Harry Goodhart

Harry Chester Goodhart (17 July 1858 – 21 April 1895) was an English amateur footballer who played as a forward in four FA Cup Finals for Old Etonians, before going on to become Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh.

Early life and education

Goodhart was born in Wimbledon, the son of Charles Woide Goodhart (1829–1914), and educated at Eton College. He played for the college football team in 1877 and also represented the college in cricket. He made his first cricket appearance for the college in June 1876 and played throughout that summer and the following. His finest spell came in July 1876 when he scored 55 against I Zingari and 51 against Harrow School in consecutive matches.

During his time at Eton, Goodhart was a friend of James Kenneth Stephen (1859–1892) who became a poet. Goodhart is referred to as "one of them's wed" in the last verse of Stephen's poem, "''The Old School List''":

There were two good fellows I used to know.

--How distant it all appears!

We played together in football weather,

And messed together for years:

Now one of them's wed, and the other's dead

So long that he's hardly missed

Save by us, who messed with him years ago:

But we're all in the old School List.

In 1877, he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge where he played football for the university but was not awarded a blue. He graduated in 1881 with a second-class BA in Classics and was awarded his MA in 1884.

Football career

Whilst at Trinity, Goodhart joined the Old Etonians, helping the Old Boys re-establish themselves. Old Etonians had been the losing finalists in the FA Cup in 1875 and 1876, but in 1876–77 and 1877–78 had failed to enter a team.
The Old Boys entered the FA Cup for the 1878–79 tournament and in the First Round were drawn against the cup holders, Wanderers, who had won the cup in five out of the seven years since the tournament was inaugurated. Goodhart scored in the first half and by the end of the match, the Old Etonians had won 7–2 in what, at the time, was considered a shock. The Old Boys then had victories over Reading and Minerva before coming up against Darwen in Round 4. Darwen were the first club from the north of England to have any success in the FA Cup, although they caused controversy by signing two professional players, Fergus Suter and James Love. Despite attempts to have them banned from the competition, Darwen travelled to London to play the Old Etonians at the Kennington Oval on 13 February 1879. Goodhart scored a hat-trick in a 5–5 draw; the match was replayed on 8 March which was a 2–2 draw and the old boys eventually prevailed in the second replay a week later with Goodhart scoring twice in a 6–2 victory.

The semi-final against Nottingham Forest came the following Saturday (won 2–1) putting the Old Etonians into the final, to be played against Clapham Rovers a week later. Although Clapham dominated the early stages of the final, with Norman Bailey having two attempts on target, Herbert Whitfeld continued to run at the Clapham defenders with little assistance from his colleagues. After a goalless first-half, the only goal of the game came after 59 minutes, when Charles Clerke scored from close range following a run from Goodhart. The old Etonians thus claimed the cup for the first time in what was considered to be "the poorest FA Cup Final to date".

In the following year, Goodhart scored twice in the FA Cup Third Round 3–1 victory over Wanderers followed by a hat-trick against West End before Clapham Rovers gained their revenge, defeating the Old Etonians 1–0 in the Fifth Round. The Old Boys reached the final again in 1881, with Goodhart scoring a hat-trick in the 10–0 victory over Brentwood in the First Round. The final was played at the Kennington Oval against the Old Carthusians on 9 April 1881; this was the Old Carthusians first appearance in the final and the Old Etonians, on their fourth appearance, were expected to win comfortably. In the event, the Old Carthusians won convincingly, with goals from Edward Wynyard, Edward Parry, and Alexander Tod.

The Old Boys reached their third FA Cup Final in four years in 1882, with Goodhart again scoring a hat-trick in the 5–0 semi-final victory over Marlow. In the final, played at Kennington Oval on 25 March 1882, the Old Boys met Blackburn Rovers, who were the first team from outside London and the Home counties to appear in an FA Cup Final. Blackburn included England internationals, Fred Hargreaves

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