Milton Huddart (7 October 1960 – 14 March 2015), 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 "Milt", 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 1980s. He played at representative level for

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

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

(

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 ...

), and at club level for Kells A.R.L.F.C.,

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. ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

as a .

Background

Milton Huddart 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 ...

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 ...

, England, he was the son of Great Britain Rugby League international

Dick Huddart Richard Huddart (22 June 1936 – 11 August 2021) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A Great Britain and England international representative forward, he played at club level in England ...

. Milton was married to Joanne, née McLean, and had a daughter, Ashleigh. Milt was an avid cyclist and keep fit fanatic, but on 13 March 2015 he suffered a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

whilst cycling to work and was treated at

West Cumberland Hospital West Cumberland Hospital is a hospital in Hensingham, a suburb of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, and was the first district general hospital to be built in England following the creation of the National Health Service. It is managed by the Nor ...

prior to being transferred to Cumberland Infirmary later that morning. Despite successful surgery, Milton died on Saturday 14 March 2015.

Playing career

Club career

Huddart made his début for

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in January 1981. In February 1985 Huddart was transferred to

for £20,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £70,700 in 2013) he was later transferred from Carlisle to

, and he made his début for

against

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 ...

alongside the

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 ...

international

James Leuluai A'au James Leuluai (born 4 February 1957) is a New Zealand former international rugby league . Background He is the father of former Widnes Vikings player Macgraff Leuluai and Wigan Warriors and New Zealand international Thomas Leuluai, and t ...

, he played in

's 8-14 defeat by St. Helens in the 1987 Challenge Cup

semi-final A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

during the 1986–87 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 ...

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 ...

on Saturday 14 March 1987, and played and scored a

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

's 17-10 victory over

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 ...

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 ...

to avoid

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

during the 1986–87 season. Huddart re-signed for

in 1988, with the club paying Leigh a £10,000 fee, decided by a tribunal.

Representative honours

Huddart won a

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 ...

for

while at

in 1984 against Wales. Huddart won

(s) for

including as

in the 12-48 defeat by

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 ...

during the

1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the sixteenth Kangaroo tour in which the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Winfield Kangaroos due to sponsorship) plays a number of tour matches against British and Frenc ...

Craven Park Craven Park may refer to: * Craven Park (Barrow), home of Barrow (rugby league) * Craven Park, Hull, current home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Old Craven Park, former home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Craven Park (London), a ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

on Tuesday 21 October 1986.

References

External links

Memories Of Milt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddart, Milton 1960 births 2015 deaths Carlisle RLFC players Cumbria rugby league team captains Cumbria rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Prescot Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen