George Hubert Hugh Heron (30 January 1852 – 5 June 1914) was an English

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 ...

who made five appearances as a forward 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 the 1870s and won three

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners' medals.

Playing career

Heron was born in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

, west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and attended

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformist ...

and

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principles o ...

. He was a founding member of the Uxbridge Football Club on 3 February 1871 and was its captain until joining the Wanderers in the 1874-75 season. His first international appearance came on the left of a six-man forward line against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on 8 March 1873 at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

, which resulted in a 4–2 victory for England. He was again selected for the third annual match against Scotland on 7 March 1874, when "the Scots managed a 2-1 victory to avenge the 1873 defeat". He made his debut for Wanderers on 4 March 1874 in a mixed club friendly match against

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He was described in the 1875 "Football Annual" as "a wing player (who) is useful and at times brilliant; is fast and dribbles skilfully, used to be a little selfish in his style of play, but of late very much improved in this respect". He made ten appearances for Wanderers in 1874–75, scoring eight goals. In

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

, he was one of several Wanderers players selected to meet Scotland at

on 6 March. This match ended 2-2, with England's goals coming from Heron's Wanderers team-mates,

Charles Wollaston Charles Henry Reynolds Wollaston (31 July 1849 – 22 June 1926) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Wanderers and England. He won the FA Cup five times with Wanderers, becoming the first player to do so. Wollaston was born i ...

and Charles Alcock. For the next year's international match played at

Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. Hamilton Crescent hosted the 1872 Scotland v England football match, first international football match, betw ...

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

on 4 March 1876 Heron was appointed captain, with his younger brother Francis playing alongside him. According to Philip Gibbons, "England struggled throughout the game, which saw the home team run out winners by three goals to nil." A week after the England match, he was part of the Wanderers team that met the

Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

in the 1876 FA Cup Final at the

. The first match ended in a 1–1 draw, with the Wanderers victorious 3–0 in the replay on 18 March. Heron was involved in the second and third Wanderers goals, twice laying on the crosses for

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

to score. Francis also played for Wanderers in this match; it would be another 120 years before a pair of brothers again played together in an FA Cup-final winning side and for England in the same season, when Gary and

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami CF. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teamma ...

did so in 1996. The following season, Wanderers were again victorious in the Cup Final, defeating

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

2–1. In the semi-final against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, Heron scored the only goal to send Wanderers to their second consecutive final and a (then) record fourth in total. This was as close as the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

ever came to a battle between the two leading universities. In the final itself, his cross found Jarvis Kenrick who scored an equalizing goal near the end of normal time; Wanderers scored the winning goal in extra-time. Heron was not selected for the 1877 international, but was recalled in

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Bat ...

. The match, played on 2 March 1878 at Hampden Park ended in a humiliating 7–2 defeat. This brought Heron's international career to an end; all his matches had come against

and comprised one victory, one draw and three defeats. In the first round of the 1877-78

, Heron scored four goals in a 9–1 victory over the Panthers. On 23 March 1878 he reached his (and Wanderers') third successive Cup Final. Although not scoring himself, he again put in a cross from the right for Kenrick to score his second goal of the game, with Wanderers eventually running out 3-1 victors. Wanderers thus won the Cup for the fifth (and final) time in seven years. The 1878 FA Cup final was Heron's final game for Wanderers. During his career he also played for

Windsor Home Park The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a private Royal park, administered by the Crown Estate. It lies on the eastern side of Windsor Castle in the town and former civil parish of Windsor in the E ...

and Swifts as well as representing

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and

Later career

Heron served on the F.A. committee between 1873 and 1876 and earned his living as a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

merchant in Bournemouth.

Honours

Wanderers *

winners:

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...

1877 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great ...

and

References

External links

*
England profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heron, Hubert 1852 births 1914 deaths Footballers from Uxbridge People educated at Mill Hill School People educated at Cranleigh School English footballers England international footballers Uxbridge F.C. players Wanderers F.C. players Swifts F.C. players Association football forwards FA Cup Final players