Old School Ties

Old Reptonians vs. Old Aldenhamians

By David Bauckham
Infootball & Soccer, November 20Th, 2016

After the FA Cup, the oldest knock-out competition in British Football is The Arthur Dunn Cup. It carries the name of Old Etonian Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn (1860-1902), one of the finest footballers of his generation who won five England caps and was the last amateur captain of the national team. In addition to playing for Old Etonians, including in the 1882 and 1883 FA Cup Finals, Dunn also played thirty-two times for Corinthians, scoring twelve goals. In 1901 not long before he died suddenly at the age of just forty-two, Dunn had put forward the idea of an Old Boys cup competition, no doubt mindful that the dominance of the Public Schools in the FA Cup had been broken, and the Arthur Dunn Cup was born in 1903 as a lasting memorial. The first President of the competition was Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird (1847-1923), who had played alongside Dunn as the Captain of Old Etonians. Kinnaird played in a remarkable nine FA Cup Finals, and was on the winning side five times with Eton and the Wanderers. He was later President of the Football Association, and such was his contribution that in 1911 he was presented with the FA Cup itself.

Read the rest of David Bauckham's article at https://dbauckham.exposure.co/old-school-ties and show your gratitude by voting for David in this year's Football Supporters' Federation Annual Awards at ​https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/fsf-awards-2016.