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England Players -

Robert Vidal
Oxford University FC

 

1 cap 0 goals
100% successful
1873
disciplined: none
captaincies: none
minutes played: 90


Players Index

"Prince of Dribblers"

Robert Vidal Profile

Full name Reverend Robert Walpole Sealy Vidal
Popular name Robert Vidal
Born  3 September 1853 in Cornborough, nr Bideford, Devon.
Died 5 November 1914, as R.W. Sealy, aged 61, in Bideford, Devon.
Height/Weight -

Club Career

Club(s) Vidal attended school at Westminster, London and university at Christ Church, Oxford before becoming a reverend. He was a member of the Wanderers F.C. team.  The following year, 1874, Vidal moved to Oxford University.
Club honours FA Cup winners 1871-72 [probably the only schoolboy ever to win the FA Cup], 1873-74; runners-up 1872-73;
Individual honours None.
Distinctions Vidal also has the very peculiar honour of being the only person to score a hat-trick without anybody else touching the ball! Such were the rules of the day, that the team who had scored got to restart the match. Vidal scored his first, took the ball out of the net, put it down on the centre spot, ran the length of the field and scored again (his second), took the ball out of the net, ran back and repeated the feat (his third). The changing of the rules in 1877 prevented further scenes like this to happen. The "king of dribblers" showed why he was so called with this amazing feat.

England Career

Player number One of nine who became the 12th players to appear for England.
Position(s) Half-Back;
First match No. 2, 8 March 1873, England 4 Scotland 2, friendly match at Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London.  Aged 19 years, 186 days.
Last match No. 2, 8 March 1873, England 4 Scotland 2, friendly match at Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London.  Aged 19 years, 186 days.
Major tournaments None.
Team honours None.
Individual honours None.
Distinctions Became for a short while, England's youngest ever international at 19 years, 186 days.  Held between 1873 and 1877.

Beyond England

Served on the FA Committee 1872 and 1874. Ordained in 1877 and Vicar of Abbotsham, Devon, 1881 to his death. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1971). Hatton Press, p.255.

 

Robert Vidal - Career Statistics
Squads Apps Mins. Goals Goals Avg Capt. Disc.
1 1 90 0 0.000 0 None

 

Robert Vidal - Match Record - All Matches
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts % W/L
Home 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 0 0 4.00 2.00 100.0 +1
All 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 0 0 4.00 2.00 100.0 +1

 

Robert Vidal - Match Record  - By Type of Match
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Friendly 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 0 0 4.00 2.00 100.0 +1
All 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 0 0 4.00 2.00 100.0 +1

 

Robert Vidal - Match History
Club: Oxford University F.C. - 1 cap
Coach: F.A. Committee - 1 cap
App No. Opponent Date Venue Type F A Res. Details Shirt
1 2 Scotland 08-Mar-1873 Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London F 4 2 HW Start n/a

Notes

[Biographical sketch to come]

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CG