Arthur Kinnaird

Arthur Kinnaird was the First Lord of Football, the most influential figure in England football in the Victorian era. He won the FA Cup five times, played for Scotland and - as Lord Kinnaird - was President of the Football Association for 33 years. His extraordinary life and his contribution to the formative years of football is told by sports historian Andy Mitchell. Kinnaird was an outstanding sportsman, who oversaw football's growth from its primitive and muddied beginnings in the 1860s through to the professional era of the 20th century when stadia were packed with thousands of fans. This book reveals his role in stories such as the birth of international football, the epic FA Cup victories with Wanderers and Old Etonians, his clashes with Darwen and Blackburn Rovers, and his selection to represent Scotland. This new edition updates and revises Arthur Kinnaird's biography which was first published in 2011. It contains new information and new images, bringing his story up to date. Andy Mitchell runs a sports history website and has written several books including First Elevens: the Birth of International Football and 1824, The World's First Foot-Ball Club. He has worked as a researcher for the FIFA World Football Museum, was a consultant to the Netflix mini-series 'The English Game' which dramatised Arthur Kinnaird's involvement in the FA Cup and football's transition from amateur pastime to professional sport.