Arthur George Topham (19 February 1869 – 18 May 1931) was an English international
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played as a
left half
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
Early and personal life
Topham was born in
Elson, near
Ellesmere, as the youngest of six children.
His brother
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was also a footballer.
He attended
Oswestry School
Oswestry School is an ancient public school (English independent day and boarding school), located in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1407 as a 'free' school, being independent of the church. This gives it the distinction of b ...
, followed by
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
, where he earned a Blue in 1890.
Career
Topham played club football for
Casuals,
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and Chiswick Park, and also guested for
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
.
He was a runner-up in the
FA Amateur Cup
The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status.
History
Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...
in 1894.
He played for Eastbourne between 1892 and 1903, when he retired.
He earned one cap for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1894.
Later life and death
Topham later worked as a private tutor, dying on 18 May 1931 at the age of 62.
References
External links
*
1869 births
1931 deaths
English men's footballers
England men's international footballers
Casuals F.C. players
Eastbourne Town F.C. players
Corinthian F.C. players
People from Ellesmere, Shropshire
Men's association football wing halves
Footballers from Shropshire
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