Albert Craig

Albert Craig was a Bradford born postman and later insurance salesman who wrote verses about cricketers.
He moved to London in 1886 and became something of a fixture at The Oval. The press often referred to Craig as The Surrey Poet, though he signed his works AC, Cricket Rhymester.
Craig  also developed an interest in Association football. He wrote verses about Woolwich Arsenal (then based in Plumstead) and later Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Queen's Park Rangers. As you can see, the lines above were inspired by a Palace vs Queen's Park Rangers  match in The Southern League. Palace won 3-0.

Josh Johnson (Palace)

Sam Downing (QPR)

The protagonists in the penalty incident were Josh Johnson and Sam Downing.
Downing had started his senior career with QPR in 1903 with a hat trick on debut. However, in 170 games for the Hoops he only managed 13 goals (in fairness he was a wing half). Downing joined Chelsea in 1909.
Johnson (sometimes referred to as 'Joe' Johnson) began his career with Aston Villa, but never made the first team. He then had a spell at Plymouth Argyle before joining Palace in 1907.  He made 276 Southern League appearances for Palace. After the war he joined Nottingham Forest. Johnson was a devout Christian and a lay preacher. 
The London Daily News the following day described the game as an indifferent one, watched by the Danish Olympic Football team. Palace were 2 up in 10 minutes but according to the report Rangers had most of the play but squandered their chances. The penalty is described as follows: Downing shot straight at Johnson, who easily turned the ball over the bar. 

Mr Craig at The Oval

An in depth analysis of Craig's work can be found here.

A Penalty Shootout

Daring

Writing about football pre 1937 I didn't expect to find myself dealing with penalty shootouts. However, an Easter Tournament organized by ADO Den Haag in 1935 was indeed decided by a duel from 11 metres. 
This was ADO's first such tournament and the 4 teams featured were:

Alles Door Oefening Den Haag- founded in 1905, in season 1934-35 ADO finished 4th in West 1 (Eerste Klasse).

Voorwaarts Utile Dulci Combinatie Den Haag- founded 1909, were also an Eerste Klasse club finishing 7th in West 1. In 1927 they had won the NVB Beker.

Royal Daring Club Molenbeek (Belgium)- Daring Club de Bruxelles (matriculation n°2) was founded in 1895. In 1936 and 37 they were Belgian Division d'Honneur champions and won the Belgian Cup in 1935.

Excelsior Athlétic Club de Roubaix(France) came into being in 1928 (a merger of Excelsior Club de Tourcoing and F C de Roubaix). Excelsior turned professional in 1932 and won the Coupe de France in 1933.

The tournament was played over 2 days at Zuiderpark. The visiting teams were too strong for the 2 Den Haag clubs (Netherlands football was resolutely amateur at this time). 

When the final ended in a 2-2 draw each team had three penalty kicks. Daring scored all three of theirs whilst Excelsior missed with one. 

21.04.35	VUC Den Haag	3	8	Excelsior AC Roubaix
21.04.35	ADO Den Haag	1	2	Daring
22.04.35	ADO Den Haag	3	4	VUC Den Haag
22.04.35	Daring	2	2	Excelsior AC Roubaix
	Daring win 3-2 after pens.

ref: Dagblad De Telegraaf, Amsterdam 23.04.35

Cads of the most unscrupulous kidney

1891 pitch markings

It is a standing insult to sportsmen to have to play under a rule which assumes that players intend to trip, hack and push their opponents, and to behave like cads of the most unscrupulous kidney. The lines marking a penalty area are a disgrace to the playing fields of a public school.
C B Fry (1907)

 By the beginning of the 20th century the Public Schools' influence on Association Football had declined markedly. Old Etonians had been the last 'Old Boys'' club to reach the FA Cup Final in 1883, Queen's Park (1885) the last amateur club to achieve the feat.
England's international XIs were becoming increasingly professional in make up.
The FA Amateur Cup, a knockout tournament for amateur teams affiliated to the FA, was introduced in 1894, but again teams from industrial, northern areas tended to prevail. In the first 10 seasons of the Amateur Cup Old Carthusians (twice) and Old Malvernians were the only Old Boys' clubs to lift the trophy. The Old Boys' clubs then resorted to instituting a competition exclusively for the Public Schools. This was the Arthur Dunn Cup, named in honour of the Cambridge University, Old Etonians, Corinthian and England player who had first proposed such a competition but had died before any action was taken.

ATB Dunn

The Committee formed at the inaugural meeting features many eminent names from this particular sphere:
President: Lord Kinnaird (Eton).
 Vice-Presidents: R C Guy (Forest), R C Gosling (Eton)
 Committee: R T Squire (Westminster), G O Smith (Charterhouse), W J Oakley (Shrewsbury), C Wreford-Brown (Charterhouse), R E Foster (Malvern), W M Cowan (Brighton), J R Mason (Winchester). 
Hon Secretary: N Malcolmson
The trophy was donated by Cunliffe Gosling, traditionally held to be the richest man to ever play football for England. 

The reactionary nature of these privileged amateurs is illustrated by the fact that a decade after the introduction of the penalty kick the concept caused such an affront to their notion of fair play that, given their own competition to govern, they effectively ignored the penalty kick rule. They also used unregistered referees. These two issues brought the Public Schools into conflict with the FA and led to the Public Schools being granted representation on the Council of the Football Association (in the person of Mr Malcolmson).

Villa's New Internationals-1913

Harry Hampton was with Aston Villa for 16 seasons,  scoring 242 goals in 376 games. He remains Aston Villa's top scorer in Football League matches (215).
Hampton won 4 England caps:
v Wales 17.03.13 (1 goal)
v Scotland 05.04.13 (1 goal)
v Wales 16.03.14
v Scotland 14.04.14


Outside Right Charlie Wallace made his England debut in the same match as Hampton.
Wallace made 3 international appearances, separated by the war:
v Wales 17.03.13
v Ireland 14.02.14
v Scotland 10.04.20

Wallace spent 10 seasons at Villa, his 350 appearances bringing 57 goals. 18 of Wallace's goals came from the penalties, but he is better known for one he missed- in Villa's 1913 FA Cup Final win over Sunderland he shot wide from the spot.

Fritz Förderer- Germany's first penalty taker

Twenty year old Friz Förderer of Karlsruher FV was the player called upon to take Germany's first ever penalty in international football.
'Frieder' had scored in Germany's first official international game on 5th April 1908, a solo goal in which he beat several opponents. Germany,  however, lost 5-3 to Switzerland.
On  20th April 1908 an Amateur XI representing the Football Association played an 'All Germany' team in Berlin. The match attracted about 6,000 spectators.
In the 20th minute, with England leading through a Harold Stapley goal, the referee Herr Paul Neumann (of Germany) awarded a penalty to the hosts. 
Contemporary  press reports suggest there was something dubious about the penalty, although the interpretation of certain laws was different on the continent (and  remained so).  The Glasgow Herald  states that the penalty was 'apparently' awarded  against one of the backs for charging a player who was attempting to shoot. Skipper Arthur Hiller called on Förderer, who beat Ernest Proud from the 11 metre mark. Germany were level for 5 minutes and England went on to win 5-1.
Förderer's international appearances were sporadic over the next  few  years. In his 4th match against Switzerland in March 1911 Germany were again awarded a spot kick, but on this occasion skipper Max Breunig elected to take it himself (and scored)- Förderer did, however, score 2 in a 6-2 victory. 
In all  Förderer played 11 internationals  (1908-1913) scoring 10 goals, including 4 in the 16-0 win over Russia at the 1912 Olympics  in which his club mate Gottfried Fuchs got 10. 

England from the spot...

It is worth remembering that the penalty kick was the brainchild of an Irishman.  Supporters of England in the modern era have every reason to dislike the free kick from eleven metres, but it seems that England's fear of the penalty kick is almost as old as the penalty kick itself.
The first thing that struck me when looking at the stats was the relatively low frequency with which penalties seem to have been awarded in internationals. Only 13 kicks awarded in the 167 internationals that England played between the introduction of the penalty in August 1891 and the summer of 1937, when our coverage of football history ends. 5 goals in 13 attempts represents a 38% success rate.

Date		Player		Opponents	Venue
18.02.99	X	Jimmy Crabtree (Aston Villa)		Ireland	Roker Park
18.03.01	✔	Ernest Needham (Sheffield United)		Wales	St.James Park
30.03.01	X	Ernest Needham (Sheffield United)		Scotland	Crystal Palace
Saved
03.03.02	X	Ernest Needham (Sheffield United)		Wales	Racecourse Wrexham
13.06.08	✔	George Hilsdon (Chelsea)		Bohemia	Stadión Letná Prague
13.02.09	✔	George Hilsdon (Chelsea)		Ireland	Park Avenue
21.05.21	X	George Jud Harrison (Everton)		Belgium	Stade du Daring Brussels
Missed from the spot on debut, played just 2 internationals and never scored for England
08.12.24	X	Billy Walker (Aston Villa)		Belgium	The Hawthorns
28.11.27	X	Roy Goodall (Huddersfield Town)		Wales	Turf Moor
19.10.29	✔	Ernest Hine (Leicester City)		Ireland	Windsor Park
20.10.30	X	Alf Strange (Sheffield Wednesday)		Ireland	Bramall Lane
16.05.31	✔	Eric Coog  Houghton (Aston Villa)		Belgium	Stade du Daring Brussels
14.11.34	X	Eric Brook (Manchester City)		Italy	Highbury
Saved - This came in the first minute of the infamous Battle of Highbury match. Brook scored twice in the first ten minutes regardless.
	13	X	8		✔	5

Ernest Needham

George 'Gattling Gun' Hilsdon 

Ernest Hine 

Coog Houghton

Ernie Scattergood

The splendidly named Ernald Oak Scattergood made 450 appearances in the Football League. 

He began his career with Derby County in  1907, moving to Bradford Park Avenue in 1914 and retiring in 1924.
Scattergood is the Football League's top scoring goalkeeper. This is thanks to 2 periods in which he was his club's penalty taker.
In the 1912-13 season he took the spot kicks for Derby County and scored 3 times.
Scattergood reprised the role with Bradford Park Avenue from 1921 to 1924, scoring a further 5 goals. 
Scattergood won a single cap for England, playing in a 4-3 win over Wales at  Ashton Gate in 1913. Sadly, England were not awarded a penalty in this game!

Goalkeeper turned goalscorer...

Remarkably, given the free reign that goalkeepers potentially had under the earlier versions of the rules, there are not many instances of goalkeepers scoring goals in the 19th century. In fact, in the pre Football League era, the feat appears to have been unheard of. I have not been able to trace any instances. I get the impression that whereas the goalkeeper was free to use his hands anywhere in his own half, most keepers 'stayed at home' and got rid of the ball as soon as possible in the face of onrushing opponents intent on steamrollering them into the goal along with the ball. 
Football histories usually attribute the first goal scored by a goalkeeper to Manchester City's Charlie Williams. Williams scored for City at Roker Park on 14th April 1900 in a Second Division game that Sunderland won 3-1. Williams' effort is described as being either 'from a long clearance' or 'from a goal kick', beating no less a keeper than Doig. 
A look at the records shows that the feat had been achieved on at least 4 occasions before Williams struck.
The key to custodians getting on to the scoresheet seems to have been the introduction of the penalty kick, although even then it was 6 years before a keeper scored in the Football League.
Richard Gray of Second Division Burton Swifts scored from the penalty mark in a League match against Leicester Fosse on 27.11.97. Fosse won the match at Burton's Peel Croft ground, 3-2. 
Gray scored on the opening day of the following season (03.09.98) as the Swifts went down 6-2 at home  to Small Heath. The records do not show whether this (or any of his subsequent goals) was a penalty kick*.
That season Gray also scored in the FA Cup against the Leicestershire Senior League's Coalville Town on 15.10.98. Swifts won this home tie by 4-1, Gray opening the scoring. 
Gray's next goal came in a Division Two match against Loughborough on 07.01.99 that was drawn 1-1. All of his goals were scored at home.

*14.02.14- Addendum
I have now established from contemporary press reports that Gray's goals against Small Heath and Loughborough were also penalty kicks.

Penalties in Internationals

The introduction of the penalty kick came in the 1891-92 season. The first penalty kick in international football duly arrived that spring when the British Home Championships came around.
England played Wales and Ireland simultaneously that year, on March 5th. The Ireland match took place at the Solitude Ground, Belfast. Harry Daft had put England 2-0 up with goals either side of half time*.
In the later stages of the match Sam Torrans was fouled by Stoke's Alf Underwood and Scottish referee Mr Robert F. Harrison pointed to the twelve yard mark for a 'free kick'.
Torrans himself took the kick. Bill Rowley (also of Stoke) saved, blocking the shot. The rebound fell to Torrans' Linfield teammate William Dalton, but Rowley was able to save the follow up too.

Rowley

Torrans

Here is a contemporary report of the incident: 
Towards the close a penalty kick was given against Underwood for fouling Torrans in the mouth of the English goal. The free kick proved fruitless, and play was continuing briskly in the Irish lines when the whistle sounded, leaving the score — England 2 goals. Ireland 0 goal. 

Sheffield Independent (07.03.92)

* IFFHS is wrong on this point, claiming that the penalty came when the score was 0-0.

Torrans had an interesting career. On the domestic scene he was hugely successful with Linfield. He was capped 26 times by Ireland (3 wins, 3 draws, 20 defeats). He never scored but did register 3 own goals. 
Torrans was on the park when the first ever penalty was scored in an international. This came four years later  by which time Torrans had moved back into defence. 
On 28th March 1896, again at the Solitude Ground in difficult conditions, Ireland managed a 3-3 draw with Scotland,
Torrans' Linfield teammate Bob Milne gave Ireland a 3-2 lead in the 43rd minute with the first successfully converted penalty kick in the history of International football. Queen's Park's Kenneth Anderson was the goalkeeper.

Milne 

Mr James Cooper (England) was the referee. Contemporary reports are rather vague on the precise reason the penalty was awarded. 

Albiceleste

Back- unknown official, Mariano Reyna (referee), Martín Murphy, Carlos Wilson, Juan Dodds Brown;
 Middle- Gottlob Weiss, Alfredo Brown, Arnoldo Watson Hutton, Eliseo Brown, Maximiliano Susán; 
Front-Haroldo Ratcliff, Ernesto Brown, Patricio Browne.

One of the iconic images in the world of football has to be the sky blue and white striped jersey of Argentina. The Albiceleste was not introduced until Argentina's 9th international match on 13th September 1908.
This Copa Newton  game against Uruguay at Cancha de Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires ended in a 2-1 victory despite the fact that Ernesto Brown went off injured in the first half. Argentina's second goal was their first succesful penalty in internationals, scored by Arnoldo Watson Hutton.

The First Penalty 1891

It might seem strange that the idea of the penalty kick was first put forward by a goalkeeper-
William McCrum, of Ireland's Milford FC  proposed the idea in response to the widespread practice of deliberate fouls preventing clear goal scoring chances. Under the rules as they stood such fouls were punished by indirect free kicks, which were relatively easy to defend.
In June 1890 the idea was submitted to the   International Football Association Board .
Here is the proposal:
 If any player shall intentionally trip or hold an opposing player, or deliberately handle the ball within twelve yards from his own goal line, the referee shall, on appeal, award the opposing side a penalty kick, to be taken from any point 12 yards from the goal line, under the following conditions: All players, with the exception of the player taking the penalty kick and the goalkeeper, shall stand behind the ball and at least six yards from it; the ball shall be in play when the kick is taken. A goal may be scored from a penalty kick.
Which was amended to:

The proposal was initially unpopular, but a high profile incident in a Stoke v Notts County FA Cup quarter final on 14th February 1891 seems to have swayed opinion-  a deliberate handball on the goal line lead to an   indirect free kick which did not produce a goal- justice did not prevail.
The rule came into effect in 1891.
The first goal from a penalty kick was scored by Alex McCall for Renton FC against Leith Athletic on August 22nd 1891.
In England it is generally held that  "Billy"Heath, playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers against Accrington at Molineux on 14th September 1891 scored the first penalty. However, on the same day  Bailey of Leicester Fosse scored one against Notts County, and the times are unrecorded.
One myth that is perpetuated on many websites is that Newton Heath's Alf Farman scored the first penalty in England. This seems to originate from Clark Miller's 1998 book He always puts it to the right , which states that Farman achieved the feat in a game for for Newton Heath v Blackpool in the Lancashire League on September 5th. However, at the time Newton Heath were in the Football Alliance, and their first recorded fixture that season was on September 12th. However, a crowd of 4000 at North Road would have seen Farman score a penalty against Blackpool in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup on December 5th  1891.

Alf Farman