James F. M. Prinsep

Who was James F. M. Prinsep?

James Frederick McLeod Prinsep was an English footballer who held two 'youngest player' records for almost 125 years, before they were both broken within the space of just over a year.

He made his debut for England, against Scotland on 5 April 1879, at the age of 17 years and 252 days, which made him England's youngest-ever player at the time. He held this record for almost 124 years, until Wayne Rooney made his debut at the age of 17 years and 111 days against Australia on 12 February 2003. Prinsep was selected for a further England v Scotland international fixture in 1882 but was unavailable.

Prinsep played for Clapham Rovers, and also formerly held the record for being the youngest player to play in an FA Cup final, playing in the 1879 final against Old Etonians at the age of 17 years and 245 days. This record was broken not long after his England record, by then Millwall player Curtis Weston, who played in the 2004 final aged 17 years and 119 days.