Leslie Stuart Fairclough (30 September 1902 – 7 October 1951) 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 and 1930s. 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 St. Helens, as a , or .

Background

Les Fairclough was born in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the civil parish population was 11,184 (5,265 males, 5,919 femal ...

, England, and he died aged 49 in St. Helens,

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Les Fairclough 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 St. Helens in 1925 against Wales (2 matches), in 1926 against Wales, and Other Nationalities, in 1927 against Wales, in 1928 against Wales (2 matches), in 1930 against Other Nationalities, in 1930 against Other Nationalities, in 1931 against Wales, and won

s for

while at St. Helens in 1926–27 against New Zealand, in 1928 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), and in 1929–30 against Australia.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Les Fairclough in St. Helens' 3–10 defeat by

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

1929–30 Challenge Cup The 1929–30 Challenge Cup was the 30th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Widnes beat St Helens 10-3 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley p ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, London on Saturday 3 May 1930, in front of a crowd of 36,544.

County Cup Final appearances

Les Fairclough played and scored a try in St. Helens' 10–2 victory over

St Helens Recs St Helens Recreation Rugby League Football Club, often known as St Helens Recs or just the Recs, is a former professional rugby league club from St. Helens, Lancashire, that played in the Rugby Football League during the inter-war years. The club ...

in the

1926 Lancashire Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * ''19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * ''Dician ...

Final during the 1926–27 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...

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 ...

on Saturday 20 November 1926.

Honoured at St Helens R.F.C.

Les Fairclough is a St Helens R.F.C. Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Profile at saints.org.uk
* (archived by web.archive.org
Profile at Saints Heritage Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairclough, Leslie 1902 births 1951 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Prescot St Helens R.F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen