Jimmy Lewthwaite (10 November 1920 – 23 December 2006), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "Gentleman Jim", was a

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 ...

for

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Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and Barrow.

Playing career

Barrow

With Barrow he scored a club record 351 tries and kicked 20 goals in exactly 500 appearances from 1943–57. He scored 50 tries in his last season, 1956–57, another club record. He retired after Barrow's Rugby League

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 defeat by

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in 1957, one of three

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

appearances he made with the Cumbrian club during that decade. Jimmy Lewthwaite played on the in Barrow's 0-10 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1951 Challenge Cup Final during the 1950–51 season at

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on Saturday 5 May 1951, played on the in the 21-12 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

in the 1955 Challenge Cup Final during the 1954–55 season at

on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513, and played on the in the 7-9 defeat by

in the 1957 Challenge Cup Final during the 1956–57 season at

on Saturday 11 May 1957, in front of a crowd of 76,318. Lewthwaite's Testimonial match at Barrow took place in 1956. He was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame when it was launched in 2001, alongside 1950s teammates

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

and Willie Horne.

Representative honours

Jimmy Lewthwaite represented

. Jimmy Lewthwaite played on the in

's 5-4 victory over

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in the 1948–49 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France match at the Recreation Ground,

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

on Wednesday 13 October 1948, in front of a crowd of 8,818. On the international front he travelled to

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 ...

with

in 1946 – the famous "Indomitables" tour, named after the vessel on which they sailed, . He top-scored with 25 tries on that tour despite not making the Test team. He also won one

cap.

Career records

Jimmy Lewthwaite holds Barrow's "Most Career Appearances" record with 500 appearances, and is first in Barrow's all time try scorers list with 354-tries.

Life

He represented Cumberland at rugby union and association football as a schoolboy, as well as winning a medal in the All-England Schools Athletics competition at the age of 13. He moved to Woodley, near Reading, shortly before turning 15 to work at an aircraft factory but later relocated to Barrow to take up an apprenticeship at the town's shipyard. He continued as a footballer and had trials with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Preston North End before switching to rugby league with Barrow in 1943, making his first-team début against St. Helens in April that year. He later played golf around the district.

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
*(archived by web.archive.org
Back on the Wembley trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewthwaite, Jimmy 1920 births 2006 deaths Barrow Raiders players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players People from Cleator Moor Rugby league players from Cumbria Rugby league wingers Rugby articles needing expert attention 20th-century English sportsmen