Alfred "Alf" Henry Ellaby (24 November 1902 – 1993) was an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, and at club level for St. Helens (two spells), and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

( Heritage № 380), as a . Ellaby retired as the

and St. Helens' all-time top try-scorer. Ellaby was dubbed the "

Hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

King", with 31 for his home-town club, St. Helens. Ellaby was Liverpool's first

superstar.

Background

Ellaby was born in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the ...

, he saw a promising

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

career with

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

ended by a knee injury before going on to become a St. Helens legend, and he died aged 90–91.

Playing career

Ellaby played on the wing and scored a try in St. Helens' 10–2 victory over

St Helens Recs St Helens Recreation Rugby League Football Club, often known as St Helens Recs or just the Recs, is a former professional rugby league club from St. Helens, Lancashire, that played in the Rugby Football League during the inter-war years. The club ...

in the

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos (general), Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz. ** Bảo Đại, Crown Prince Nguyễn P ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and play ...

Final during the 1926–27 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year le ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The populati ...

on Saturday 20 November 1926. He scored 50 tries during the 1926–27 season. Ellaby won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at St. Helens in 1927 against Wales, in 1928 against Wales (2 matches), in 1930

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

, in 1931 against Wales, in 1932 against Wales (2 matches), and in 1934 against France. He also won

s for

in 1928 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches). Alf Ellaby played , i.e. number 5, in St. Helens' 3–10 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form t ...

in the 1929–30

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, London on Saturday 3 May 1930, in front of a crowd of 36,544. During the

1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fourth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team all around England and also into Wales. The tour featured the ninth Ashes series which comprised four Test matches and wa ...

Ellaby played for Great Britain in the first and second Test matches against Australia. During the 1931–32 season Ellaby set the St Helens club's record for most tries in a match with six on 5 March 1932, a record that has since been matched, but never broken. He played in St. Helens' victory that season in the

County League. Due to being on the

1932 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1932 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team) of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1932. The tour involved a schedule of 26 games, 18 in Australia including a thre ...

, Ellaby and

Albert Fildes Albert "Alec" Edward Fildes ( – ) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire, and at club level for St Helens Recs and ...

did not play in St. Helens' 9–5 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into t ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1931–32 season at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population ...

on Saturday 7 May 1932. He played for Great Britain in 1932 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1933 Australia. Ellaby played in the 9–10 defeat by

in the 1932

Final during the 1932–33 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Saturday 19 November 1932. He had amassed 280 tries in 289 matches for St. Helens. Ellaby was transferred to

in 1933 to help ease St. Helens' financial burden, in his début for Wigan he scored a hat-trick of tries. During the

1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three Test ...

Ellaby was selected to play on the wing for Great Britain in the first test against Australia. while at Wigan he played for England in 1935 against France, he later returned to St. Helens to complete his fantastic career.

Post-playing

Ellaby's position as all-time top try-scorer in the game's history with 446, was overtaken by

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who became the only player ever to have been induc ...

in 1954. Alf was, at various times, the landlord of the Veevers Arms (subsequently known as The Hop), 2–4 King Street,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

, and the Ardwick Hotel, 32 Foxhall Road in Blackpool, together with the George Hotel, Selby Road, Garforth, becoming a Director of Castleford for a spell. A member of the Saints' Past Players' Hall of Fame, he lived in

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the popula ...

until his death at the age of 90 in 1993. There was to be a last twist, however, quite befitting to one of the great sporting heroes of St.Helens. His ashes were taken home on the Saints 'A' Team coach after a match at

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centr ...

, and were later scattered on the pitch at his beloved

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

. Ellaby was inducted into the Saints Greatest 17 in the Autumn of 2010 and was joined by

Les Fairclough Leslie Stuart Fairclough (30 September 1902 – 7 October 1951) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire, and at club ...

, his who had done so much to keep the three-quarter line moving to provide Alf with so many of his scoring opportunities.

References

External links

Alf Ellaby at saints.org.ukSearch for "Alf Ellaby" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellaby, Alf 1902 births 1993 deaths England national rugby league team captains England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Place of death missing Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Wigan Warriors players