In 1874, Goodwyn was posted back to India with his regiment, where he died, at Roorkee, on 14 March 1874 (the day after his 24th birthday) as a result of injuries suffered two days earlier in a horse riding accident and ironically on the same day as the 1874 FA Cup Final where his colleagues were defeated 2–0 by Oxford University. He was the first England international footballer to die.