Albert Goldthorpe
Encyclopedia
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
er from the period around 1895's schism in English rugby, which led to the formation of rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
football around the turn of the century.
One of five brothers (four of whom at one period played together in the same Hunslet team), Goldthorpe made his first team debut with Hunslet
Hunslet Hawks
Hunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
, at fullback, as a 16-year-old in October, 1888. He went on to become one of the best known figures in English rugby, both before and after the split, and he was one of the finest individual talents in the game at the time of the Northern Union
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
's formation in 1895. He was also a successful cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er.
Goldthorpe was still playing for Hunslet twenty years after his debut, when in the 1907-08 season he led the club to unprecedented success, winning all four cups
All Four Cups
Between 1905 and 1970 there were four trophies available to any British rugby league side:* Challenge Cup* Rugby Football League Championship* County league * County cup...
(the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
, the Championship, the Yorkshire Cup and the Yorkshire League). Hunslet were the first team to achieve that feat.
When he finally retired in 1910, Goldthorpe had scored more goals and points than any player in the game's history at that time. After his playing career ended he served on the Hunslet committee until, in 1924, he was appointed as the club's second full-time secretary-manager, a post he held for seven years.
Goldthorpe died in 1942 aged 72.
In 1988 an Australian television movie, The First Kangaroos
The First Kangaroos
The First Kangaroos is a 1988 British–Australian made for TV sports film directed by Frank Cvitanovich and starring Dennis Waterman, Chris Haywood and Dominic Sweeney. It depicts the first-ever rugby league tour of England by the Australian national team, the 1908-09 Kangaroos...
actor Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman is a British actor and singer, best known for his tough-guy roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks.-Early life:...
's villainous depiction of Goldthorpe drew formal complaints from his granddaughter.
In 2008, the Albert Goldthorpe Medal
Albert Goldthorpe Medal
The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award that has been created by Rugby Leaguer & League Express to honour the leading players in Super League and to honour Albert Goldthorpe who was English rugby league's first superstar at the turn of the 20th century....
was created by British rugby league newspaper Rugby Leaguer & League Express
Rugby Leaguer & League Express
Rugby Leaguer & League Express is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine 'Rugby League World' and the annual 'Gillette Rugby League Yearbook'.It features match reports and pictures...
to honour the leading players in Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
.
On 20 August 2009, transport company Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva Yorkshire is a division of Arriva which operates bus services around West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and the southern areas of North Yorkshire in England.-History:Arriva Yorkshire was formed as a combination of mergers of previous...
honoured 13 rugby league footballers at a ceremony at The Jungle
The Jungle (Wheldon Road)
The Jungle is the former name of Wheldon Road, a stadium in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. This is the home of the Castleford Tigers rugby league team....
, the home of the Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...
. A fleet of new buses were named after the 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team'. Members of the public nominated the best ever rugby league footballers to have played in West Yorkshire, supported by local rugby league journalists; James Deighton from BBC Leeds, and Tim Butcher, editor of Rugby League World
Rugby League World
Rugby League World is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper Rugby Leaguer & League Express and the annual Gillette Rugby League Yearbook.-History:Rugby League World began...
. The 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team' is; Trevor Foster
Trevor Foster
Trevor J. F. Foster MBE , was a Welsh rugby footballer and coach. He played rugby union for Newport and rugby league for Bradford Northern...
MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, Neil Fox
Neil Fox (rugby league)
Neil Fox MBE is an English former rugby league footballer and player-coach of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. A goal-kicking , he is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the sport because he holds the all-time points record, scoring 6,220 points during his career...
MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, Albert Goldthorpe, Alan Hardisty
Alan Hardisty
Alan 'Chuck' Hardisty is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1950s, '60s and '70s and coach of the 1970s, who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and Yorkshire, and at club level for Castleford, and Leeds, playing at , i.e...
, Stan Kielty
Stan Kielty
Stan Kielty was an English rugby league footballer. A member of the Halifax Hall of Fame, Stan began his professional career at Wakefield Trinity before signing for Halifax in 1946. He later went on to represent Yorkshire and England, playing at , i.e...
, Lewis Jones, Roger Millward
Roger Millward
Roger Millward MBE is an English former rugby league footballer and coach of the mid to late 20th century. A goal-kicking , he gained a high level of prominence in the sport in England by playing for Hull KR and Castleford, as well as representing Great Britain...
MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, Malcolm Reilly
Mal Reilly
Malcolm J. Reilly is an English former rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain international representative , Reilly played club football for Castleford Tigers in England and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Australia...
, Garry Schofield
Garry Schofield
Garry E. Schofield OBE is an English retired professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s. At the time of his retirement he was the most-capped Great Britain player of all time along with Mick Sullivan, with 46 appearances. He also won three England caps, making him the highest...
, Keith Senior
Keith Senior
Keith Senior is an English professional rugby league or who most recently played for the Leeds Rhinos in Super League. He has won every honour in the English domestic game. He holds the record for the most Super League appearances & the most Super League tries...
, David Topliss
David Topliss
David Topliss was an English Rugby League World Cup winning footballer and coach. He played and coached with Wakefield Trinity in the late 1970s and early 1980s....
, Dave Valentine
Dave Valentine
David Donald Valentine was a Scottish representative rugby union and Rugby League World Cup winning footballer, a dual-code rugby international of the 1940s and '50s.-Rugby union:...
, and Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent the majority of his career in the European Super League...
.