Henry Almond

Almond was born in Westminster, London in 1850. He attended the private Charterhouse School where he played association football with his house team Gownboys and the School's team.[1] Almond had a major role in forming Stoke Ramblers believed to have been in 1863 when Railway students from the Charterhouse School moved to Stoke-upon-Trent to work as apprentices for the North Staffordshire Railway.[1] Amongst them was Henry Almond who was a keen sportsman and it is believed that he introduced organised club football to the local workers, although there is no record that matches took place.[1] However, in 1868 it was reported in The Field newspaper that Stoke Ramblers had been formed with Almond as its captain and the club was to play under association football rules.[1] It remains unclear as to whether Stoke played any matches from 1863 to 1868.[1] He played in and scored the first ever Stoke goal against E.W May's XV in a friendly on 17 October 1868.[1] He left Staffordshire soon after to continue his career in railway.[1] Later he became a successful Civil Engineer, going abroad to work in Costa Rica for the Venezuela-based La Guayra and Caracus Railway Company. He died at sea the age of 60.[1]