards he was presented with the match ball! There were many other early OSE with connections to the round ball game. Henry Hammond, an Oxford Soccer Blue in 1888/9, went on to win an England Cap in 1889. EdwardWynyard, possibly

the most all-round sportsman ever produced by the School, was the first OSE

Edward Wynyard (left) and Russell Bencraft (right)

OSEs Russell Bencraft (left) and Reverend Tiverton Preedy (right)

to win an England Cricket Cap and the only OSE to play in a FA Cup Final, in 1881, for the Old Carthusians (his previous school was Charterhouse) in a 3-0 win over the Old Etonians at the Kennington Oval, when he scored one of the goals. (Pictured above). Christopher de Labat was the youngest of two New Zealand-born Teddies brothers, both of whom excelled at sport. He won a Soccer Blue at Oxford in 1891 and played for the Corinthian-Casuals, as well as representing Sussex and Oxford.

OSEs Russell Bencraft and Tiverton Preedy were both founding fathers of soccer clubs which are now well-known professional clubs. Bencraft played for and

then saved Hampshire CCC from extinction in the 1890s. He was an

excellent footballer of both codes, playing rugby for the Trojans RFC and soccer in the Southern League, later becoming its President. He played for Southampton St Mary’s FC and helped it secure the use of the County Ground, later the stadium nicknamed ‘the Dell’, used by Southampton FC until 2005.The Reverend Tiverton Preedy was the youngest of six Teddies brothers, who became a clergyman inYorkshire. He formed a football club in Barnsley for the local miners’ recreation, occasionally joining in play. He was responsible for securing the use of the land on which the current Barnsley FC’s Oakwell Stadium stands today. His roots with the club were never forgotten and when Barnsley reached the FA Cup Final in 1912 against West Bromwich Albion, he was guest of

Henry Hammond far right, in the England XI 1889

Henry Lowe gained a Cambridge Soccer Blue in 1896, also playing for Corinthian Casuals. Douglas Lambert won seven international England caps for rugby football in 1908-11, playing his club rugby for the Harlequins RFC but also turning

OxfordYouth Refugee Team v Teddies, Spring 2022.

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