Frank Howe Sugg (11 January 1862 – 29 May 1933) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er. He played for

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 ...

in two Test matches in 1888 and for three county cricket clubs –

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1883,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

from 1884 to 1886 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 ...

from 1887 to 1899. He also played for five football clubs.

Cricket career

Sugg was born at

Ilkeston Ilkeston ( ) is a town located in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, England, with a population of 40,953 at the 2021 census. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared. Part of t ...

, Derbyshire and became a solicitor's clerk and was living with his widowed mother at Nether Hallam in 1881. Though born in Derbyshire, he lived his early life in Yorkshire and made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in 1883. In the 1884 season, Sugg went to play for Derbyshire where he was top scorer for the club and regarded as the best bat in a team that suffered the rare ignominy of an anti-perfect season losing all ten of its county games. In the 1885 season, Sugg scored 187 against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

at Southampton and was second in the averages to

Ludford Docker Ludford Charles Docker (26 November 1860 – 1 August 1940) was a businessman and an English cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Derbyshire between 1881 and 1886, captaining the side in 1884, and for War ...

. He was second in the averages in the 1886 season to

William Chatterton William Chatterton (27 December 1861 – 19 March 1913) was an English cricketer and footballer. He played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1902 and for England on their tour of South Africa in 1891–92. He captained Derbys ...

. With Derbyshire's fortunes declining, in 1887 he went to Lancashire, and it was during his term at Old Trafford that he appeared for England in two Test matches. In 1890 he was one of the "Nine Great Professional Batsmen" profiled in ''Wisden''. Sugg scored 1000 runs in a season five times, all during his time with Lancashire. He was one of the first players (after

James Southerton James Southerton (16 November 1827 – 16 June 1880) was an English professional cricketer whose first-class career spanned 26 seasons from 1854 to 1879. Right-handed as both batsman and bowler, he began his career as a specialist batsman. He ...

) to represent three teams in county cricket. His benefit match in 1897 raised 1000 pounds. He was six feet tall and strongly built and had a sharp eye for the ball, revelling in the drive and hook over square leg. Sugg was shaky at the start of an innings, but once settled hit the ball very hard, and was also an excellent outfielder. England won both Tests that Sugg played in by an innings.

Football career

Sugg first played top-class association football for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in the 1882–83 season. However his stay was brief. In 1883–84 Sugg signed for The Wednesday and also captained their team. From November 1884 until March 1885 Sugg played for and captained

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. From March 1885 until September 1888 he played for and captained

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. Sugg was described by a commentator as a "play anywhere footballer as long as he could play football". Sugg signed for Everton in September 1888. Playing at centre forward, Sugg made his Everton and League debut on 6 October 1888 at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

, the then home of Everton. The visitors were

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and Everton won 2–0. Sugg appeared in nine of the 22 League matches in the 1888–89 season. He was retained for 1889–90 but only played once, taking his total to ten League appearances without scoring. He returned to Burnley in 1890 but did not play for their first team.

Personal life

Sugg had massive biceps and took part in weightlifting, long-distance swimming and shot put. He also played in the final of the Liverpool amateur billiards championship, won numerous prizes in rifle shooting and held the record for throwing a cricket ball.Wisden – Obituaries in 1933
cricinfo.com Sugg died in Waterloo, Liverpool at the age of 71.

References

* Bill Frindall, ''Wisden Book of English Test Cricketers'' * Christopher Martin-Jenkins, ''Who's who of Test Cricketers''

External links

* * 1862 births 1933 deaths Derbyshire cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Yorkshire cricketers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Everton F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Ilkeston Footballers from Derbyshire Cricketers from Derbyshire North v South cricketers Players cricketers Liverpool and District cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-stub

Cricket career

Football career

Personal life

See also

References

External links