Charles Bambridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Charles Bambridge (30 July 1858 – 8 November 1935) was an English footballer who made eighteen appearances as a left winger for England between 1879 and 1887, being appointed captain twice. He was one of three brothers who played for England.
He was one of the first "stars" of the England side who was an extremely fast winger. Throughout his career he was known as "Charlie Bam".[1]
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[edit] Career
Ernest Bambridge was born in Windsor, Berkshire, the fifth child of Sophia (née Thorington) and William Samuel Bambridge, who had been a missionary in Waimate, New Zealand, and was then the photographer to Queen Victoria. He was educated at St Mark's School in Windsor and then Malvern College and was a member of the college football team.
His football career was spent with Swifts, Windsor Home Park, Streatham, Upton Park, Clapham Rovers and Corinthian and he gained representative honours for Surrey, Berkshire and London.
He made his debut for England against Scotland at Kennington Oval on 5 April 1879. At half time, England were 4–1 down to the Scots. Bambridge scored early in the second half and his team-mates had levelled the score by the 75th minute. With less than ten minutes remaining, the Scots scored what they thought was the winning goal but the referee disallowed it as offside. The English forwards then raced upfield with Bambridge scoring the winning goal, thus enabling England to claim their first victory over the Scots since 1873 in what was described as "the most exciting England and Scotland game to date".[2][3]
His next England appearance came a year later on 13 March 1880 and was another exciting encounter in which Bambridge again scored twice. This time it was the Scots who were the winners, 5–4, with a hat trick from George Ker. Bambridge scored against the Scots again in the following year's international, a consolation goal in a 6–1 defeat.
He was appointed captain for the first match between England and Ireland played at Bloomfield, Belfast on February 18, 1882. Ireland were "totally dominated by the visitors"[4] who won the game 13–0, with Bambridge scoring once. The other goal scorers included Aston Villa forwards, Howard Vaughton who scored five and Arthur Brown with four.[5]
In the match against Wales on 13 March 1882, Bambridge left the field after only 3 minutes because of injury, and England played on with ten men, losing 5–3 with two late goals for the Welsh.[6] The English gained their "revenge" the following year with a 5–0 victory in which Bambridge scored once, with Clement Mitchell scoring a hat-trick. In this match his younger brother Arthur played on the right wing.[7] For the match against Ireland on 23 February 1884, Charles again played alongside Arthur; both brothers scored in an 8–1 victory, (Charles scoring twice) but he again left the pitch with an injury after 75 minutes.[8]
He continued to be selected regularly for England over the next few years, scoring against the Irish and the Scots in 1885. His second captaincy came in a 7–0 victory over the Irish on 5 February 1887, in which Tinsley Lindley scored a hat-trick.[9] His final England appearance came a month later against Scotland on 19 March. He made a total of 18 appearances for England over an eight year career, scoring 11 goals. He was the first player to score more than ten goals for his country.[1]
He was a member of the Football Association committee from 1883 to 1886 and a member of the Corinthians original committee in 1882. He became honorary secretary of the Corinthians between 1923 and 1932.
Two of his brothers, Arthur and Ernest, also played for England making 3 and 1 appearances respectively. They are the only trio of brothers to have played for England.[10]
[edit] Outside football
Bambridge earned his living as a Lloyd's underwriter, but went "broke" at Lloyd's in 1909.
He married Kathleen Sylvia Bailey on 13 August 1862 and had four children. Two of his sons, Rupert and Frederick, were killed in France during the First World War. His grandson, Anthony Charles Bambridge, was managing director of Colmans Foods in the 1970s.
Charles died on 8 November 1935, aged 77. His widow, Kathleen, lived on until until 1960 and died at the age of 97.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Betts, Graham (2006). England: Player by player. Green Umbrella Publishing, p.23. ISBN 1-905009-63-1.
- ^ Gibbons, Philip (2001). Association Football in Victorian England - A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing, p.56. ISBN 1-84426-035-6.
- ^ England 5 - Scotland 4, 5th April 1879 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ Gibbons. , pp.63-64.
- ^ Ireland 0 - England 13, 18th February 1882 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ Wales 5 - England 3, 13rd March 1882 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ England 5 - Wales 0, 3rd February 1883 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ Ireland 1 - England 8, 23rd February 1884 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ England 7 - Ireland 0, 5th February 1887 Match summary. www.englandstats.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
- ^ Only instance of three footballing brothers playing for England. www.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
[edit] External links
- Charles Bambridge England profile at Englandstats
- England profile
- Family history
- The Famous Bambridge Brothers - Article in Slough History online
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charles Bambridge |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Edward Bambridge |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Footballer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 30 July 1858 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Windsor England |
| DATE OF DEATH | 8 November 1935 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
