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

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

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

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, 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 Wick ...

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. It lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civil parish population was 11,184 (5,265 males, 5,919 femal ...

, 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

career with

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

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 Lancashire Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * ''19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * ''Dician ...

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 l ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at St. Helens in 1927 against Wales, in 1928 against Wales (2 matches), in 1930 Other Nationalities, 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 on the in St. Helens' 3–10 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in the

1929–30 Challenge Cup The 1929–30 Challenge Cup was the 30th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Widnes beat St Helens 10-3 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley p ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, 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 ...

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 Lancashire League. Due to being on the 1932 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, Ellaby and Albert Fildes did not play in St. Helens' 9–5 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees 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 confl ...

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 sys ...

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 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

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 on the in the 9–10 defeat by

in the 1932 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1932–33 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

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 Te ...

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. He became the only player ever to be inducted int ...

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 town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, 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 Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...

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 district, 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 t ...

, and were later scattered on the pitch at his beloved

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It 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 ...

. Ellaby was inducted into the Saints Greatest 17 in the Autumn of 2010 and was joined by Les Fairclough, 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 British publicans 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 Rugby league players from Prescot Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Wigan Warriors players 20th-century English sportsmen