We are going to close this week with one of those Victorian characters that appear on the blog from time to time, and who embody the origin of some famous club. Today’s protagonist is Arnold Hills.
Born on March 12, 1857 in Denmark Hill, Surrey, Arnold Frank Hills began to excel in sports from a young age: he practiced athletics, football and cricket at his school, Harrow, one of the most prestigious in the United Kingdom.
He went to Oxford and continued his sporting career there. He competed with the University team in football and in 1877 was runner-up in the FA Cup. After university, he played for Old Harrovians and in 1879 he became international with England.
Professionally, Hills held a management position in the company Thames Iron Worksa shipyard and metallurgical company of great importance in the British capital.
In 1895, Hills was, along with Dave Taylor, one of the creators of Thames Ironworks FC, a football team created for the factory’s employees. This team would become, years later, the West Ham United.
Hills He supported the club financially until April 1900when, after growing disagreements with members of the West Ham board of directors over the professionalism debate, he left the club.
But in addition to his role as founder of West Ham, Arnold Hills is also known for being one of the pioneers of vegetarianism. In 1888 he became the first president of the Vegetarian Society of London, on whose executive committee there was a young Indian named Mohandas Gandhi.
He was also the first president of the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Clubof the London Vegetarian Hiking Club and the Federal Vegetarian Union (1889), as well as founder of the magazine The Vegetarian.
Hills, who was also teetotal, founded the Fruitarian Oriolet Hospital in Loughton and wrote the book Vital Food in 1892, where he defended a diet based on raw foods of plant origin.
In his old age, Arnold Hills suffered from arthritis and became disabled. He died at Hammerfield, Kent, on 7 March 1927. He was 69 years old.
Today, one of the private dining rooms of the London Olympic Stadium, where West Ham play, is named after the Arnold Hills Suite.
I hope you liked the article. Until next week.
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