Alvin Ackerley (1927 – 1973) was an English professional

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 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. 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

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, and at club level for Barrow (trialist),

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

, Halifax (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

1952–53 to 1955–56), and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

, as a .Gate, Robert (2002). ''100 Greats - Cumberland Rugby League''. Tempus Publishing Limited.

Background

Alvin Ackerley was born in

Dearham Dearham is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, near the Lake District National Park in England. It lies about east of Maryport and west of Cockermouth. According to the 2001 census it had a population of ...

, England, and he died aged 46.

Playing career

Halifax

Ackerley played in his first cup final during the 1948–49 season, playing in Halifax's 0–12 defeat by

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the

1948–49 Challenge Cup The 1948–49 Challenge Cup was the 48th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The 29 clubs of the rugby league were joined in the competition by three junior clubs, one each from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cum ...

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 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 7 May 1949. Ackerley played in Halifax's 14–24 defeat by St. Helens 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 1952–53 season. During the 1953–54 season, Ackerley played in the 7–8 defeat by

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 ...

in the

Final. He also captained the side in the 4–4 draw with Warrington in the

1954 Challenge Cup Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

Final at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday 24 April 1954, and also played in the replay (which Halifax lost 4–8) at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more. Ackerley played , and was

in Halifax's 22–14 victory over

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

in the

1954 Yorkshire Cup Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

Final during the 1954–55 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday 23 October 1954. During the 1955–56 season, he played in the 10–10 draw with Hull in the 1955 Yorkshire Cup Final at

on Saturday 22 October 1955, and the 7-0 victory in the replay at

on Wednesday 2 November 1955. He also played in the 9–10 defeat by Hull in the

Final, and played in the 2–13 defeat by St. Helens in the 1955–56 Challenge Cup Final at

on Saturday 28 April 1956. Ackerley won the Yorkshire League with Halifax on four occasions, during the 1952–53 season, 1953–54 season, 1955–56 season and 1957–58 season.

Representative honours

Ackerley 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 Halifax in 1952 against Other Nationalities (2 matches), and Wales, in 1953 against France (2 matches), and Wales, and won

s for

while at Halifax in 1952 against Australia, and in 1958 against New Zealand. Ackerley also won

s for

while at Halifax.

Personal life

Alvin Ackerley was the older brother of the rugby league who played in the 1960s for

and

; Terry Ackerley (birth registered first ¼ 1940 in

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

district).

Death and legacy

Ackerley died in December 1973, aged 46. He is a Halifax RLFC Hall Of Fame Inductee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerley, Alvin 1927 births 1973 deaths Barrow Raiders players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax Panthers captains Halifax Panthers players Hull Kingston Rovers players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Dearham Workington Town players 20th-century English sportsmen