Alexander Erskine Fiddes (2 January 1914 – 1998) was a Scottish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed rugby league in the 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Hawick RFC Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro rugby union side, currently playing in the Scottish Premiership and Border League. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Splinter from Hawick an ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

British Empire XIII The British Empire XIII was a rugby league football team in that played a fixture against New Zealand in 1952 at Stamford Bridge. List of players * Trevor Allan * Robert "Bob" Ayres * William "Billy" Banks * Robert Bartlett * Frank Barton *Har ...

, and at club level for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district 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 confluence into ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) and

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

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

and

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

Family

Fiddes was born in

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

to John Fiddes, an ammonia worker, and Elizabeth Renton Erksine Fiddes.

Playing career

International honours

Alex Fiddes represented

(RL) while at Huddersfield in the 15–0 victory over France at

Stade Buffalo Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on Monday 1 November 1937.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Alex Fiddes played at and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

's 8–11 defeat by

in the

1934–35 Challenge Cup The 1934–35 Challenge Cup was the 35th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Castleford beat Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfield 11–8 in the fin ...

Final during the 1934–35 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 4 May 1935, in front of a crowd of 39,000. During Alex Fiddes' time at Huddersfield, they had a 21–17 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the 1933 Challenge Cup Final during the 1932–33 season at

on Saturday 6 May 1933, and a 13–9 aggregate victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

in the

1944–45 Challenge Cup The 1944–45 Challenge Cup was the 44th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Qualifier First round Second round Semifinals Final In the final of the Rugby league Challenge Cup, Huddersfield beat Bradf ...

Final during the 1944–45 season; the 7–4 victory in the first-leg at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Rugby League Club from 1878 to 1992. T ...

, and the 6–5 victory in the second-leg at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

County Cup Final appearances

Alex Fiddes played at , was

, and scored 2-

goal A goal 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 a purpose or ai ...

s in

's 18–10 victory over

in the 1938 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1938–39 season at

on Saturday 22 October 1938.

Testimonial match

Alex Fiddes benefit/

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place against

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

on Saturday 12 October 1946, the testimonial match earned him in excess of £500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £49,450 in 2016), at the time of the testimonial match he had captained Huddersfield 430 times in 455 appearances, he went on make 12 further appearances, with a final total of 467 appearances for Huddersfield.

Club career

Alex Fiddes was signed from

, where he was a teammate of 'the voice of rugby';

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

, by

on 13 October 1933.

Coaching career

County Cup Final appearances

Alex Fiddes was the coach in

's 8–18 defeat by

in the 1952–53 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1952–53 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 Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 15 November 1952.

Club career

Alex Fiddes was the coach of

from July 1952 until March 1954,

finished 21st out of 30 during the 1952–53 season, and 24th out of 30 during the 1953–54 season.

Genealogical information

Alex Fiddes was the father of; the rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s for

Huddersfield R.U.F.C. Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the domestic National League 2 North having won promotion from National League 3 North as champions at the ...

(

) Ian E. Fiddes (1935 – 5 October 2017 (aged 82)), the

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

s; John C. Fiddes, and the rugby union footballer for

William "Bill" B. Fiddes, and Alec E. Fiddes, and the uncle of the rugby union, and rugby league footballer Andrew Broatch.

References

External links

Alex, captain fantastic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiddes, Alex 1914 births 1998 deaths Batley Bulldogs coaches British Empire rugby league team players Castleford Tigers players Date of death missing Footballers who switched code Hawick RFC players Huddersfield Giants captains Huddersfield Giants coaches Huddersfield Giants players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Hawick Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Hawick Scottish rugby league coaches Scottish rugby league players Scottish rugby union players