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Jack Garvey

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
18-03-1913
N/A
31-01-1930
St. Helens Local Leagues
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
17-10-1931 v Oldham
London Highfield
1934- Broughton Rangers
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1931-1933
119 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
52
1
0
158

Biography of Jack Garvey



HERITAGE NO : 393
Jack Garvey by Alex Service

At one stage it appeared that the loss of stand-off Les Fairclough in the early 1930s as a result of a chronic knee injury would be a bitter blow for the St.Helens club. Fairclough had found international recognition as a result of some superb performances on the 1928 tour to Australia and a quality replacement looked unlikely. That is, until the arrival of another local lad, Jack Garvey, who made great strides early on in his career at Knowsley Road. He made his debut against Oldham on 17th October 1931, when he was to establish a partnership with scrum-half Harry Frodsham which was a natural progression from the Groves-Fairclough pairing of the previous decade. Garvey was only just out of his teens and a prodigious talent. By the end of his first season, the Saints had won their inaugural Championship final and Garvey had a hand in the winning try against Huddersfield at Wakefield. He made 119 appearances for the club during his career at St.Helens and scored 52 tries. He had great pace and a fantastic eye for the gap.

In July 1934, when rumours of a transfer from Knowsley Road were rife, the St.Helens Newspaper wrote in glowing terms of his progress: 'He only recently became 21. For a man so young he has an amazing record. He first came into the limelight in the game against Wigan Highfield at Tunstall Lane a little more than three years ago when he scored a wonderful try. He has improved with every match he has since played. He has smashed the record of Leslie Fairclough in becoming a county man and international before reaching 21. Moreover he has 60 tries to his credit.'

Unfortunately, the Saints were a cash-strapped club by the mid 1930s and were forced to sell their biggest assets, like Arkwright, Ellaby and young Garvey in particular. It came to pass that he became a target for Broughton Rangers and went to the Manchester club in a cash plus player deal, with forward Stan Hill (The ex-St.Helens Recs player) coming to Knowsley Road as part of the arrangement.

From 1936-39 Garvey played for Wigan, making 84 appearances for the Riversiders, scoring 30 tries. He could play with equal effectiveness at centre as well as stand-off. His great pace and sidestep saw to that. He remains a brilliant player who should have been the cornerstone on which the next great Saints side should have been built during the mid 1930s. Unfortunately it was not to be. Saints legend Alf Ellaby was a big admirer of his skills and, of course, they were team-mates at both St.Helens and Wigan. Ironically they could have both played for Broughton, who also offered Ellaby a huge amount of money to sign for them, but he declined and went to Wigan.

Keith Bowen, whose father Jack Bowen played loose forward for Wigan at the same time as Jack Garvey, has provided some details of Wigans Lancashire Cup final victory over Salford, at Station Road, Swinton in 1938. It is from a match report in the Manchester Guardian, by George Duckworth. Clearly, Jack Garvey had played a magnificent game in front of over 27,940 spectators: "Another factor in Salfords eclipse was the inability of their halves, Risman and Watkins, to command the run of the game against Garvey and Gee at their best. Never has Garvey been more forceful and even Risman could not match his guile."

Outside rugby Jack was a General Labourer and in 1939 he was living in Royal Grove, St Helens. He died in St Helens in November 1984, aged 71.

PLAYER HONOURS

SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1931~329 0 0 32
1932~33 21 1 0 45
1933~3422 0 0 42
TOTALS:52 1 0 119
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1932~32 1001
TOTALS:1001

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
17th Oct 1931 1
W
 6 Oldham L H 31 17 VIEW
24th Oct 1931 2
L
 6 Broughton Rangers L A 12 24 1 VIEW
31st Oct 1931 3
W
 6 Bradford Northern L H 35 5 VIEW
7th Nov 1931 4
W
 6 Wigan Highfield L A 19 4 1 VIEW
14th Nov 1931 5
W
 6 Salford L H 10 2 VIEW
21st Nov 1931 6
W
 6 Warrington L A 23 8 VIEW
28th Nov 1931 7
W
 6 Warrington L H 38 8 VIEW
5th Dec 1931 8
W
 6 Bradford Northern L A 31 5 VIEW
12th Dec 1931 9
W
 6 Leigh L A 16 8 1 VIEW
19th Dec 1931 10
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L H 33 12 1 VIEW
25th Dec 1931 11
L
 6 St. Helens Recs L A 2 13 VIEW
26th Dec 1931 12
W
 6 Wigan L H 10 4 VIEW
1st Jan 1932 13
D
 6 St. Helens Recs L H 7 7 VIEW
2nd Jan 1932 14
W
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 5 3 VIEW
9th Jan 1932 15
W
 6 Wakefield Trinity L H 11 2 VIEW
13th Jan 1932 16
L
 6 Salford L A 3 9 VIEW
23rd Jan 1932 17
W
 6 Halifax L H 24 10 VIEW
30th Jan 1932 18
W
 6 Swinton L A 8 7 VIEW
6th Feb 1932 19
L
 6 Keighley CC1 A 6 12 1 VIEW
27th Feb 1932 20
L
 6 Castleford L A 0 5 VIEW
5th Mar 1932 21
W
 6 Barrow L H 36 15 VIEW
12th Mar 1932 22
W
 6 Huddersfield L H 21 8 2 VIEW
19th Mar 1932 23
W
 6 Dewsbury L A 24 15 1 VIEW
25th Mar 1932 24
W
 6 Wigan L A 12 3 VIEW
26th Mar 1932 25
W
 6 Castleford L H 24 6 VIEW
29th Mar 1932 26
W
 6 Halifax L A 13 3 VIEW
2nd Apr 1932 27
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L A 16 3 VIEW
16th Apr 1932 28
W
 6 Swinton L H 17 5 1 VIEW
18th Apr 1932 29
W
 6 Broughton Rangers L H 21 10 VIEW
23rd Apr 1932 30
W
 6 Wakefield Trinity L A 25 8 VIEW
30th Apr 1932 31
W
 6 Leeds ChSF H 9 0 VIEW
7th May 1932 32
W
 6 Huddersfield ChF N 9 5 VIEW
27th Aug 1932 33
L
 6 Widnes L A 10 12 VIEW
3rd Sep 1932 34
W
 6 Widnes L H 16 9 VIEW
10th Sep 1932 35
W
 6 Swinton L A 12 7 VIEW
17th Sep 1932 36
W
 6 Leigh L H 33 10 3 VIEW
24th Sep 1932 37
L
 6 Hunslet L A 8 15 1 VIEW
26th Sep 1932 38
W
 6 Hunslet L H 21 3 VIEW
1st Oct 1932 39
L
 6 Swinton L H 11 37 VIEW
8th Oct 1932 40
W
 6 Widnes LC1 A 10 5 VIEW
22nd Oct 1932 41
D
 6 Wigan Highfield L A 11 11 VIEW
24th Oct 1932 42
W
 6 Broughton Rangers LC2 H 22 4 2 VIEW
29th Oct 1932 43
W
 6 Batley L H 14 7 VIEW
2nd Nov 1932 44
D
 6 Salford LCSF A 2 2 VIEW
5th Nov 1932 45
W
 6 Leigh L A 13 3 VIEW
7th Nov 1932 46
W
 6 Salford LCSF(rep) H 17 10 VIEW
12th Nov 1932 47
W
 6 Wigan Highfield L H 34 7 VIEW
19th Nov 1932 48
L
 6 Warrington LCF N 9 10 VIEW
26th Nov 1932 49
W
 6 Leeds L H 21 5 VIEW
29th Nov 1932 50
L
 6 Batley L A 12 17 VIEW
3rd Dec 1932 51
W
 6 Castleford L A 10 7 VIEW
10th Dec 1932 52
L
 6 Warrington L H 16 18 VIEW
17th Dec 1932 53
L
 6 Salford L A 5 13 VIEW
24th Dec 1932 54
L
 6 Oldham L A 8 12 VIEW
25th Dec 1932 55
W
 6 St. Helens Recs L H 8 3 VIEW
27th Dec 1932 56
W
 6 Wigan L H 13 10 1 VIEW
31st Dec 1932 57
L
 6 Leeds L A 0 27 VIEW
2nd Jan 1933 58
W
 6 St. Helens Recs L A 10 5 VIEW
7th Jan 1933 59
W
 6 Salford L H 12 5 1 VIEW
14th Jan 1933 60
L
 6 York L A 5 11 1 VIEW
28th Jan 1933 61
L
 6 Barrow L A 17 18 1 VIEW
4th Feb 1933 62
W
 6 Halifax L H 5 3 1 VIEW
11th Feb 1933 63
W
 6 Bradford Northern CC1 A 24 3 1 VIEW
18th Feb 1933 64
W
 6 Oldham L H 23 0 1 VIEW
2nd Mar 1933 65
W
 6 Hunslet CC2 H 14 3 1 VIEW
4th Mar 1933 66
D
 6 Broughton Rangers L A 8 8 VIEW
11th Mar 1933 67
W
 6 Halifax CC3 H 18 6 VIEW
13th Mar 1933 68
W
 6 York L H 9 8 VIEW
25th Mar 1933 69
L
 6 Warrington CCSF N 5 11 VIEW
1st Apr 1933 70
L
 6 Huddersfield L H 8 31 VIEW
4th Apr 1933 71
L
 6 Rochdale Hornets L A 0 38 VIEW
8th Apr 1933 72
L
 6 Halifax L A 18 25 2 VIEW
14th Apr 1933 73
L
 6 Wigan L A 12 23 1 VIEW
15th Apr 1933 74
L
 6 Warrington L A 17 24 VIEW
17th Apr 1933 75
W
 6 Broughton Rangers L H 26 0 1 VIEW
22nd Apr 1933 76
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L H 47 19 3 VIEW
29th Apr 1933 77
W
 6 Castleford L H 39 5 1 VIEW
18th May 1933 --
W
 6 Halifax * Fr Carnival Cup L 35 13 1 VIEW
26th Aug 1933 78
W
 6 Widnes L H 29 14 VIEW
2nd Sep 1933 79
L
 6 Widnes L A 4 12 VIEW
4th Sep 1933 80
W
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 21 11 1 VIEW
16th Sep 1933 81
W
 6 Oldham L H 25 8 VIEW
18th Sep 1933 82
L
 6 Oldham L A 3 16 VIEW
23rd Sep 1933 83
L
 3 Huddersfield L A 0 10 VIEW
30th Sep 1933 84
W
 6 Salford LC1 H 12 8 VIEW
7th Oct 1933 85
L
 6 Keighley L A 8 16 1 VIEW
14th Oct 1933 86
W
 6 Leigh L H 20 13 VIEW
16th Oct 1933 87
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets LC2 H 52 14 1 VIEW
21st Oct 1933 88
W
 6 Dewsbury L A 11 0 VIEW
28th Oct 1933 89
L
 6 Salford L H 2 17 VIEW
2nd Nov 1933 90
L
 6 St. Helens Recs LCSF A 2 9 VIEW
4th Nov 1933 91
L
 6 Rochdale Hornets L A 17 20 1 VIEW
11th Nov 1933 92
W
 3 Dewsbury L H 30 13 2 VIEW
25th Nov 1933 93
W
 3 Bradford Northern L H 28 0 VIEW
2nd Dec 1933 94
L
 3 Australia Tour H 11 20 VIEW
9th Dec 1933 95
W
 3 Broughton Rangers L A 11 9 VIEW
16th Dec 1933 96
W
 3 Broughton Rangers L H 36 5 2 VIEW
23rd Dec 1933 97
L
 3 Salford L A 10 17 1 VIEW
26th Dec 1933 98
L
 3 Wigan L H 8 21 VIEW
30th Dec 1933 99
L
 4 Leeds L A 5 20 VIEW
1st Jan 1934 100
W
 6 St. Helens Recs L H 10 2 1 VIEW
8th Jan 1934 101
L
 6 Leigh L A 6 11 1 VIEW
13th Jan 1934 102
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L H 29 13 4 VIEW
20th Jan 1934 103
W
 6 Leeds L H 21 19 VIEW
27th Jan 1934 104
L
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 8 23 VIEW
3rd Feb 1934 105
L
 6 Huddersfield L H 7 20 VIEW
10th Feb 1934 106
W
 6 Bradford Northern CC1 A 34 6 VIEW
17th Feb 1934 107
L
 6 Halifax L A 8 16 VIEW
24th Feb 1934 108
L
 6 Bramley CC2 A 12 17 VIEW
28th Feb 1934 109
W
 6 Swinton L A 8 5 VIEW
3rd Mar 1934 110
W
 6 Bradford Northern L A 15 11 1 VIEW
14th Mar 1934 111
L
 6 London Highfield L A 8 16 VIEW
19th Mar 1934 112
W
 6 Warrington L H 7 3 VIEW
24th Mar 1934 113
W
 6 Swinton L H 25 5 1 VIEW
30th Mar 1934 114
L
 6 Wigan L A 3 27 VIEW
1st Apr 1934 115
L
 6 Barrow L A 10 21 1 VIEW
3rd Apr 1934 116
W
 6 Keighley L H 23 14 1 VIEW
7th Apr 1934 117
W
 6 Barrow L H 31 23 2 VIEW
9th Apr 1934 118
L
 6 Halifax L H 9 19 VIEW
14th Apr 1934 119
W
 6 London Highfield L H 34 12 1 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 74 | LOSSES : 42 | DRAWS : 4

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