| Fred Beardsley |
Article Index for Fred |
Website Links For Fred |
Information About ™Fred Beardsley |
|
– unknownIn his book ''Forward Arsenal!'' (1952), Bernard Joy notes that, like Jack Humble, Beardsley lived long enough to see Arsenal's first FA Cup triumph in 1930. ) was an English Football er, chiefly associated with the foundation of Arsenal Football Club . Born in Nottingham , Beardsley started working at a government Munitions Factory in Chilwell . In his spare time he was a keen Goalkeeper , and played for Nottingham Forest as an Amateur ; he kept goal in their FA Cup semi-final against Queen's Park in 1884 . Soon afterwards, he moved to London to work at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich , along with Morris Bates , another former Forest player. There they met several other keen football enthusiasts, such as David Danskin , Richard Pearce and Elijah Watkins , and in 1886, under Danskin's leadership they formed a works football team called Dial Square; the team would eventually become the modern-day Arsenal Football Club . Beardsley kept goal in Dial Square's very first match against Eastern Wanderers on December 11 , 1886 . Later, along with Bates, he would write back to his old club Nottingham Forest to obtain a kit and set of Football s, giving Arsenal the red colours they still wear today. Beardsley continued to play for Royal Arsenal (as they had been renamed) for another five seasons; he played 67 first-class matches in regional leagues and cup competitions (his career predated Arsenal's entry into the Football League ), and a further two FA Cup ties, including Arsenal's very first FA Cup match, a qualifying round match against Lyndhurst on October 5 , 1889 . After retiring from playing, Beardsley was a director of Arsenal from 1906 until 1910. FOOTNOTES REFERENCES |
|
|