Lives in Cricket No 44 - LCH Palairet

Corinthians. The university had a proud tradition as a football team as they had won the FA Cup in 1873-74 and had lost three other finals. Although they were now not entering the Cup they still were a force in football, though with the development of professionalism the university was finding it harder to compete. This was evident when on November 3 they played a friendly against Football League team Aston Villa. Both Palairets were chosen, however the university was outplayed losing 7-1. The Birmingham Daily Post commented that ‘the younger Palairet set Rhodes up for the only goal for the University with a magnificent solo run and accurate pass’. Lionel was also playing for a team called The Crusaders, a London-based club formed in 1863 that entered the FA Cup during the 1880s and 1890s; however, they never progressed beyond the fourth round and the club is long defunct. He played a number of games for them scoring several goals. In the 1890- 91 FA Cup The Crusaders lost in the first round to Birmingham St George’s 2-0; it is not known if Lionel played. Other notable games that year were against The Old Wykehamists on November 12, when the university won 5-2 with Lionel scoring the fourth; the following week the students lost 11-3 to Mr Farmer’s eleven, although Lionel scored the first goal. In February he played for the university against The Crusaders; the students easily won 5-1, with Lionel scoring a goal. Later that month both Palairets played for Bath against Wells in the Somerset Challenge Cup Final; in a scrappy game Bath lost 1-0. Despite a number of games for the university and making other appearances either for Crusaders or Bath, Lionel was not chosen for the Varsity game; however Richard was. Richard was at this time a regular for The Corinthians. It has been stated that Lionel also played for The Corinthians, but the only game I have traced that he played for them was against the Barbarians in April 1892, when CB Fry and FGJ Ford were also in the team. In addition to playing a lot of football Lionel joined the Oxford Athletic Club, and in February 1891 participated in two meetings, finishing third in the one-mile race and then winning the half mile. His athletic prowess in running resulted in his selection University and plenty of sport 23