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

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.