The Royal Engineers Association Football Club from the United Kingdom is scheduled to take on an all-Fort Leonard Wood team at 6 p.m., June 3, at Soccer Field No. 2.
The Royal Engineers was founded in 1863 under the leadership of Maj. Marindin of the Corps of Royal Engineers (also known as “The Sappers”). The team enjoyed a great deal of success in the 1870s, and in 1875 won the Football Association Challenge Cup, also known as the FA Cup.
The Royal Engineers are the only military team to win this competition, which is widely viewed as the most prestigious domestic cup competition in world soccer. The REAFC is no longer eligible to play in the FA Cup, which is now dominated by the professional teams of the English Premier League, but as a former winner the Corps is entitled to wear the cup emblem on its playing uniform.
A replica of the original FA trophy, awarded to the Royal Engineers in 1972 to mark the centenary of the competition, resides in the Headquarters Officers’ Mess in Chatham, Kent.
As early as 1869, the REAFC is documented in a contemporary match report as having “worked well together” and having “learned the secret of football success — irreproachable organization and backing up.”
Good passing has always been a feature of the Engineers’ style of soccer, and the REAFC is the first team to be considered to have played the game “beautifully.” Several former engineers have gone on to represent their country at soccer, and during the late 1800s, six players played for England while on active service with the Corps.
The Royal Engineers soccer team of 1872 won the coveted FA Cup — the only military team ever to do so.
In 2008, the REAFC won the British Army Inter-Corps League and the Inter-Corps Cup, finishing the season undefeated — an unprecedented level of success that was achieved against a backdrop of heavy operational commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The team undertakes an overseas tour every three years, and has toured Hong Kong, Cyprus, Zimbabwe and Canada in the past. The tour to Missouri is the first time the REAFC has played in the U.S., and in addition to a game against the all-Fort Leonard Wood team, the U.K. team is scheduled to play matches against the St. Louis Lions, the Springfield Soccer Club and Lindenwood University.
The June 3 game is free and open to the public, and area soccer fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on their favorite team. For more information, contact Col. Andy Phillips at 563.4018 or at Andrew.phillips14@conus.army.mil.
Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. —
