News

Report by Matt Rigg (T06) 

After the FA Cup, the oldest knock-out competition in British Football is The Arthur Dunn Cup. It carries the name of Old Etonian Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn (1860-1902). In 1901 not long before he died suddenly at the age of just forty-two, Dunn had put forward the idea of an Old Boys cup competition, no doubt mindful that the dominance of the Public Schools in the FA Cup had been broken, and the Arthur Dunn Cup was born in 1903 as a lasting memorial. 

Today it is an invitational competition, with invitations only distributed to the first XI teams of Old Boys. Old Amplefordians have participated for 11 years and are one of the very few teams in the lower divisions of the Arthurian League (the league set up that we play in, named after Arthur Dunn) who are invited each year. The competition is a privilege to play in and steeped in history, it is our equivalent of the FA Cup! There are two notable rules of the competition, firstly that all players must have attended the school that they are representing, secondly that the match should be played at the school pitch of the home team... Being a London based team in a London based league it is not often that we get the chance to play a competitive fixture in the valley, so when the opportunity came firstly in 2019 we organised the first ever Arthur Dunn Cup match at Ampleforth against the Old Radleians. A close contest against a team 4 divisions above us, we eventually succumbed after extra time 4-5.  

This year we were drawn at home against the Old Kimboltonians (Kimbolton School, Cambridgeshire whose alumni include George Furbank the current England Rugby international) for just the second ever Arthur Dunn Cup match held at Ampleforth College. Underdogs, as ever in this competition, we faced a Division 1 side who had won the previous year Junior League Cup. Our team was essentially half of our London squad, and half Yorkshire based OA's. The game started with a few forays forward by the old Amplefordians, but overall, the momentum of the first half was with the Old Kimboltonians. Tom Fox in goal kept the scores level in the opening 20 minutes with two world class saves from close range. However, his superhuman efforts weren't enough to keep us level as they scored two goals in quick succession midway through the period to go in at HT 0-2.  

A rousing team-talk by the club’s leading voices (within earshot of former Thomas' housemaster Paul Brennan, which may have cost us a few quid in the swear jar back in the day) gave us the desire to go and make it uncomfortable for the opposition and see what would happen if we got the first goal. In the second half we exploded out the blocks, we turned up the physicality and the desire to win and as prophesied at half time, we got the first goal in the second period to jump aboard what would turn out to be a roller coaster ride. Will Rogers' freekick into the area was pounced upon by - would you believe it - veteran Centre Back, Matt Rigg, who had been handed the ceremonial duties of Dunn captain by skipper Tom Picceri for the game, and whose parents, brother and niece and nephew had congregated from both ends of the country to watch. Pandemonium, elation and, importantly, belief spread through the ranks. The roller coaster dipped momentarily as Kimbolton went through to make it 1-3, but we climbed again and George Smith who only left the school the prior year and was playing his first game for OAFC, curled in a beauty from outside the box with his left foot to send us into raptures again. Kimbolton were shaking and we had the bit between our teeth. We pushed, we fought, and we gave the favourites a real run for their money until inside the last 20 minutes when our legs and minds were tired, and some injuries started to pop up. Kimbolton showed why they were 4 divisions above and ran away with it in the end and were ruthless with their chances. A loss on the score sheet but a fantastic day and experience for all involved. We hosted the Old Kimboltonians at the reopened White Swan after the game and look forward to the rest of our season where we are still in 2 cups and are fighting, at the halfway stage, for a promotion spot from Division 4. 

 Big thanks to all who played  

Matt Rigg (T06) - Arthur Dunn Captain 
Tom Picceri (O17) - Skipper 
Tom Fox (C06) 
Jason McGee-Abe (B04) 
Angus Ramsay (H10) 
Ed Walsh (W04) 
Will Rogers (O09) 
Jack Rogers (O11) 
George Smith (H23) 
Henry Newitt (D09) 
Tom Trustram Eve (J20)

Substitutes

Felix Langdale (H23) 
Hugh Crosse (EW10) 
Rufus Fox (EW17)