Alfred Cattell (27 April 1857 – 10 September 1933) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born international

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 ...

player for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

who in his later life became

Lord Mayor of Sheffield The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is a ceremonial post held by a member of Sheffield City Council. They are elected annually by the council. The post originated in 1843, with the appointment of William Jeffcock as the first Mayor of Sheffield. Ea ...

. As a rugby player Cattell represented

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Jenkins (1991), pg 29. before joining club team

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

and being selected for Wales.

Early life

He was born in

Cottesmore, Rutland Cottesmore (often pronounced Cotts'more) is a village and civil parish in the north of the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. In terms of population it is the largest village in Rutland, and the third-largest settlement after Oa ...

where his father, Thomas Cattell, was the headmaster of the village school. He trained as a teacher. He was successively headmaster at schools at

Woodford Bridge Woodford Bridge is part of the East London suburb of Woodford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located on an old road between Chigwell and Leytonstone. Notable features Its notable features include Claybury Asylum, a psychiatric ho ...

, Essex;

; and St Paul's Church Schools,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. When the Free Education Act (1891) was passed, he left teaching for business.

Rugby career

Cattell came to prominence as a rugby player representing first class Welsh team Llanelli. In 1882 Cattell was selected for the Welsh national team as part of the 1883 Home Nations Championship against England. This was the first match of the first Home Nations Championship and Cattell along with Thomas Judson and Harry Bowen became the first players to represent Llanelli in an international game. Under the captaincy of Charles Lewis, and played on Welsh soil for the first time, Wales were outclassed by an English team that had lost only three times in their first 21 matches. Although the Welsh were beaten by two goals and four tries to nil, it was seen as a far more promising result than the teams first meeting 22 months prior, and the selectors kept faith with the majority of the team. Cattell gained his second and final cap for Wales in a game away to Scotland at

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. Rugby The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...

. This was the first time the countries had faced each other in a rugby union match, and Wales lost by three goals to one. In the next season four new caps were brought into the Welsh pack and Cattell was not reselected to represent Wales again.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)Smith (1980), pg 464. * 1882 * 1883

Later career and death

Cattell returned to England. He served as a Conservative councillor and

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

and as a magistrate in

. In 1917 he was elected to the position of Lord Mayor of Sheffield. Cattell was at one time the Chairman of

Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Jenkins (1991), pg 30. He died in Sheffield on 10 September 1933.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattell, Alfred 1857 births 1933 deaths Councillors in Sheffield English football chairmen and investors English rugby union players Llanelli RFC players Lord Mayors of Sheffield Oxford University RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Rutland Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players