James "Jim"/"Jimmy" J. Featherstone (25 February 1923 – 6 May 2014) 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 and 1950s. 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

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 Ince Rangers ARLFC (in

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north o ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

(two spells),

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 ...

, Belle Vue Rangers and

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

, as a , or .

Background

Jim Featherstone's birth was registered in

district,

, England, he worked as a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

stoker (including for the Flying Scotsman), and he died aged 91 in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Jim Featherstone 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 Warrington in 1948 against France, in 1949 against Wales, France (2 matches), and Other Nationalities, in 1950 against Wales (2 matches), in 1952 against Wales, and won

s for

while at Warrington in 1948 against Australia, on the 1950 Great Britain Lions tour against New Zealand (2 matches), and in 1952 against Australia (3 matches).

Championship final appearances

Jim Featherstone played at and scored a try in

's 13–9 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

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 first-leg during the 1943–44 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

on Saturday 13 May 1944, played at in the 12–5 victory over

in the

Final second-leg during the 1943–44 season at

Crown Flatt Crown Flatt, currently known as the FLAIR Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league stadium in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of the Dewsbury Rams, who play in the Championship. The ground occupies the site of the ...

on Saturday 20 May 1944. and played at in

's 15–5 victory over

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

Final during the 1947–48 season at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

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 ...

County Cup Final appearances

Jim Featherstone played at in

's 8–14 defeat by

in the 1948–49 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1948–49 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 13 November 1948, and played at in the 5–28 defeat by

in the 1950–51 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1949–50 season at

on Saturday 4 November 1950.

Club career

Jim Featherstone made his début for

in the 19–11 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 ...

at Parkside,

on Saturday 20 November 1943. He scored his first try for Wigan in the 3–0 victory over

in the 1943–44 Challenge Cup Final 1st Leg at

on Thursday 15 April 1943, he scored his last try for Wigan (in his second spell) in the 29–2 victory over Swinton at

on Saturday 5 March 1955, he played his last match for Wigan (in his second spell) in the 6–13 defeat by

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

at Post Office Road,

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

on Saturday 17 September 1955, he made his début for

on Saturday 5 January 1946, and he played his last match for Warrington on Saturday 21 February 1953.

Honoured at Warrington Wolves

Jim Featherstone is a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.

Genealogical information

Jim Featherstone's marriage to Lillian M. (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Malley) was registered during third ¼ 1949 in Ince district. They had children; Ian J. Featherstone (birth registered during second ¼ in Ince district). Lillian M. Featherstone died , when Ian J. Featherstone was 5 years old. Jim Featherstone remarried, his marriage to Elizabeth (

Robinson) was registered during third ¼ 1957 in Ince district, she would be his wife for the next 56 years.

References

External links

Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Featherstone, Jim 1923 births 2014 deaths Broughton Rangers players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Wigan Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players 20th-century English sportsmen