William Stepney Rawson (14 October 1854 – 4 November 1932) was an amateur

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 at full-back in the 1870s, and was also an

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 ...

Final

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

in 1876. Born in South Africa, he played for the England national team.

Early life and sports career

Rawson was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa, the son of Rawson W. Rawson and Sophia Mary Anne Ward. He attended

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 ...

in London, representing the school at "soccer" in 1872 and 1873, becoming captain in his final year. He then went up to

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 ...

, in 1873, winning a "blue" in four consecutive years, from 1874 to 1877. Academically he graduated as BA in 1877 and MA in 1880. He became the first player born in Africa to appear in an FA Cup final when played in the

1874 FA Cup Final The 1874 FA Cup final was a football match between Oxford University and Royal Engineers on 14 March 1874 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the third final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup ...

for

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 the ...

– in the match, played against 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 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 ...

on 14 March 1874, the University were the victors by 2 goals to 0. His brother

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

played for the opposition. He made his debut for the England football team on 6 March 1875 again at The Oval, in a

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

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 ...

, which finished 2–2. His brother Herbert won his only cap alongside him in this fixture. This was the first occasion on which two brothers played for England in the same match. As a referee, he was awarded the

1876 FA Cup Final The 1876 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Old Etonians on 11 March 1876 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fifth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (known in t ...

between the Wanderers and

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 ...

, also at The Oval, which was undecided when the first match ended 1–1 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

on 11 March 1876. Wanderers eventually triumphed 3–0 in the replay on 18 March 1876. On 3 March 1877, he was honoured with the captaincy of the international side, once more against Scotland, and once again at The Oval, in a

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

which the Scots won 3–1. He collected just the two international caps for England. He was on the losing side in the

1877 FA Cup Final The 1877 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 24 March 1877 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the sixth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (kno ...

– the match at The Oval on 24 March was won by the Wanderers 2–1 against

. During his career, he also played for

Old Westminsters F.C. Old Westminsters F.C. is an association football club composed of former pupils of Westminster School, London, England. They play in the Arthurian League. History Westminster has an historic joint claim to a major role in the development of A ...

and Wanderers. He served on

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

committee from 1876 to 1877 and again in 1879.

Career outside sport

At the 1881 Census, Rawson was a schoolmaster, and lodging in Bridge Street, Brecnock St. David, Wales. He next joined the family electrical engineering business that later became Mabor Ltd, of which he was managing director by 1903.

Home life

In 1891 Rawson married Alice Maud Fife, who was later an author under the name of Maud Stepney Rawson. Having lived in London at the previous Census, he was living at

Streatley, Berkshire Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. The village faces Goring-on-Thames. The two places share in their shops, services, leisure, sports and much of their transport. Across the river is railway stat ...

in 1911. He died at Whitchurch, Oxfordshire on 4 November 1932 aged seventy-eight.

Sporting honours

Oxford University *

winner:

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 ...

finalist: 1877 Referee *

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 ...

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 i ...

References and notes

External links