Arthur Lees (1874 – death unknown) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and 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 1890s and 1900s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

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

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, as a scrum-half, or

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for

, as a , or , alongside Harry Varley until 1897, and was

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 ...

of Oldham from the 1898–99 season, after retiring as a player he served Oldham as a member of the club's committee. Prior to Thursday 29 August 1895, Oldham was a

club.

Background

Arthur Lees was born in Lees,

, England.

Playing career

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Arthur Lees played , and was

, in

's 19–9 victory over

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the

1899 Challenge Cup Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

Final during the 1898–99 season at

Fallowfield Stadium Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Fallow ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

on Saturday 29 April 1899, in front of a crowd of 15,763, and in the 3–17 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

1906–07 Challenge Cup The 1906–07 Challenge Cup was the 11th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Warrington and Oldham at Wheater's Field in Broughton, Salford. The final was played on Saturday 27 Ap ...

Final during the 1906–07 season at

Wheater's Field Wheater's Field was a stadium, rugby ground in Broughton, Salford, Broughton, County Borough of Salford, Salford, England. It was home to the Broughton Rangers rugby league club of the Rugby Football League, Northern Union. On 19 October 1907, ...

, Broughton Saturday 27 April 1907, in front of a crowd of 18,500.

Championship appearances

Arthur Lees played for

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 ...

victory during the 1904–05 season .The Umpire (1905). ''Oldham Football Team - Winners of the Northern League Championship, Season 1904–05''.

The Umpire The ''Empire News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom. The newspaper was founded in 1884 in Manchester as ''The Umpire''. A penny newspaper, it was the first successful provincial Sunday newspaper in England. Owned by H. S. Jennings, ...

. ISBN n/a

Honoured at Oldham

Arthur Lees is an Oldham Hall Of Fame Inductee.

References

External links

* (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Arthur 1874 births English rugby league players English rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players Lancashire rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. captains Oldham R.L.F.C. players People from Lees, Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Place of death missing Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Oldham Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Oldham Rugby union scrum-halves Year of death missing