Andrew William Farnsworth (14 January 1887 – 30 October 1966) was an Australian pioneer

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 1910s whose club career was played in Sydney with Newtown. He represented at state level for both

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and at the national level for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. He is the brother of fellow New South Wales and Australian representative, and Newtown player Viv Farnsworth.

Rugby Union career

Farnsworth's

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 ...

career was played with the Newtown club and he was invited to join the new rebel code from the outset to play against

Albert Baskerville Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street m ...

's All Golds when they arrived in Sydney in 1907. Farnsworth stayed true to rugby union and remained an amateur till 1909.

Rugby League career

NSWRFL season 1910 The 1910 NSWRFL season was the third season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season for the pr ...

, he joined the

ranks and commenced playing with the Newtown club. During the

1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...

, Bill Farnsworth and his brother, Viv, made their international debut against the British Lions. With Newtown Farnsworth also won the premiership that year. The following year the Farnsworth brothers were selected for the 'Australasian' Kangaroo tour of Britain in 1911–1912. They were the first set of brothers to play representative rugby league for Australia. Their brother Roy also played at Newtown. Farnsworth also played in Brisbane for Toombul and Kurilpa, gaining selection for

in 1912. With his brother Viv, he headed to England and the end of 1912 and joined the

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 ...

club. He was still in England at the out-break of

the Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

and enlisted for active duty. He continued playing for Oldham 'til 1920. Farnsworth returned to the Newtown club as coach for part of the

1924 NSWRFL season 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 * '' D ...

Cricket career

Farnsworth also played in two first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

matches: one in 1908-09 for

and one in 1919 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 ...

. He became the first player to represent

at Rugby, Rugby League and Cricket.Alan Whiticker, www.rugbyleagueproject.org

Accolades

Bill Farnsworth was the great-uncle of the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

ex player and CEO Denis Fitzgerald. His youngest brother

Roy Farnsworth Roy Eric Farnsworth (1892-1957) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. Playing career Youngest brother of the famous rugby league footballers: Bill Farnsworth and Viv Farnsworth, Roy Farnsworth was also a noted Ha ...

also played for Newtown. In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, Farnsworth was named as five-eighth of the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, New South Wales, Newtown, a suburb of Inner West (Sydney), Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after t ...

18-man team of the century.

References

Sources