Major-General Sir Richard Mathews Ruck (27 May 1851 – 17 March 1935) was a British Army officer who served with the Royal Engineers, spending most of his career in the Submarine Mining Service, before becoming the Director of Fortifications and Works (the equivalent of the Chief Royal Engineer). He was a keen amateur sportsman, who played football for the Royal Engineers, helping them to victory in the 1875 FA Cup Final.
Family and education
Richard Ruck was born at Pennal, Merionethshire, Wales on 27 May 1851, the fourth child and second son of Laurence Ruck (c.1820–1896), a gentleman farmer, originally from Newington in Kent. Richard acquired his second Christian name from his mother, Mary Anne Mathews (1822–1905), whose family could claim descent from Owain Glyndŵr, the last Welsh native Prince of Wales.
Richard's siblings included: Mary Elizabeth Ruck (1842–1920): married Robert Travers Atkin, a newspaper editor; their son, James, became an eminent judge and was ennobled as James Atkin, Baron Atkin. Arthur Ashley Ruck (1847–1939): served with The King's (Liverpool Regiment), retiring in 1886 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was later the Chief Constable of Caenarvonshire. His daughter Amy Roberta (1878–1978) was a writer of romance novels. Amy Richenda Ruck (1850–1876): married Francis Darwin, the botanist son of the naturalist Charles Darwin. She died shortly after the birth of her son, Bernard, the golf writer. Oliver Edwal Ruck (1856–1934): also served with the Royal Engineers and played in the 1878 FA Cup Final.
Ruck was educated privately, before joining the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Football and sporting career
At the Royal Military Academy, Ruck gained a reputation as an athlete, playing both cricket and rugby football and being a keen gymnast. On joining the Royal Engineers in 1871, he switched to association football. At this time, the Royal Engineers were among the top football teams in England, having reached the final of the first FA Cup tournament in 1872 and again two years later, finishing on both occasions as runners-up. Ruck played on the right of the half-backs and was described as a "good half-back, being a sure kick... using his weight well".
The Engineers reached the FA Cup Final for the third time in four years in 1875 but only after a hard semi-final against Oxford University, with a 1–1 draw followed by a 1–0 victory in the replay. In the final, played on 13 March 1875 at Kennington Oval, the Engineers met the Old Etonians. The match was played in a strong gale and the Engineers spent most of the match against the gale, with the rules requiring ends to be changed after each goal. Alexander Bonsor scored for the Old Boys after 30 minutes followed by an equaliser from Capt Renny-Tailyour within five minutes. Shortly after the equaliser, Ruck collided with Cuthbert Ottaway who was forced to leave the field with a serious ankle injury; in his absence, the Old Boys were regarded as fortunate to have held on for a 1–1 draw.
The replay was three days later; although the Engineers were able to field the same eleven as in the first match, the Etonians had to make four changes, losing the match 2–0, with both the Engineers' goals scored by Capt Renny-Tailyour. At the third attempt, the Royal Engineers won their first, and only, FA Cup Final.
Ruck also represented the Royal Engineers at billiards, cricket and golf. During his military posting to Malta from 1899 to 1902, he laid out a golf course and designed the clubhouse, before winning the inaugural tournament, despite this being open to officers from both the Army and the Royal Navy.
In 1891, he was the founder and first secretary of the Welsh Golfing Union, becoming president in 1933, and was a member of golf clubs at Aberdovey and Woking.
In December 1928, he was the author of a "valuable" article published in the Royal Engineers Journal entitled "R.E. Football in the Early 'Seventies". In the article, Ruck describes the Engineers' use of passing rather than running with the ball: Individually, we were sometimes up against better players than ourselves, but collectively we felt equal to any club. We were a veritable band of brothers.
Military career
Ruck graduated from RMA Woolwich and joined the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant on 2 August 1871. After completing his initial training at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham in November 1873, he was posted to Aldershot until September 1874, when he returned to Chatham to join the Submarine Mining Service, in which he was to serve for over 20 years.