Joseph Oliver ( – 11 June 1966) 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 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. 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

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 at club level for

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 ...

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

, Hull F.C. (two spells), and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

, as a , or , and was

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 ...

of Hull during the 1930–31, 1933–34, 1934–35 and 1935–36 seasons.

Background

Oliver was born in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

, England.

Playing career

Oliver 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 Batley in 1928 against Wales, and won

s for

in 1928 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand. Oliver won further caps for England while at Hull in 1933 against Australia, and in 1936 against Wales, and France. He also represented

. Oliver played, was

, and scored two tries, and five

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

s in

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

's 21-2 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

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 1935-36 season. Oliver played, and was

's victory in the Yorkshire League during the 1935-36 season. The Hull F.C club song 'Old Faithful' also comes from Joe Oliver's time at the club. Joe was nicknamed 'The Points Machine' and 'Old Faithful' by the club's supporters, due to his consistent and prolific scoring rate. In 1933 when

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

released his song about an 'old faithful' horse the fans adopted it for Joe. The song has adapted slightly since that time but can still be accredited to Joe's time at the club. Oliver set

's "Most Career Goals" record with 687-

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

s, and

's "Most Career Points" record with 1842-points scored between 1928-37 & 1943-45.

References

External links

* (archived by web.archive.org
Stats → PastPlayers → O at hullfc.com
* (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at hullfc.comSearch for "Joe Oliver" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "The Points Machine" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Old Faithful" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Joseph 1900s births 1966 deaths Batley Bulldogs players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Hull F.C. captains Hull F.C. coaches Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers players Place of death missing Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Maryport 20th-century English sportsmen