George Russell Pepperell (23 April 1918 – 15 January 2003) 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 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s and 1960s, and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played in the 1940s. He played representative level rugby league (RL) 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

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 Seaton ARLFC (in Seaton near

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

, now represented by Seaton Rangers of the Cumberland League) and

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 ...

(

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 ...

) as a , or he coached club level rugby league (RL) for

and

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

, before moving to Sydney to coach the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

, he played representative level rugby union (RU) for Rugby League XV (during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

), as a full-back.

Background

Russ Pepperell was born in Seaton,

, his birth was registered in Cockermouth district, England, he was the younger brother of the rugby league footballer; Stanley Pepperell, and the older brother of the rugby league footballer; Albert Pepperell, he was a

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

, and he died aged 84 in

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

, Australia.

Playing career

Russell Pepperell was a reserve for Northern Command XIII against a Rugby League XIII at Thrum Hall, Halifax on Saturday 21 March 1942. Pepperell played full-back in Rugby League XV's 18–11 victory over Northern Command XV in the

match on Saturday 23 January 1943. Pepperell 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 Huddersfield in 1947 against France, and Wales, in 1948 against Wales, and in 1949 against France, and also represented

. Pepperell played in

's 5–4 victory over

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 ...

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. Pepperell played at in

's 2–20 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

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 1949–50 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 ...

on Saturday 13 May 1950. Pepperell's Testimonial match at

took place in 1950. Pepperell played at and was

's 15–10 victory over St. Helens in the 1953 Challenge Cup Final during the 1952–53 season 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 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 25 April 1953, in front of a crowd of 89,588.McCorquodale, London S.E (25 April 1953). ''The Rugby League Challenge Cup Competition - Final Tie - Huddersfield v St. Helens - Match Programme''. Wembley Stadium Ltd. ISBN n/a Pepperell played in

's 4–11 defeat by Bradford Northern in the 1949 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1949–50 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday 29 October 1949, played, and scored two tries in the 16–3 victory over

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in the 1950 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1950–51 season at

on Saturday 4 November 1950, and played in the 18–8 victory over

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 ...

in the 1952 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1952–53 season at

on Saturday 15 November 1952. After he finished playing, Pepperell became Huddersfield's coach. He later moved to Australia as coach of Sydney's Manly-Warringah club in reserve grade in 1964 and first grade for the

1965 NSWRFL season The 1965 New South Wales Rugby League premiership, New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 58th season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten clubs from across the city competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and th ...

. He remained in the position for one season. Pepperell stayed in Australia and died in Queensland in 2003.

References

External links

Obituary in The IndependentSeaton man captained Huddersfield to the cupPhotograph "Largest ever Northern Crowd - 14th March 1953 saw the largest ever crowd to watch a Bradford Northern game at Odsal when Huddersfield were the visitors in a third round Challenge Cup tie. Northern lost the tie 7-17. - Date: 14/03/1953" at rlhp.co.ukSearch for "Russell Pepperell" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Russ Pepperell" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepperell, Russell 1918 births 2003 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Huddersfield Giants coaches Huddersfield Giants players Keighley Cougars coaches Manly Warringah Sea Eagles coaches Military personnel from Cumbria Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Seaton, Cumbria Rugby league wingers Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Seaton, Cumbria 20th-century English sportsmen