Charles Robson (20 June 1859 – 27 September 1943) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, who played as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

between 1881 and 1883, and for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

from 1891 to 1906, for whom he served as captain for three years from 1900 to 1902. He was also secretary to

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

for one season, from 1895 to 1896.

Cricket career

Robson was born at Kilburn, (then in

) and educated at

Bruce Castle School Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston. It closed in 1891. Origins In 1819, Rowland Hill moved his father's Hill Top ...

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

and at

Chatham House Grammar School (May Chatham House Flourish) , established = 1797 , free_label_3 = Merged , free_3 = 2011 , closed = , type = Grammar schoolAcademy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , head ...

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, and was a member of the cricket eleven at both schools.

Middlesex

He made his first appearance for

against

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. ...

in May 1881 when he opened the batting in the second innings, scoring 5 and 16*, helping Middlesex to victory by ten wickets. At Middlesex, he was played as a batsman rather than a wicket-keeper, with

A J Webbe Alexander Josiah Webbe (16 January 1855 – 19 February 1941) was a cricketer who played for Oxford University and Middlesex. He also played one Test match for England. After being schooled at Harrow School, he went on to Trinity College, Oxfor ...

being the long-established 'keeper. His highest score for Middlesex came shortly after his debut, in the match against

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 June, when he scored 57* in the second innings as Middlesex won by seven wickets. Robson spent three seasons with Middlesex, during which he played twelve matches, totalling 246 runs at an average of 12.94.

Hampshire

In 1891, he made his first appearance for

, then not ranked as a first-class county. The June 1891 match lasted only two days with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

winning by an innings and 40 runs, with Robson contributing 52 runs in his two innings. He soon became the

for Hampshire and was often the opening batsman in partnership with

Russell Bencraft Sir Henry William Russell Bencraft (4 March 1858 — 25 December 1943) was an English first-class cricketer, sports administrator, medical doctor, businessman and philanthropist. Bencraft was an important figure in the early history of Hampsh ...

. Robson continued to play for Hampshire after they were re-instated as a First Class county in 1896, and in 1899 was a member of

K. S. Ranjitsinhji Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Ma ...

's side who toured the United States, playing twice against the

Gentlemen of Philadelphia The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even with the United States having played the first ever international cricket match against Canada in 1844, t ...

as well as three other matches. He was appointed Hampshire's captain in 1900 (taking over from

Teddy Wynyard Edward George Wynyard (1 April 1861 – 30 October 1936) was a British Army officer and an English cricketer who played in three Tests from 1896 to 1906. He captained Hampshire County Cricket Club between 1896 and 1899. Wynyard was also a s ...

), and marked this by scoring his only century in First Class cricket; this came at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

in June 1900 when he scored 101 in the second innings against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

; he shared in a stand of 180 with Edward Sprot for the second wicket in a drawn match. In June 1901, Hampshire were facing almost certain defeat against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Garston, Mossley Hill, and Toxteth. Etymology The name Aigburth comes from Old Norse ''eik'' and ''berg'', meaning ''oak-tree hill''. T ...

, Liverpool. Hampshire were bowled out in the first innings for only 106, and Lancashire replied with 413–8 declared. When Hampshire opened the second innings, few people thought that Lancashire would need to bat again.

J. G. Greig Canon (Colonel) John Glennie Greig (24 October 1871 – 24 May 1958) was an English soldier, cricketer and Roman Catholic priest who played most of his cricket in India. Life and career Born in Mhow near Indore in 1871, Greig lived in India un ...

opened the batting and the score had reached 374, with one wicket remaining and Hampshire still seemingly heading for defeat. Robson came to the wicket as the last batsman in and he and Greig put on an unlikely 113 for the tenth wicket (Robson 52); Greig's innings was 249*. Lancashire's eventual target was 181 in 140 minutes; they closed at 111 for 5, rain having cut short play by almost an hour. He was a member of

Archie MacLaren Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the English cricket team, England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman, he ...

's touring party to Australia in 1901/02, playing in one match against Victoria in February 1902. For the 1902 season, he passed the Hampshire captaincy to Edward Sprot, but continued to serve Hampshire for a further five seasons, although by 1906 his appearances were rather infrequent. His final match for Hampshire came at

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

in May 1906 against Warwickshire.

Southampton St Mary's Football Club

In the spring of 1895, Robson was appointed secretary to Southampton St Mary's Football Club, then playing in the Southern League. As secretary, he was responsible for signing new players and agreeing player contracts as well as being involved in team selection – the day to day coaching and training of the players was in the hands of the trainer. One of Robson's first acts as secretary was to accompany

Alfred McMinn Alfred McMinn, was an English manager for Southampton F.C. from August 1896 to May 1897. In the spring of 1895, McMinn (then a club committee member) accompanied Charles Robson on a trip to the Potteries to recruit players. McMinn was a native o ...

, one of the club committee, on a trip to

the Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of cera ...

to recruit players. McMinn was a native of Staffordshire and was "''most persuasive on his home turf''". On this trip, Robson and McMinn signed six players:

Jack Farrell John A. "Jack" Farrell (July 5, 1857 – February 9, 1914), also known as "Moose", was an American Major League Baseball player who played mainly second base in his 11 seasons. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Farrell made his major league debut ...

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...

and

Willie Naughton William A. Naughton (16 July 1870 – 23 April 1906) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in Scotland and England in the 1880s and 1890s, including Celtic, Stoke and Southampton. Throughou ...

from

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

Watty Keay Walter "Watty" Keay (16 January 1871 – 16 January 1943) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward for various clubs, including Partick Thistle in Scotland and Derby County and Southampton in England. His main cla ...

from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, Joe Turner from Dresden United and Alf Wood from

Burslem Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

, as well as recruiting Stoke's long-serving trainer, Bill Dawson. The Saints committee were anxious to secure their services and signed them before

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

season was over. Port Vale and Stoke lodged a complaint with

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 ...

(FA) about "''poaching''", and an emergency FA meeting was held at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, resulting in the Saints being severely censured for negligence. St Mary's were ordered to pay their own costs, plus £4 6s 3d to Stoke and £1 13s to Port Vale. McMinn was suspended for a year and Dawson for a month. Wood's registration with St Mary's was cancelled (shortly afterwards he moved to Stoke). The 1895–96 season was the Saints' second in the Southern League, having finished third in the inaugural season. The team started the season badly, losing the first three matches, which was blamed on the inability of the new players to settle in the area. Eventually, under trainer Dawson's guidance, the team's form improved and there were only three further league defeats and they again finished third behind Millwall Athletic and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. Top scorer in the league was

with ten goals from his 17 appearances. The highlight of the league season was the visit of Millwall on 21 March 1896 when a crowd of 8,000 saw the Saints defeat the reigning champions 2–0, with goals from Charles Baker and Joe Turner. The greatest excitement, however, came in the

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 ...

, when an away victory over local rivals

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

in the first qualifying round was followed by comfortable home victories over Marlow (5–0),

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

(3–0) and

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. Uxbrid ...

(3–0). In the

First Round proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, the Saints received a home draw against opposition from the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

for the second consecutive year, this time against

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. Saints' trainer, Bill Dawson, spent the week leading up to Wednesday's visit with extra training for the players, taking them through their paces on Shawford Down. For the match, played at the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's ...

on 1 February 1896, the crowd was estimated at 12,000, by far the largest yet recorded for a football match in Southampton. The Saints had to play their third-choice goalkeeper, Walter Cox as Tom Cain was injured, and the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

refused to allow on-loan 'keeper "Gunner" Reilly to play. The Saints took an early lead, through

, before two goals from

Alec Brady Alexander Brady (9 February 1870 – 19 October 1913) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer who played as an inside forward. Upon his death, the Sheffield Star, Sheffield Evening Telegraph described him as being "in his day ...

gave Wednesday the half-time lead. Wednesday increased their lead shortly after the break, and although Joe Turner got one back, the Saints were unable to score an equaliser. Wednesday ran out 3–2 winners and went on to win the Cup the following April. At the end of the season, the Saints had to vacate the Antelope Ground, which had been sold for re-development, and moved to the County Ground, partly through the connections of the club's president, Robson's former Hampshire strike partner, Dr. H. W. R. Bencraft, who was also Hon. Secretary to the cricket club. During the summer of 1896, Robson resigned his position as secretary (ready for Hampshire's first season back in the first-class cricket ranks), being replaced by

(having served his twelve months' suspension), with Mr. E. Arnfield as his assistant. Robson was one of the founder directors when the football club was incorporated into a limited company, "''Southampton Football and Athletic Company Limited''" in July 1897; on the Memorandum of Association he was listed as "''Charles Robson, Mineral Water Merchant and Hampshire wicket-keeper''" of Hill Lane, Southampton. He remained a director of the company for several years.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Charles 1859 births 1943 deaths People from Kilburn, London People from the London Borough of Brent Cricketers from the London Borough of Camden People educated at Chatham House Grammar School English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Hampshire cricketers Hampshire cricket captains English football managers People educated at Bruce Castle School Southampton F.C. managers Gentlemen of the South cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers London County cricketers Southern Football League managers Wicket-keepers