Charterhouse & Old Carthusians

Charterhouse is a 400 year old public school* in Godalming, Surrey.

Association Football is still the main winter sport at the school, and the form of football played at the school in the pre association days influenced the development of the game. The schoolboys played in cloisters, small covered courtyards, so dribbling and running with the ball was more sensible than playing a game that involved carrying the ball until you were tackled by being thrown to the ground with everybody then piling up on you. Charterhouse football also allowed the ball to be passed forwards, a rule adopted by the Football Association in 1867.

The old boy's team, Old Carthusians won the FA Cup in 1880-81 and were semi-finalists in the following 2 seasons.  They won the FA Amateur Cup in 1894 and 1897. Old Carthusians' jerseys were  halved maroon and navy, the schools colours being maroon,navy and pink stripes.

School (stripes) versus Old Carthusians (halves)

The Old versus The New: Old Carthusians versus Preston North End in 1887. Old Carthusians typified the amateur origins of association football whilst Preston were the archetypal northern proletarian professional side.

The school colours.

The following Old Carthusians players represented England: Andrew Amos (2 caps), 

James Prinsep (1 cap), William Cobbold (3 caps), Walter Gilliat (1 cap), Edward Hagarty Parry (3 caps), Gilbert Oswald Smith (6 caps), Maurice Stanbrough (1 cap), Arthur Melmoth Walters (9 caps), Percy Melmoth Walters (13 caps), Charles Wreford-Brown (3 caps).

1881

* In the United Kingdom a public school is, paradoxically, a school where the pupils pay high fees, as opposed to the state schools, which are free.

James Prinsep

This lusty looking young man, pictured in the Boy's Own Paper's Famous English Football Players (1881), is James Frederick McLeod Prinsep. In 1881 he was in the Old Carthusians side that won the FA Cup.
Two years earlier Prinsep had enjoyed a remarkable week that saw him achieve two records that both went unbeaten for more than 120 years.
On March 29th 1879 Prinsep was in the Clapham Rovers side that lost to Old Etonians in the FA Cup final at The Oval. Prinsep's age was 17 years and 245 days, making him the youngest Cup finalist until 2004.
One week later on April 5th he was back at The Oval making his solitary appearance for England in a 5-4 win over Scotland at the age of 17 years and 252 days. 
This record, as England's youngest international, stood until 2003.
At the time of these achievements Prinsep, who was born in India, was at  the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
He had a distinguished career in North Africa but died at the age of 34 having caught pneumonia playing golf in Scotland.