14 Facts About Alfred Lyttelton

Alfred Lyttelton KC was a British politician and sportsman from the Lyttelton family who excelled at both football and cricket.

Alfred Lyttelton was, among numerous other achievements, the first man to represent England at both football and cricket.

Alfred Lyttelton played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, captaining the side in 1879.

Alfred Lyttelton ranked third in the national first-class averages in 1879 with 688 runs at 28.66.

Alfred Lyttelton was President of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1898.

Alfred Lyttelton was a keen and skilful footballer, playing for Cambridge and Old Etonians and winning a single cap for England against Scotland on 3 March 1877.

Alfred Lyttelton's principal weapon as a forward was a unique and generally successful goalscoring technique that appears, from contemporary sources, to have been an early version of the 1970s Cruyff turn.

Alfred Lyttelton would run towards the corner and then swiftly turn inwards, running parallel to the back line, and some ten yards from it.

Alfred Lyttelton played in the last days of the "dribbling game", the earliest form of the Association code and a style of play that valued individualism and close ball control over passing and teamwork.

On coming down from Cambridge, Alfred Lyttelton took up the law, and served as legal private secretary to the Attorney General, Sir Henry James.

Alfred Lyttelton remained apolitical until his uncle's retirement, but in 1894 entered politics as a Liberal Unionist, and was elected to the House of Commons at an 1895 by-election as Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington.

Alfred Lyttelton attempted ambitious reforms of Britain's management of the colonies towards a more decentralised, imperial vision, but these ideas were abandoned by the Liberals who succeeded him.

Alfred Lyttelton's funeral took place on the day of the annual Varsity cricket match, and play between Oxford and Cambridge was suspended for two minutes as a mark of respect.

Alfred Lyttelton married secondly Edith Sophy, daughter of Archibald Balfour, in 1892.