Charles Cunliffe | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Charles Cunliffe |
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 HERITAGE NO : Charles Cunliffe CELEBRATED SPRINTER Charles was born in Billinge, Lancashire on the 5th of November, 1857. He was an all round sportsman and probably best known for his sprinting abilities. The sporting newspapers at the time are full of references to Athletics Festivals and when Charles was listed in the results he was invariably down as the winner. A speciality of his was the sprint handicaps, again the reports positioned Charles as ‘scratch’ giving his fellow competitors a number yards start. That usually kept Charles busy over summer, but when October came round it was time to don his rugby kit. He is an interesting marker for the Saints’ historian in that he played for the Club through their transition period in the 1870s and early early 1880s. He wore the jerseys of St Helens RFC (the Originals), St. Helens Rangers and for St.Helens RFC again in 1883 when they had dropped the ‘Rangers’ suffix. He made his debut for the Saints on the 21st of October 1876 in the home victory over Birkenhead Rangers. He is recorded as playing 7 matches for the first team but because of the paucity of results and team sheets from that period, the number of appearances is likely to be much higher. His last appearance for St. Helens RFC was on the 8th of December 1883 in the away victory over Newton-he-Willows. The surprising low number of appearances can also be explained by his defection to St Helens Recs in October 1879. Many of the Recs’ matches over their initial four seasons included Charles on their team sheets. Of course, this did not prevent Charles playing for the Saints if the Recs were without a game. In 1881 he was a glass cutter still living with his mother Mary who worked in St. Helens as a midwife. In 1896 he married Frances Dale and they proceeded to have five children. The 1911 Census has Charles recorded as the Manager of a Glass Warehouse. Charles Cunliffe died in St. Helens the 21st of February 1926 at the age of 68. |
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Oct 1876 | 1 | N/K |
7 | Birkenhead Flamingoes* | FR | H | VIEW | |||||
| 3rd Nov 1877 | 2 | N/K |
3 | Walton Flamingoes* | FR | A | VIEW | |||||
| 21st Jan 1882 | 3 | N/K |
13 | Glodwick* | FR | A | VIEW | |||||
| 25th Feb 1882 | 4 | N/K |
5 | Widnes True Blues* | FR | H | VIEW | |||||
| 21st Oct 1882 | 5 | N/K |
2 | New Springs* | FR | H | VIEW | |||||
| 1st Jan 1883 | 6 | N/K |
3 | Widnes* | FR | H | VIEW | |||||
| 8th Dec 1883 | 7 | N/K |
4 | Newton* | FR | H | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : | LOSSES : | DRAWS : |
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