Football's First Star - Arthur Kinnaird

 

Arthur Kinnaird was born in Hyde Park Gardens, Paddington, London on the 16th of February 1847 and after captaining his school team at Cheam School at just 12 years old, he continued after leaving to play for the Wanderers and the Old Etonians and was considered to be football’s first superstar. A quick, skilful but also formidably, robust opponent, he was described as 'without exception, the best player of the day." During his career he played in every single position on the field. This included goalkeeper and forward. In the 1877 FA Cup Final, he was playing in goal for Wanderers and accidentally scored the first ever "own goal" in a major final when he stepped backwards over his own goal line while holding the ball. The game ended 1-1, and Wanderers won in extra time. He played in nine FA Cup Finals (a record to this day), was selected for Scotland's first international team, and was President of the Football Association for 33 years. Arthur was such a dominant figure that he was presented with the FA Cup in gratitude. His record of five wins in the competition stood until 2010 when it was broken by Ashley Cole. He also achieved success in other sports including tennis, swimming, canoeing, and sprinting. Serving on the FA administration from the age of only twenty-one, he became treasurer at thirty, and President of the FA thirteen years later, an office he held for the next thirty-three years until his death in 1923. It is acknowledged that he advanced the game of football and in 1872 arranged the first game of England versus Scotland which led to the formation of the Scottish Football Association and the annual England-Scotland match.

 Lord Kinnaird

 

His connection to Everton is that he officially opened Goodison Park, the club's new stadium, on the 24th of August 24 1892, as the President of the Football Association. His presence marked the start of the new era for Everton at their new ground and here is an abridged detail of Mike Royden's detailed history of the event.
The year 1892 was iconic in the history of Everton Football Club, famous for the dispute with John Houlding, which cumulated in the potentially club-ending gamble of moving to a new, undeveloped site, in time for the opening of the forthcoming 1892-93 season on the 3rd of September. It was a tall order of course, but once the decision had been made, the directors and club officials went into overdrive to ensure their dream move would become a reality in the very short time available to them. Work began in May 1892, contractors were engaged, and the pitch area, which had been a 'common wasteland', was drained, levelled, turfed, and thoroughly prepared to meet the quality expected for League football. Then there was the small matter of providing accommodation for the projected crowds of 40,000.
According to Thomas Keates, 'A Mr Barton was contracted to do this on 29,471 square yards at 4 ½ d per square yard, a formidable initial expenditure. Mr J. Prescott, a prominent local architect and surveyor was engaged who lived in a fine old house on the border of the estate, and was an enthusiastic, jolly, sportsman in his leisure hours. On the 7th of June a contract was made with Kelly Brothers, the Walton builders, to erect two uncovered stands to accommodate 4,000 each, and a covered stand to accommodate 3,000, for £1,640 – with a penalty clause in the event of non-completion by the 31st of July. On the 30th of June another contract was made with them to erect outside enclosing hoardings at a cost of £150. Twelve turnstiles were ordered at £7 15s each and on the 9th of August a third contract was with Kelly Brothers for gates, sheds, etc, for the sum of £132 10s, to be completed by August 20th.' (*Worth around £270,000 today).
Then on the 8th of August, the Committee resolved to accept Lord Kinnaird’s offer to officially open Goodison Park on the 25th of August, and to have a professional sports meeting with a fireworks display to round off the proceedings. On the 9th of August, the Committee sat again and agreed to Kelly Brothers’ contract for the sum of £132.10.0 be accepted for 'making and erecting, entrance gates, sheds etc and to complete by all work required on the Ground, except painting, by 20 August'. A set of the new James Brodie goal nets were to be ordered from Mr W.E. Barclay at a cost of £3.15s 6d for urgent delivery, as the kick-off to the new season was getting closer.

Goodison Road stand c.1898 showing the Press Box on the left. St Luke’s original Mission building also evident.

The stadium was England's first purpose-built football ground, with stands on three sides and on the opening day no football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short athletics event followed by music from the band of the 3rd Liverpool regiment and the fireworks display. Lord Kinnaird labelled the ground in his opening address as one of the finest football arenas in the country, either in point of size or equipment. The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette reported: "It IS without doubt one of the best appointed and most commodious football enclosures in the country. When finally completed it will BE capable holding quite 40,000 people. The covered stand IS quite unique in its way. I believe that few other football clubs in the kingdom can boast of a covered stand able to accommodate at least 4,000 people, and it is so constructed that each individual spectator can get a perfect view of the game. . . . Extensive stands have also been erected on the northern and southern extremities of the enclosure, whilst the western side being banked up in such a way as to afford standing room for quite 20,000 people. . . . Their dressing-rooms and baths are perfect little models in their way, and the committee have arranged that the players, as well as the referee, shall have access to and from the ground without coming into contact with the spectators." The first football match at Goodison Park was on the 2nd of September 1892 between Everton and Bolton Wanderers. Everton wore its new club colours of salmon and dark blue stripes and won the exhibtion game 4–2. The first game came nine days later when Everton beat Bolton Wanderers 4-2 in a friendly. The first league game was held 24 hours later, Everton drawing 2-2 with Nottingham Forest in front of 14,000 spectators. Forest’s Horace Pike claimed the honour of scoring the first league goal at Goodison. 'Out of Doors' reported in October 1892 that the ground "rivals the greater American baseball pitches. It appears to be one of the finest and most complete grounds in the kingdom." The good reviews had a positive effect on Everton FC, within a year of moving to Goodison Park, the team were FA Cup finalists.