James Leyden | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of James Leyden | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 420 James Leyden by Alex Service and Dave Dooley We know James lived in St.Helens when he played for the club and resided at Crispin Street. According to the 1911 Census the Leydens were resident in Wilson Street, St Helens. By 1921 the family had moved to nearby Napier Street in the town. James married Alice Mort and they were living in Raglan Street in the late 1930s. James was working as a Labourer for an Engineer in a Power Station. In 1940 the couple had a son named James who lived lived his whole life in St Helens but sadly died in December 2014 at the age of 74. James played regularly for the reserves as a back-rower and made his first team debut for the Saints against Barrow on 1st April 1934. It was a time when the great St.Helens side of the early 1930s was beginning to break up through a combination of age, injury and financial necessity. Leyden played number eleven on his debut, with Albert Fildes and Arthur Lemon making up the back row. Interestingly, another prominent member of the back row, Jack Arkright, had been moved to centre for that game. His last match was at the end of the season against London Highfield at Knowsley Road when he played in the left centre. His winger, New Zealander Roy Hardgrave, scored a hat-trick in Saints 34-12 success. James signed up for the Royal Engineers at the start of the Second World War.James sadly died in Libya on the 11th of January 1943 in World War Two. He was a driver with the Royal Engineers (#2139411) and is buried at Benghazi War Cemetery. He was listed as the son of John and Mary Leyden, of St. Helens, Lancashire and husband of Alice Leyden (nee Mort), of St. Helens. We are aware that his widow, Alice, later married a William Brown in 1949. The SHS sre keen to contact any descendants to pass on his Heritage Certificate 420. Naturally we would also love to receive a scan of any photo of James or indeed any further information on his playing career or personal life. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1933~34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TOTALS: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Apr 1934 | 1 | L |
11 | Barrow | L | A | 10 | 21 | VIEW | |||
| 3rd Apr 1934 | 2 | W |
11 | Keighley | L | H | 23 | 14 | VIEW | |||
| 7th Apr 1934 | 3 | W |
11 | Barrow | L | H | 31 | 23 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Apr 1934 | 4 | W |
4 | London Highfield | L | H | 34 | 12 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 3 | LOSSES : 1 | DRAWS : |
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