William Whitehead | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of William Whitehead |
|---|
 HERITAGE NO : William Whitehead THE LURE William was born in Kendal in July 1867. We are uncertain about his family background as two biographies could apply to the rugby player. Remarkably, both characters were born in Kendal, had fathers named James and lived a considerable portion of their lives in Barrow. Most likely is that William was a boarder in Barrow until his dying days. Our local source informs us that he first played for Barrow at the start of the 1888-89 season and was a regular for that side for the next two years. In the 1890-91 campaign he played one match in the second game of the season then reportedly got a job in St Helens. This is uncertain as the Saints regularly invited players from Kendal especially to head south and try their hand at Knowsley Road. The instigator of such invitations was Billy Cross the captain of the Saints and the fixer in chief for all matters Westmorland. William made his debut for St. Helens on the 27th of September 1890 against Askam. The match was played at their new ground in Knowsley Road and William had a storming game playing as a centre three-quarter. Indeed, William scored two tries and greatly impressed the locals. For whatever reason William did not play the following week but then made six successive appearances for the Saints during which he scored another two tries and slotted over 3 goals. He made his debut for Westmorland on the 22nd November that year and was never seen in a St. Helens jersey again. Perhaps, the lure of further representative matches turned his head. Following that County game William slipped back into the Barrow side. His rugby life seemed to roller coaster around different clubs. By February he was playing for local neighbours Askam after having being deselected by Barrow for apparently not paying his subscriptions. In 1892 William moved to Wigan where he stayed for two seasons. He made a second Westmorland appearance in November 1893. There was talk of "filthy lucre" being at the heart of his Wigan move but as far as it is recorded, Barrow never made an official complaint. We are uncertain of the fate of William after his career. The two possible life-lines both end with death in Barrow. He possibly died on the 28th of August, 1932. |
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27th Sep 1890 | 1 | W |
4 | Askam* | FR | H | 7 | 2 | 2 | VIEW | ||
| 11th Oct 1890 | 2 | L |
3 | Kendal Hornets* | FR | A | 0 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Oct 1890 | 3 | W |
4 | Leigh* | SWLL | A | 6 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Oct 1890 | 4 | L |
4 | Aspull* | SWLL | A | 0 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 1st Nov 1890 | 5 | W |
4 | Blackley Rangers* | FR | H | 3 | 2 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 8th Nov 1890 | 6 | L |
3 | Oldham* | FR | A | 3 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 15th Nov 1890 | 7 | L |
4 | Morecambe* | FR | A | 0 | 2 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 3 | LOSSES : 4 | DRAWS : |
|---|