Arthur Pember

Arthur Pember (1835 – 3 April 1886) was a British sportsman, journalist and author, notable for being the first president of The Football Association, from 1863 to 1867, as a member of N.N. Club or N.N. Kilburn, one of the founder clubs of the FA.

Biography

Arthur Pember was one of the founders of association football, having been elected as the president of The Football Association at the meeting where the organisation was founded in October 1863. He had attended on behalf of N.N. Club (also known as N.N. Kilburn).^[1][2] He was a highly educated Victorian with a knowledge of literature, science, current affairs, etc.

He also had a career as a New York journalist just after the American Civil War. The most interesting fact was his undercover investigations and his involvement with the most prominent editors of the day. He worked for the press in the early days of investigative journalism, when the New York Times exposed severe malpractices in Government including Boss Tweed of the Tammany Ring. Pember's investigations generally had a large degree of humour and an element of danger, as he uncovered the truth behind American and Victorian society, meeting on one hand street beggars and on the other the leading industrialists of the day. He was also an author who wrote a significant book referred to by reformers of the time.^[3]

Mr. Pember was the author of an 1874 book published by D. Appleton & Co. entitled "The Mysteries and Miseries of the Great Metropolis"^[4]

His direct family included his wife; Alice Mary Pember, daughters Mabel Pember (d. 27 July 1875) and Alice Richardson Pember (d. 30 July 1875), sons Valintine Pember (d. 18 July 1874) and Geoffry Francis Pember (d. 21 July 1872).

Mr. Pember died on 3 April 1886 in LaMoure, North Dakota according to an obituary note in the 4 April 1886 edition of the New York Times.

He was also a member of the Wanderers amateur football club.^[5]

References