Frederick "Fred" Webster (third ¼ 1882 – March 1939) 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 1900s and 1910s. 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

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 ...

, and at club level for Brotherton ARLFC (in

Brotherton Brotherton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The village is on a border with the City of Wakefield and West Yorkshire (here formed by the River Aire). History Brotherton was historically part of the Wes ...

, now represented by Brotherton Bulldogs ARLFC of the Pennine League

, and

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 ...

(

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 ...

), as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Background

Webster was born in Whittington Derbyshire, England.

Playing career

International honours

Fred Webster 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 Leeds in 1906 against Other Nationalities, in 1910 against Wales (2 matches), in 1911 against Wales, and won

s for

while at Leeds on the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand against

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 ...

(2 matches),

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 ...

(2 matches), and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

County honours

Fred Webster won

(s) for

while at Leeds, including against

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 Wednesday 18 December 1907.

Championship appearances

Fred Webster played as a

' 2–35 defeat by

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 1914–15 season.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Fred Webster played as a

, and was

' 7–7 draw with Hull F.C. in the

1909–10 Challenge Cup The 1909–10 Challenge Cup was the 14th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final The final was contested by Leeds Rhinos, Leeds and Hull F.C. at Fa ...

Final during the 1909–10 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

on Saturday 16 April 1910, in front of a crowd of 19,413, this was the first

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Final to be drawn, and played as a

, was

, and scored a try in the 26–12 victory over Hull F.C. in the

Final replay during the 1909–10 season at

on Monday 18 April 1910, in front of a crowd of 11,608, this was

' first

Final win in their first appearance.

County Cup Final appearances

Fred Webster played in Leeds' 5–24 defeat by

in the 1919–20 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1919–20 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, Halifax on Saturday 29 November 1919.

Career at Leeds

Fred Webster joined Leeds from Brotherton in 1902, on the eve of his 20th birthday, and was a mainstay of the side for the next 18 years, he scored a club record eight tries in the 102–0 win over

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

in 1913, later equalled by Eric 'Toowoomba Ghost' Harris. During Fred Webster's time at Leeds he made 543 appearances, a club record which stood for more than 60 years, only John Holmes has played more games for Leeds.

Testimonial match

Fred Webster's

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

at Leeds took place in 1919.Tom Mather (2010). "Best in the Northern Union". Pages 128–142.

The Leeds RL Greats

The ''

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World. Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...

'' named Arthur Clues, Bert Cook,

Ellery Hanley Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 ca ...

Eric Harris Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold ( ; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine H ...

Vic Hey Victor John Hey (18 November 1912 in Liverpool, New South Wales – 11 April 1995), also known by the nickname of "The Human Bullet", was an Australian rugby league national and state representative and later a successful first-grade and natio ...

, John Holmes, Lewis Jones,

Danny McGuire Daniel Phillip McGuire (born 6 December 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He played as a or and spent the majority of h ...

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most- ...

, and Frederick "Fred" Webster, as the greatest ever Leeds RL players.

References

External links

Search for "Frederick Webster" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Fred Webster" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Frederick 1882 births 1939 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos captains Leeds Rhinos players People from Thorne, South Yorkshire Rugby league players from Derbyshire Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster Place of death missing Rugby league forwards Yorkshire rugby league team players