Colonel Charles Blair Mayne (15 October 1855 – 17 October 1914) was an association footballer and British Army officer who played in the 1878 FA Cup final.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Charles Blair Mayne | ||
| Date of birth | 15 October 1855 | ||
| Place of birth | Madras, British India | ||
| Date of death | 17 October 1914 (aged 59) | ||
| Place of death | Camberley, Surrey, England | ||
| Position(s) | Half-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1875–84 | Royal Engineers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life
editMayne was born in Madras, British India, in 1855, the son of Jasper and Amelia Mayne.[1]
He passed the examinations for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1873, scoring the 12th highest mark - his future football team-mate Charles Haynes scored the 3rd highest.[2]
Football career
editHe joined the Royal Engineers, which had one of the strongest football teams at the time, and made his debut for the Royal Engineers A.F.C. in a 7–0 win over Barnes at the Chatham Lines in October 1875; the match was played 10-a-side.[3]
He was mostly a reserve player for his first two seasons of football, and did not play competitively until the 2nd round of the 1877–78 FA Cup, in a 5–0 win over Pilgrims.[4] He had generally played as a forward, but in the third round tie against the Druids, he had a one-off appearance in goal.[5] He had little to do as the Sappers had an easy 8–0 win, and in his next appearance - the quarter-final replay with Oxford University – he played as half-back, scoring the Sappers' equalizer in a 2–2 draw after the ball came out of a scrimmage.[6]
He retained the position for the remaining Cup games, and scored the winner in the semi-final against the Old Harrovians with a "well-directed kick".[7] He was considered one of the Sappers' better players in the final against the Wanderers,[8] but ended up on the losing side, the Wanderers winning 3–1.
His posting abroad prevented him from playing in any more competitive matches until 1882–83, and he featured as half-back (alongside Richard Ruck) in the Sappers' 3–1 win over Woodford Bridge for his only Cup match that season.[9] His final recorded match was as a full-back in the Sappers' final FA Cup tie, at Great Marlow in November 1884, which, in an indication of how football had moved on, ended 10–1 to the home side.[10]
Army career
editHe took part in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878–80. After his active service was over, he became an army instructor; originally at the School of Military Engineering, and then becoming a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in 1886,[11] before returning to England to be the Assistant Inspector-General of Fortifications.[12] He returned to India from 1897[13] to 1899.[14]
He also undertook duties as a lay preacher,[15] and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1907.[16] He was an authority on field artillery, writing books such as Infantry Fire Tactics and Infantry Weapons And Their Use In War.[17]
Personal life
editHe married Victoria Moore in Frontenac, Ontario, Canada, on 6 April 1893.[18]
Mayne died on 17 October 1914, in Camberley, Surrey, leaving his estate to his widow.[19] The couple had two sons, both of whom were killed in the First World War; Jasper Mayne (of the Royal Field Artillery) in March 1915 and Victor Charles Moore Mayne (of the South Wales Borderers) in February 1916.[20] Their daughter Grace however lived until 1991.[21]
References
edit- ^ India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947, volume 35. Vepery, Madras: India Select Births. 25 November 1855. p. 184.
- ^ "Royal Military Academy". Morning Post: 3. 13 June 1873.
- ^ "Royal Engineers v Barnes". Sportsman: 4. 27 October 1875.
- ^ "Royal Engineers v Pilgrims". Sportsman: 4. 10 December 1877.
- ^ "Royal Engineers v Druids". Bell's Life: 4. 2 February 1878.
- ^ "Oxford University v Royal Engineers". Bell's Life: 4. 2 March 1878.
- ^ "Royal Engineers v Old Harrovians". Sportsman: 3. 18 March 1878.
- ^ "Football Association Cup Final Tie". Referee: 6. 25 March 1878.
- ^ "Royal Engineers v Woodford Bridge". Field: 620. 28 October 1882.
- ^ "Great Marlow v Royal Engineers". Uxbridge & West Drayton Gazette: 7. 15 November 1884.
- ^ "The Army". Belfast News-Letter: 7. 15 September 1886.
- ^ "Notices". Gloucestershire Echo: 1. 20 October 1914.
- ^ "Men and matters". Globe: 4. 10 September 1897.
- ^ "Military Works Department". Homeward Mail from India: 5. 22 August 1898.
- ^ "The Church and social duty". Maidenhead Advertiser: 3. 28 May 1913.
- ^ "The Services". Cheltenham Looker-On: 14. 16 February 1907.
- ^ "Recently published". Army and Navy Gazette: 12. 5 March 1904.
- ^ Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 78
- ^ Calendar of the Grants of Probate L.M.N.O.P. Claremont: HMSO. 1914. p. 155.
- ^ "France and Flanders". Western Morning News: 3. 28 February 1916.
- ^ Under her married name of Bradley: National Probate Calendar. HMSO. 1991. p. 954.