James Frederick McLeod Prinsep (27 July 1861 – 22 November 1895) 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 le ...

who held two 'youngest player' records for almost 125 years, before they were both broken within the space of just over a year. He made his debut (and only appearance) 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 ...

, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 5 April 1879, at the age of 17 years and 252 days, which made him England's youngest-ever player at the time. He held this record for almost 124 years, until

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while als ...

made his debut at the age of 17 years and 111 days against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 12 February 2003. Prinsep was selected for a further England v Scotland international fixture in 1882 but was unavailable. Prinsep played for

Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers was from its foundation in 1869 a leading English sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football, association football and rugby union. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club playe ...

, and also formerly held the record for being the youngest player to play in an

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

, playing in the 1879 final against

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, C ...

at the age of 17 years and 245 days. This record was broken not long after his England record, by then

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

player

Curtis Weston Curtis James Weston (born 24 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays for AFC Fylde. Playing career Born in Greenwich, London, Weston attended Erith Secondary School, and was spotted by a Millwall scout when playing for ...

, who played in the 2004 final aged 17 years and 119 days.

Early life

Prinsep, born in India, was a descendant of the Anglo-Indian merchant

John Prinsep John Prinsep (23 April 1748 – 30 November 1830) was born the son of a vicar in rural Oxfordshire, England, with limited horizons for advancement. He joined the East India Company as a cadet, travelling to Bombay, and was soon engaged in mer ...

. His namesake, the scholar

James Prinsep James Prinsep FRS (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and B ...

, was his grandfather's brother. He attended Charterhouse School from 1874 to 1878 and played for their football XI in 1876 and 1877, as well as their cricket XI.

Football career

He played as half-back, being described by

C.W. Alcock Charles William Alcock (2 December 1842 – 26 February 1907) was an English sportsman, administrator, author and editor. He was a major instigator in the development of both international football and cricket, as well as being the creator of ...

as "..always cool, very strong on his legs, and combining plenty of strength with great accuracy; kicks splendidly and with judgement; seldom makes a mistake", also "can kick the ball in any position, and passes it admirably to his forwards". His first FA Cup Final in

1879 Events January–March * January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. * January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. * Janu ...

saw Clapham Rovers lose 1–0 to Old Etonians. The second however, for his old boy club Old Carthusians two years later, saw his team defeat the Old Etonians 3–0. His only appearance for England saw them win 5–4, at Lambeth against Scotland. Aside from his clubs, he played in representative matches for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

county, London, The South v The North and The Rest v England.

Other sports

Prinsep was also a club cricketer, especially effective as a bowler, with

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Willi ...

and the Grey Friars cricket club, the latter club drawn from Old Carthusians.

Military career

He entered the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

in 1878 and played in their football teams also, during a period that covered his F.A. Cup Finals and international match. Prinsep was commissioned into the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

in 1882 and went on to see action in the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

. In 1884 he was awarded the Bronze Medal of the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

after saving a fellow soldier from drowning in the Shaban Cataract of the Nile. In 1885 he received a second award of the same medal for rescuing a Sudanese sailor from the same river near El Sabon. In 1885, as a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, he was seconded to the Egyptian Army. He transferred to the Egyptian Coastguard in 1890, serving until his death when he reached rank of Sub-Inspector General.

Death

Most sources record that he was killed fighting in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

at the age of 34, although the

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...

. In fact, he died of blood poisoning and kidney failure after seven weeks' illness with pneumonia which developed after a cold he suffered when playing golf.

Honours

Clapham Rovers *

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 ...

runner-up:

Old Carthusians *

winner:

1881 Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The C ...

References

External links

*
England's Youngest PlayersJames Prinsep's lineagePrinsep biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinsep, James 1861 births 1895 deaths Military personnel of British India Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Charterhouse School English men's footballers England men's international footballers Clapham Rovers F.C. players Essex Regiment officers Egyptian military officers British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Men's association football midfielders British people in colonial India Place of birth missing