Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

38 note 8: The Casuals entered the FA Cup in 1884, reached the final of the first FA Amateur Cup in 1893, won the London Charity Cup in the same year and were founder members of the Isthmian League in 1905. note 9: In his history of Oxford University football, Colin Weir describes an incident in a match against Sheffield United in 1892/93; Raikes took a thunderous goal-kick only for it to rebound off the head of one of his defenders into the top of his net. Clearly he had been practising. note 10: Raikes turned out twice for Norfolk County, 21 times for the Corinthians, 14 times for the Casuals, four times for England, plus an unknown number of times for Magdalen College and Oxford University. note 11: While Oxford essayed their neat passing game, Cambridge stuck to their unscientific kick-and-charge. This was not ‘pretty’ but was also not incorrect tactics given the conditions. Former blue, George Wood, thought that Raikes had one of the ‘off days’ referred to above, stating in ACM Croome’s 50 Years of Sport at Oxford, Cambridge and the Great Public Schools, that “Raikes in goal was a comparative failure, punching out too much”. However, this appears to have been a lone criticism of Raikes’ keeping in this match. Raikes’ Meteoric Rise as a Top Quality Footballer