Bert Unwin | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Bert Unwin | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 382 Bert Unwin by Alex Service Bert was a local lad who could be described as a bread and butter player. He was signed from rivals St. Helens Recreation when England international hooker Harold Smith left Knowsley Road in the autumn of 1929. A worker at the Pilkington Glass works, Bert made his St. Helens debut against Salford at the Willows on 30th October 1929 in a replayed second round Lancashire Cup tie. Saints lost 3-13, with Bert forming a front-row partnership with New Zealander Lou Hutt and Haydock-born Lou Houghton. Bert played against the visiting Australians in an entertaining 18-18 draw at Knowsley Road, but did not feature at Wembley at the end of the season against Widnes in the Challenge Cup final. He was selected for the infamous Championship semi-final against Leeds at Knowsley Road when Alf Ellaby was marked out of the game somewhat illegally by his opposite number and Saints lost 5-8. The 1929-30 campaign was his most successful in terms of appearances, with 23 all told. He went on to play on 13 occasions for the First Team during the following campaign. His last match was on 13th February 1932 against Hull KR at Knowsley Road which the visitors won 5-8. At least he played his part in the team that finished as League Champions for the first time at the end of the 1931-32 season. Bert went on to Wigan Highfield and stayed with them when they relocated, lock, stock and barrel to London, to become London Highfield. In fact Bert was hooker for the London club when the Saints made their first-ever visit to the capital to play a club match on Wednesday 14th March 1934. It was also the first occasion that the team had appeared under floodlights in the professional game. The home side won by 16 points to 8, although the experiment in the capital was to last just one season for this particular club. As for Bert, we are not certain whether he retired from rugby at that time or went elsewhere. In 1939 he was living in Roland Avenue, St Helens and working at the local glass works. He passed away in St Helens on 3rd January 1980, aged 75. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1929~30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 1930~31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 1931~32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS: | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30th Oct 1929 | 1 | L |
9 | Salford | LC2(rep) | A | 3 | 13 | VIEW | |||
| 2nd Nov 1929 | 2 | W |
9 | Broughton Rangers | L | A | 8 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 9th Nov 1929 | 3 | W |
9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | H | 24 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 16th Nov 1929 | 4 | D |
9 | Australia | Tour | H | 18 | 18 | VIEW | |||
| 23rd Nov 1929 | 5 | L |
9 | Leigh | L | A | 3 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 30th Nov 1929 | 6 | W |
9 | York | L | A | 18 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 7th Dec 1929 | 7 | W |
9 | Wigan Highfield | L | H | 8 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Dec 1929 | 8 | W |
9 | Barrow | L | A | 12 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Dec 1929 | 9 | W |
9 | Barrow | L | H | 19 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Dec 1929 | 10 | W |
9 | St. Helens Recs | L | H | 8 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Dec 1929 | 11 | W |
9 | Wigan | L | H | 14 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 28th Dec 1929 | 12 | L |
9 | Castleford | L | A | 0 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 1st Jan 1930 | 13 | L |
9 | St. Helens Recs | L | A | 0 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 4th Jan 1930 | 14 | L |
9 | Oldham | L | A | 4 | 20 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Jan 1930 | 15 | L |
9 | Warrington | L | A | 5 | 22 | VIEW | |||
| 5th Apr 1930 | 16 | L |
9 | Hunslet | L | A | 11 | 14 | VIEW | |||
| 9th Apr 1930 | 17 | W |
9 | Swinton | L | A | 8 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Apr 1930 | 18 | W |
9 | Warrington | L | H | 23 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 17th Apr 1930 | 19 | W |
9 | Batley | L | A | 15 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 19th Apr 1930 | 20 | W |
9 | Broughton Rangers | L | H | 31 | 17 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Apr 1930 | 21 | W |
9 | York | L | H | 29 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 22nd Apr 1930 | 22 | W |
9 | Swinton | L | H | 8 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Apr 1930 | 23 | L |
9 | Leeds | ChSF | H | 6 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 10th Sep 1930 | 24 | L |
9 | Salford | L | A | 5 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Sep 1930 | 25 | W |
9 | Warrington | L | H | 18 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 27th Sep 1930 | 26 | W |
9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 21 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 4th Oct 1930 | 27 | W |
9 | Dewsbury | L | H | 12 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 11th Oct 1930 | 28 | L |
9 | Wigan | LC1 | A | 7 | 24 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Oct 1930 | 29 | L |
9 | Leeds | L | H | 8 | 20 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 25th Oct 1930 | 30 | W |
9 | York | L | A | 10 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 8th Nov 1930 | 31 | W |
9 | Huddersfield | L | A | 10 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 15th Nov 1930 | 32 | W |
9 | Salford | L | H | 7 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 22nd Nov 1930 | 33 | W |
9 | Barrow | L | A | 7 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 27th Dec 1930 | 34 | L |
9 | Leeds | L | A | 0 | 23 | VIEW | |||
| 3rd Jan 1931 | 35 | W |
9 | Halifax | L | H | 20 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 10th Jan 1931 | 36 | L |
9 | Warrington | L | A | 3 | 14 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Feb 1932 | 37 | L |
9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | H | 5 | 8 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 22 | LOSSES : 14 | DRAWS : 1 |
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