Sydney "Syd" Oglesby Walmsley (17 July 1896 – first ¼ 1973) 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 1910s and 1920s. 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 at club level for

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

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 ...

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 ...

, as a

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 ...

-kicking .

Background

Syd Walmsley's birth was registered in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

district,

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 his death was registered in

district,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Syd Walmsley 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 Leeds in 1923 against Wales, and in 1924 against Wales.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Syd Walmsley played , and scored a try in

’ 28-3 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1922–23 Challenge Cup Final during the 1922-23 season at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, the only occasion the Challenge Cup final has ever been staged at Belle Vue.

County Cup Final appearances

Syd Walmsley played , and scored a try in

’ 11-3 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in the 1921–22 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1921–22 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, Halifax on Saturday 26 November 1921, and played , and scored two-

s in

’s 10-3 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the 1926–27 Yorkshire Cup Final replay during the 1926–27 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 ...

on Wednesday 1 December 1926, the initial match at

on Saturday 27 November 1926 had been postponed due to fog.

Club career

Syd Walmsley played , and scored a try in

's 5-44 defeat by

in the 1919-20 Challenge Cup first-round match during the 1919-20 season at

on Saturday 21 February 1920, impressing the Leeds management, he was transferred from Millom, and he made his début for

in the 11-0 victory over

on Saturday 20 March 1920, he became a regular goal kicker at Leeds, and was Leeds' leading goal-scorer with 28-

s during the 1920-21 season, he was selected for the trial matches for the

1924 Great Britain Lions tour The 1924 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1924. The tour involved a schedule of 27 games; 18 in Australia, including a three- ...

, but was ultimately not selected 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 ...

, with Ernie Knapman and Jim Sullivan, selected at for the tour of Australia, and New Zealand, though Charlie Pollard played in Great Britain's 11-13 defeat by

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 ...

in the 2nd test match at

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

on Wednesday 6 August 1924.

Outside of rugby league

Syd Walmsley ran a camp in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

for children as part of the

evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II The evacuation of civilians in Britain during the World War II, Second World War was designed to defend individuals, especially children, from the risks associated with aerial bombing of cities by moving them to areas thought to be less at ri ...

Genealogical information

Syd Walmsley's marriage to Gladys Agnes (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Rosterne) was registered in

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 ...

district,

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 ...

during third ¼ 1923. They had children Margaret Walmsle

and Anthony Walmsle

Note

Syd's surname is variously spelt correctly with el-ee as Walmsley, or incorrectly with ee-el as Walmsely.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walmsley, Syd 1896 births 1973 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Huddersfield Giants players Leeds Rhinos players People from Bootle, Cumbria Rugby league players from Cumbria Place of death missing Rugby league fullbacks 20th-century English sportsmen