Eddie Cheetham | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Eddie Cheetham | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 563 Eddie was a very fast and powerful winger who played 25 matches for the Saints during and after World War Two. He scored 12 tries for the club including a hat trick against York in 1948 and a brace of tries in a match opposing Barrow. He became a regular fixture at Knowsley Road and eventually became Saints 1st Team Coach in the early 1970s. Eddie was immersed in sport and competed in the Forces Olympics in Berlin in 1947. He was a pioneer behind the Swinton Running Club and the Belle Vue Racers. Eddie sadly passed away in November 2003, aged 77. Dave Dooley Eddie Cheetham Obituary by Denis Whittle (1998) No fewer than six of the Saints squad that defeated Leeds at Wembley in 1972 gathered on Friday to pay a final tribute to a highly respected member of the club’s coaching staff. Captain Kel Coslett and Eric Chisnall acted as bearers, while Geoff Pimblett, Eric Prescott, Jeff Heaton and Frank Wilson were among the mourners at the funeral of Eddie Cheetham (77) which was held at a packed St.Agnes Church in Stockport. There was also a massive representation from the world of athletics which, along with Rugby League, held pride of place in St Helens-born Eddies remarkably varied sporting compendium. A former painter and decorator with Critchleys, Church Street, he is survived by his wife Lynda, sons Adrian and Mark and several grandchildren. Christened Edwin Wesley Cheetham but popularly known as Eddie, he signed for Saints on demobilisation from the Grenadier Guards in 1946. He attended Rivington Road School, where he cut his rugby league teeth with the likes of Duggie Greenall, George Parr and Bill Finnan. Not forgetting, of course, teacher and coach Harry Cook, who then took all five youngsters to Knowsley Road where he was a Director and later Chairman. Harry incidentally was also commanding officer of the local Air Training Corps, in which Eddie rose to the rank of Sergeant. Those early post war days saw most players coming back from military service and it was a time when clothing coupons were needed for jerseys, terracing consisted of railway sleepers and cinders, admission was a shilling and a programme cost two pence. It was into this far from grandiose scenario that strapping 6ft 2ins 14 stone winger Eddie stepped into his rugby league baptism of fire. He played alongside Test match heroes such as captain Jim Stott, Len Aston and Greenall and also figured in the A Team pack with stalwarts such as Jack Grundy, Walter Norris and Parr. Eddie toured France with Saints in 1951 before winding up his oval ball career with spells at Barrow and Swinton, plus a coaching stint with Leigh. A dedicated athlete, the flying Cheetham won the prestigious Powderhall Sprint in the late 1940s and also excelled in the hammer, javelin, shot, discus and other field events. Not to mention cross-country, road races, swimming and the Manchester 100 mile bike ride! Eddie found time to launch Belle Vue Racers Athletic Jogging and Fitness Club in 1991. He also coached paralympic girl Rachel Potter who was the British Champion pentathlete and record-holder. Come pension age it was not just a case of armchair and carpet slippers for fleet-footed Eddie. Rather it was shorts vest and spikes as usual as he continued to turn up at the track and athletic meetings up and down the United Kingdom and beyond. The ultimate accolade came when he was honoured to be chosen as a torch-bearer in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Although he had moved to Stockport, Cheetham never forgot his St.Helens roots and he was delighted to accept the post of Fitness Co-ordinator at Saints in the early 1970s. Wembley success was immediate as the team lifted the Challenge Cup by defeating the then Loiners by 16-13. And it was in the energy-sapping showdown that saints soaring fitness levels proved crucial, testimony indeed to the demanding regime imposed by hard-taskmaster Eddie. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1942~43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1944~45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1945~46 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1947~48 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 1948~49 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1949~50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1951~52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS: | 12 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1947~48 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1949~50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1951~52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TOTALS: | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Dec 1942 | 1 | L |
2 | Wigan | WEL | A | 3 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 24th Mar 1945 | 2 | L |
2 | Bradford Northern | CC1(2) | A | 13 | 34 | VIEW | |||
| 15th Sep 1945 | 3 | W |
5 | Wakefield Trinity | L | H | 15 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 29th Sep 1945 | 4 | W |
5 | Workington Town | LC1(2) | H | 21 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 6th Oct 1945 | 5 | W |
2 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 11 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Oct 1945 | 6 | W |
2 | Rochdale Hornets | L | H | 21 | 0 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 27th Oct 1945 | 7 | L |
2 | Barrow | L | A | 13 | 23 | VIEW | |||
| 27th Mar 1948 | 8 | W |
5 | York | L | H | 44 | 10 | 3 | VIEW | ||
| 28th Mar 1948 | 9 | L |
5 | Barrow | L | A | 8 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 6th Apr 1948 | 10 | W |
5 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 15 | 10 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 8th Apr 1948 | 11 | L |
5 | Widnes | L | H | 8 | 9 | VIEW | |||
| 10th Apr 1948 | 12 | W |
5 | Barrow | L | H | 21 | 5 | 2 | VIEW | ||
| 17th Apr 1948 | 13 | W |
5 | Halifax | L | H | 20 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 22nd Apr 1948 | 14 | W |
5 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | A | 21 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 24th Apr 1948 | 15 | W |
5 | Bramley | L | A | 19 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 15th May 1948 | -- | W |
5 | Roanne* | Fr | H | 36 | 19 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 21st Aug 1948 | 16 | W |
5 | Widnes | L | H | 6 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 23rd Aug 1948 | 17 | L |
5 | Workington Town | L | A | 11 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 28th Aug 1948 | 18 | L |
5 | Oldham | L | A | 11 | 15 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 25th Sep 1948 | 19 | W |
5 | Dewsbury | L | A | 14 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 13th Nov 1948 | 20 | L |
2 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 3 | 10 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 13th Aug 1949 | -- | W |
2 | Barrow* | Fr Ward Cup | H | 34 | 22 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Aug 1949 | 21 | L |
2 | Widnes | L | A | 2 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Mar 1950 | 22 | D |
12 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | A | 7 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 25th Mar 1950 | 23 | L |
12 | Workington Town | L | A | 0 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 1st Apr 1950 | 24 | W |
11 | Liverpool Stanley | L | H | 27 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 11th Aug 1951 | -- | W |
12 | Barrow* | Fr Ward Cup | H | 16 | 7 | VIEW | |||
| 24th Nov 1951 | 25 | L |
5 | Dewsbury | L | A | 2 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 30th Apr 1952 | -- | L |
5 | Toulouse* | Fr Tour | A | 5 | 31 | VIEW | |||
| 1st May 1952 | -- | L |
5 | French XIII* | Fr Tour | T | 5 | 45 | VIEW | |||
| 4th May 1952 | -- | W |
13 | French XIII* | Fr Tour | F | 27 | 24 | 1 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 17 | LOSSES : 13 | DRAWS : 1 |
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GALLERY |
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