Henry Almond
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Henry John Almond[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1850 | ||
| Place of birth | Westminster, England | ||
| Date of death | 1910 (aged 60)[1] | ||
| Place of death | At Sea, Venezuela[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1863–1868 | Charterhouse School | ||
| 1868–1869 | Stoke Ramblers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Henry Almond (1850–1910) helped form Stoke Ramblers (now Stoke City) in 1863.[1]
Playing career
Stoke were formed in 1863 as Stoke Ramblers F.C. when Railway students from the Charterhouse School in Surrey moved to Stoke-upon-Trent to work as apprentices for the North Staffordshire Railway Works. Amongst them was Henry Almond who was a keen sportsman and it is believed that he introduced football to the local workers, although there is no record that matches took place.[1] However, in 1868 it was reported in The Field newspaper that Stoke Ramblers had been formed with Almond as its captain and the club was to play under association football rules.[1] It remains unclear as to whether Stoke played any matches from 1863 to 1868.[1]
After ending his educational studies and skippering Stoke in their first few games, he scored the first ever Stoke goal against E.W May’s XV in a friendly on 17 October 1868.
Later he became a successful Civil Engineer, going abroad to work in Costa Rica for the Venezuela-based La Guayra and Caracus Railway Company. He died at the age of 60.[1]