Pioneer’s role in cup final oddity
WITH a UK TV audience estimated at eight million, plus half a billion people tuning in worldwide, it’s a fair bet that you’ve probably heard of the FA Cup Final.
Even if you’re not a fan of Chelsea or Liverpool, the event must have crossed your radar at some stage.
There are plenty of Welsh connections to the FA Cup Final – but how many of you know about the West Wales man who once hosted the final?
This is the point at which I give all of you pub quizzers and fans of trivia a free pass into the next round.
Granted, we are coming up to the 150th anniversary of the event, so it may be beyond the memory banks of many readers. But it is something worth recording for posterity.
John Graham Chambers (184383) is probably one of the leastknown “famous sons” from West Wales.
Born at Llanelly House, Chambers became one of Britain’s most eminent sporting journalists and administrators.
And if you don’t believe me, there’s a plaque commemorating his life and achievements on the wall of Llanelly House in Llanelli town centre. (If you’re 8ft tall, you can easily read it!)
Chambers, known as “Honest John” to his friends, was responsible for drawing up the definitive rules of boxing.
He graciously allowed his good friend, the Marquess of Queensberry, to attach his name to the Queensberry Rules.
Chambers was also friendly with Charles William Alcock, secretary of the Football Association.
Sometimes referred to as “the father of English sport”, Alcock is recognised for starting international football by organising matches between England and Scotland.
He worked as a journalist on the Sportsman newspaper and it was at a FA committee meeting held in the newspaper’s offices just off Ludgate Hill on Friday, July 21, 1871 that he first floated the idea of a challenge cup competition for member clubs of the association. Aged just 29, Alcock was still active as a player and he would be a member of the victorious Wanderers team in the inaugural final held on Saturday, March 16,
1872 at Surrey County Cricket’s ground at The Oval in London.
By 1873, Chambers was editor of Land and Water, “a first-class weekly journal of hunting, shooting, athletics, aquatics, practical natural history, sea & river fisheries, etc.” His office on Fleet Street was just 400m from the Sportsman newspaper.
Chambers’ sporting credentials were impressive. They included a double rowing blue for Cambridge in the Boat Race; establishing the Varsity Athletics Match; founding the Amateur Athletic Club as a governing body for athletics and organising the
AAC’S Championship Meeting – an early national championship for athletics.
Chambers was the leaseholder of the AAC’S Lillie Bridge ground located next to West Brompton railway station. He was also a steward of Henley Royal Regatta.
The season 1872-73 was the first and only time in which the holders of the FA Cup would receive a bye to the final in line with the original vision for the competition as a “challenge cup”.
As holders, Wanderers progressed directly to the final and had the right to choose the venue.
Wanderers chose to play the 1873 final at the Lillie Bridge ground, hosted by Chambers.
The 1873 final was held on Boat Race day, Saturday, March 29, with an early kick-off to that spectators could see both events.
It was a busy day for Chambers: he was coach to the Cambridge crew for the Boat Race.
In subsequent years, the FA Cup Final reverted to being played at The Oval, which leaves the decision to play the 1873 match at the Lillie Bridge ground as an oddity which still puzzles sporting historians.
As for Chambers the journalist, it seems he didn’t rate the FA Cup Final as being of much interest.
Land and Water dedicated 2,350 words to the Boat Race. Chambers’ paper also included 1,730 words on the Varsity Athletics that was held at Lillie Bridge on Monday, March 31, and even 1,700 words on the Varsity billiards match. Despite Chambers hosting the FA Cup Final, the match didn’t get a mention at all in Land and Water.
Yet John Graham Chambers – from Llanelli – is a name worthy of a place in sporting history.
My favourite quote from Chambers is one from a leading article in Land and Water which reflected on the art of boxing: “Before a man attempts to subdue other people, he had better learn to subdue himself. Morally speaking, he must do so. Physically speaking, he should do so.”
If you want to find out more about the very talented John Graham Chambers, then visit the Llanelli Community Heritage website at www.llanellich.org.uk/
And for the definitive version of that FA Cup final story, go to the excellent website at https://sportinglandmarks.co.uk/