Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal, who from 1892 was Robert Walpole Sealy (3 September 1853 – 5 November 1914) was a prominent 19th century footballer who featured in the first three

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 ...

s for two different clubs. In March 1870 he played in the first ever international football match, which took place at

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 ...

, London. He represented England again in 1871.

Early life

Vidal was born at Cornborough House,

Abbotsham Abbotsham (pronounced Abbotsam) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 its population was 434 increasing at the 2011 census to 489. Amenities Abbotsham no longer has a Post Office and General Store but remains ...

near

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, and educated at

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 ...

, being Captain of School and of the School's football and cricket XIs when he left in 1872. He entered

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

where he graduated as

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1876 and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1879.

Football career

Vidal was well known as the "prince of dribblers". In those days, the rule was that the team that scored also kicked off afterwards. On one occasion this rule allowed Vidal to score three goals in a match without the other team touching the ball. He played in the first three FA Cup Finals, of

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

, 1873 and

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

. He was a member of the

Wanderers F.C. Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at v ...

team when they won the first ever

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 ...

. It is said that he assisted the first FA Cup Final goal when, 15 minutes into the match, Vidal broke away and looped the ball across to

Morton Betts Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914)
England Football Online. Retrieved 2018-09-15. ...

, who shot between the posts. At 18 years 195 days he was the youngest ever player in a Cup Final until surpassed by 17 years old

James F. M. Prinsep James Frederick McLeod Prinsep (27 July 1861 – 22 November 1895) was an English association football, footballer who held two 'youngest player' records for almost 125 years, before they were both broken within the space of just over a year. He ...

in 1879, and only winning player still at school on Cup Final day. The following year, Vidal had moved to

Oxford 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 the ...

. His team reached the Final, held on 29 March 1873 at Lillie Bridge ground, where they faced Vidal's old side, the Wanderers. However, Oxford could not penetrate the defences and Wanderers won 2–0. In the next season, Oxford again qualified for the final, this time to face the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

at Kennington Oval on 14 March 1874. Vidal played again, setting up Charles Mackarness's goal as Oxford University romped with a 2–0 victory. Vidal became the only person to have played in all three of the first FA Cup Finals. However, he never played in a final again. The University side reached the semi-finals in the next year, 1875, but the Engineers exacted their revenge by winning 1–0. He only received 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 ...

. His cap came in the second official international football match, 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 8 March 1873 which England won 4–2. Vidal also played for Old Westminsters and

Remnants Remnant or remnants may refer to: Religion * Remnant (Bible), a recurring theme in the Bible * Remnant (Seventh-day Adventist belief), the remnant theme in the Seventh-day Adventist Church * ''The Remnant'' (newspaper), a traditional Catholic ne ...

football clubs and in representative matches for London and The South v The North. He was a member of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

committee in 1872 and 1874.

Other sports

Vidal was an Oxford University

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

Blue in 1873, and was a good oarsman. He also played county

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for Devon and club cricket for North Devon. He was founder President of Oxford University Golf Club and in later life President of the

Royal North Devon Golf Club Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Scottish golfer Old Tom Morris. Geography RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam an ...

(also known as Westward Ho!).

Ecclesiastical career

Vidal studied for the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

priesthood at

Cuddesdon Theological College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

near Oxford, becoming ordained in 1877. He was Curate of St Edmund's,

Salisbury, Wiltshire Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

1877–1879; Vice-Principal of

Ely Theological College Ely Theological College was a college in Ely, Cambridgeshire, for training clergy in the Church of England. Founded in 1876 by James Woodford, Anglican Bishop of Ely, the college had a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. Ely's "ritualistic" (i.e. ...

1879–1881; Curate of Holy Trinity, Ely, 1880–81; and ultimately Vicar of Abbotsham, his native parish, from 1881 until his death. Later in his life he was Rural Dean of Hartland in the area his parish stood, and shortly before his death, which followed major breakdown in health, was made Prebendary of

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

. He was buried in Abbotsham Churchyard. He was also very active in local public affairs in Devon, as chairman of Abbotsham Parish Council, member of Bideford

Rural District Council Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

, vice-chairman of Bideford

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

, member of Devon County Education Committee and a local Commissioner for Income Tax.

Change of surname

On 26 May 1892, Vidal changed his surname back to his family's original name of Sealy, renouncing the surname of Vidal, following the succession of his father to ownership of the Cornborough estate.

Titles

1853–1877: Mr. Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal 1877–1892: Reverend Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal 1892–1914: Reverend Robert Walpole Sealy 1914: Reverend Prebendary Robert Walpole Sealy

Honours

Wanderers *

winners:

Oxford University *

winners:

runners-up: 1873

References

External links

Biography on the Oxford University Association Football Club web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Walpole 1853 births 1914 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Men's association football forwards England men's international footballers England men's representative footballers (1870–1872) English footballers FA Cup final players Staff of Ely Theological College People educated at Westminster School, London Sportspeople from Bideford Wanderers F.C. players