Harold Wagstaff

60
Harold Wagstaff bigraphy, stories - English rugby league player

Harold Wagstaff : biography

1891 – 1939

Harold Wagstaff (1891–1939) was an English rugby league footballer of the early 20th century. He played as a and was nicknamed the Prince of Centres. A captain of the Great Britain national team, he also played representative football for England and Yorkshire.

Biography

Wagstaff was born in the village of Underbank within Holmfirth on 9 May 1891 and first played at local amateur side, Underbank Rangers.

Professional playing career

1900s

Wagstaff’s first professional game, for Huddersfield in 1906, was at the age of 15 years and 175 days. He was thus the youngest person to play professional rugby league. He then became the youngest representative in rugby league football when he turned out for Yorkshire age 17 years and 141 days, and a few months later made his début for England against the first ever touring Australian side: the ‘First Kangaroos’ of 1908.

1910s

By 1912 he was appointed captain of Huddersfield, aged 19. In 1914 he was made captain of Great Britain, a post held during that year’s tour of Australia and New Zealand. He was captain in the famous ‘Rorke’s Drift’ match on 4 July 1914.

During his career as the captain of the Huddersfield team, known as The Team of all The Talents, he led them to victory in the Rugby League Challenge Cup, the Championship Trophy, the Yorkshire Cup, and the Yorkshire League in 1915. They thus became the second of only three teams ever to win All Four Cups, the others being Hunslet (1908) and Swinton (1928).

Wagstaff was also stationed in Egypt during World War I.

1920s

Wagstaff also captained Great Britain on their tour of Australasia in 1920. In November that year, rugby league’s first players’ union, the ‘Northern Rugby Union Players’ Union was founded in Huddersfield under the chairmanship of Wagstaff.

Wagstaff played his last Test match in January 1922, when he helped Great Britain beat Australia and regain the Ashes.

His career had lasted for 19 years until his retirement in 1925.

Post-playing

Wagstaff was the manager of the Royal Swan Hotel, Westgate, Huddersfield, and died in 1939. In 1988 he was inducted into the British Rugby League Hall of Fame.

He was one of five famous players to feature on a set of British stamps issued in 1995 to commemorate the centenary of Rugby League.

Wagstaff and his contribution to Anglo-Australian rugby league culture were the subject of 2003s annual Tom Brock Lecture, given by Tony Collins.