Cuthbert Burnup

Who was Cuthbert Burnup?

Cuthbert James "Pinky" Burnup was an amateur cricketer and footballer who gained fame through his participation in sports around the turn of the century. An English international footballer at only twenty years old, Burnup is more renowned as a Kent cricketer but his abilities never resulted in international selection despite immense early promise.

Burnup was born at Blackheath, Kent, the son of J M Burnup. He was educated at Malvern School and Clare College, Cambridge and gained a blue in football and cricket at Cambridge University. A cautious opening batsman and occasional bowler, Burnup was in the Cambridge side for three years from 1896. Upon graduating from University he maintained an active interest in both sports, being selected to play for his 'home' county of Kent and becoming a footballer with the Corinthians going on tour with ‘Pa’ Jackson’s club to South Africa in 1896, his absence from the Kent side that year being keenly felt. He also played for Old Malvernians.

Such were his abilities as a footballer, and such was the influence of the amateur game on the Football Association at the time, that Burnup was selected to represent England against Scotland in the Auld Enemy match in Glasgow on 4 April 1896. However, it was a galling defeat, with England losing 2–1, that did much to signal the end of the reliance of the Football Association on amateur footballers. It was his only game for England.