R. Brindle Knowelden (27 June 1919 – 16 April 2010) was an English 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 ...

and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(soccer) footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and

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ed rugby league in the 1950s. He played at representative level for

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and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and at club level for Barrow,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

( Heritage No. 492) (

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

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

, as a or , i.e. number 1 or 5, 2 or 5, or 6, and coached at club level for

. He also played association football (soccer) for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

( reserves).

Background

Bryn Knowelden was born in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, he was a pupil of

Dowdales School Dowdales School which was founded 1928, is a community, comprehensive school in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria for anyone, in the age range 11–16. There are approximately 1000 pupils on roll. The school was originally based on the former Ashbu ...

, after retiring from rugby league, he ran a newsagent in

Cadishead Cadishead is a village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 10,739 in 2014. Within the historic county of Lancashire. History The earliest record of Cadishead date to 1212, and show that the whole of Cad ...

, before retiring to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, and he died aged 90 in

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Bryn Knowelden won

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s for

while at Barrow in 1944 against Wales, in 1945 against Wales, in 1947 against France, and won a

for

while at Barrow in 1946 against New Zealand.

Championship final appearances

Bryn Knowelden played left-, i.e. number 4, in

's 15–5 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

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 system ...

Final during the 1947–48 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 8 May 1948, played in the 12–13 defeat by

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 ...

in the

Final during the 1948–49 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 14 May 1949, and played, and was

in the 11–26 defeat by

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

in the

Final during the 1950–51 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 12 May 1951.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Bryn Knowelden played , 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 19–0 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

in the 1949–50

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1949–50 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 on Saturday 6 May 1950, in front of a crowd of 94,249.

County Cup Final appearances

Bryn Knowelden played in

's 5–28 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the 1950–51

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1950–51 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 4 November 1950.

Club career

During December 1947, Bryn Knowelden was transferred from Barrow to Warrington for £1,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £133,300 in 2013) he made his début for

on Saturday 13 December 1947, and he played his last match for Warrington on Saturday 29 September 1951.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Barrow RL's great BritonsStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
1919 births 2010 deaths Association footballers not categorized by position Barrow Raiders players England national rugby league team players English footballers English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers coaches Hull Kingston Rovers players Liverpool F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Barrow-in-Furness Warrington Wolves players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub