Arthur Pember was a British sportsman, stockbroker, lawyer, journalist and author, notable for serving as the first president of The Football Association from 1863 to 1867.
16 Facts About Arthur Pember
2.
Arthur Pember grew up in the Brixton Hill and Clapham Park suburbs of London.
3.
On 2 January 1864, Arthur Pember led his "President's Side" to victory over the "Secretary's Side" in a friendly match at Battersea Park to test out the new laws.
4.
In February 1866, Arthur Pember chaired the FA meeting that created the second edition of the Laws of the Game.
5.
Arthur Pember urged that a tape be strung between the posts, with a goal counting only if the ball went below the tape.
6.
Arthur Pember was twice re-elected FA President, in October 1864 and February 1866.
7.
At its next annual meeting in February 1867, which Arthur Pember did not attend, the FA elected Morley to replace him as president.
8.
Arthur Pember's name is absent from records of subsequent FA annual meetings.
9.
Arthur Pember successfully climbed Mont Blanc in August 1863, and would go on to describe his experience on the mountain in public lectures.
10.
In 1868, Arthur Pember emigrated with his wife and two sons to New York, where he started a new career as a journalist.
11.
In 1871 and 1872, Arthur Pember contributed to a lengthy series of articles in The New York Times on "Our State Institutions".
12.
Arthur Pember followed this up in 1872 and 1873 with a series of The New York Times articles exploring "how the other half lives", for which the author assumed several disguises including beggar and circus performer.
13.
In 1875, Arthur Pember appeared before a New York state legislative crime committee in order to testify about the police collusion he had discovered in 1871.
14.
In May 1884, Arthur Pember moved with his five sons from New York to LaMoure, Dakota Territory, in order to become a stock farmer.
15.
An 1885 newspaper article reported that Arthur Pember was writing a book entitled "Twenty Years in New York Journalism".
16.
Arthur Pember had ten children with his wife Alice, of whom six survived infancy.