By Lindsay Ash WHEN you settle down to watch the FA Cup this year, whether the early rounds or indeed the final itself, one or two will remember great games and moments from the past in this, the greatest of all cup competitions. There have been so many: Ronnie Radford’s oft-played goal against Newcastle, Trautmann playing on with a broken neck, the Matthews Cup Final, the White Horse Cup Final, Second Division Sunderland beating Leeds or Southampton beating Manchester United. Should someone mention Alcock it’s likely they have raised the topic of my scribblings in the JEP, very few, if any, will think of Charles Alcock, or even know who he is, yet he is the man who played the major part in the FA Cup coming into being and I thought I’d delve into who this long-forgotten hero was and his contribution. Charles Alcock was born in Sunderland, the second son of a ship builder and owner. He was educated at Harrow School where he first played football and, after leaving school in 1863, helped to form a Football club called Wanderers FC, who were made up largely of Old Harrovians. Alcock was a major figure in establishing the rules of the game. It’s important to remember that in the early days there were three forms of football that had largely emerged from public schools: Harrow football, Rugby football and the third, which we now know as Association football. Alcock was a member of the Football Association, firstly as a committee member then as its secretary from 1866 to 1895. During this time he oversaw the first England v Scotland matches where he captained the England side and dealt with the complaints from the Scots that their side consisted of too many “anglos”, replying in strong terms to criticism from The Scotsman paper. They actually had more differences about the rules than the domicile of players, one of which nicely highlights the difficulties of forming one code of rules for the sport to be played under and that involved the number of players permitted on each team. Alcock stating about the Scots opinion: “More than Eleven we do not care to play, as it is with greater numbers it is our opinion the game becomes less scientific and more a trial of charging and brute strength”. Any observers of the Old Firm game over the years may argue that the limiting of numbers has not prevented the game becoming “less scientific”. I’d love to tell you at this stage that one of the main complainants was Ms Sturgeon’s Great Great Grandfather, but sadly I can find no evidence to that effect! It was 1871, in his role as FA Secretary, that he enjoyed perhaps his finest hour when he proposed that “it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established… for all clubs belonging to the Association” it is doubtful that he could have imagined that one day 661 clubs would enter as they have for the 2025 edition. The competition was based around the Harrow School inter-house competitions that were conducted on a “sudden death” knockout basis. It was fitting therefore that the first winners of the trophy at The Oval (where the final was played) was a Wanderers side containing many Old Harrovians and captained by none other than Charles Alcock. He also refereed the 1875 and 1879 finals. It would be easy to think that pioneering International Football and the FA Cup, plus to have played in both, were enough for anyone but there were in fact other achievements that he could lay claim to. Firstly he played a leading role in pioneering Professional Football by using the pathway that he had overseen in his role as Secretary of Surrey CCC… yes that’s right he also excelled in the world of cricket, again both in the role of player and administrator. Not only did he play for Middlesex and the MCC during his tenure at Surrey he also arranged the first cricket test match to be played in England between England and Australia in 1880 at The Oval. This was not the only first as in 1886 he arranged a match between an English team and an Indian Parsee team this event is marked every year where a team from the Parsee Gymkhana Mumbai play The Charles Alcock Eleven. You may wonder what he did for a living? Well, he wrote in and published a number of periodicals including a Football Annual and a Cricket Annual. How he found the time I am not quite sure. These days he would undoubtedly have been honoured in some way but he never was and now his name is all but forgotten. So, when you watch the multi-millionaires contesting this year’s final or tune in to watch the Ashes battle from Australia this winter spare a brief thought for a sporting pioneer who few remember who laid the foundations for three of the great competitions in British sport. The FA Cup, Test Cricket and England v Scotland, not a bad effort. Lindsay Ash was Deputy for St Clement between 2018 and 2022, serving as Assistant Treasury and Home Affairs Minister under Chief Minister John Le Fondré. He worked in the City of London for 15 years as a futures broker before moving to Jersey and working in the Island’s finance industry from 2000.Feedback welcome on Twitter @Getonthelash2