The Father of Modern Sport: The Life and Times of Charles W Alcock

SHORTLISTED FOR CRICKET SOCIETY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2002

A model Victorian sporting all-rounder, Charles Alcock was a prime mover in the development of both football and cricket as the world’s biggest sports.

As a player, he was the first ever footballer to be ruled offside, the captain of the first FA Cup winners and and played club cricket to a high standard.

As Secretary of the FA, Alcock was one of the men responsible for the first ever football international and was the driving force behind the creation of the FA Cup in 1871. In cricket, he arranged the first Test match in Britain, between England and Australia at The Oval in 1880.

Close attention to detail combined with a breadth of vision to change the sporting world – this is the definitive biography of the nineteenth century’s most important sports administrator.

Keith  Booth, Yorkshire-born and with an honours degree in French, spent the  bulk of his professional life in university administration. His second  career has been as a cricket scorer and writer. Now scorer to Surrey  County Cricket Club, he has officiated at over a hundred Test, One Day  and Twenty20 internationals. Close seasons are spent researching and  writing, Keith's other books include a biography of George Lohmann which  won the Cricket Society Book of the Year award. He lives in Sutton with his wife Jennifer  and two cats.

1 March 2015 - ISBN 9780956946096

Paperback - 198 x 129mm - 320 pages