Cecil "The Red Flyer" Aynsley (March 23, 1902 – May 8, 1975) was an Australian 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 1920s and 1930s. A Queensland state and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

representative and talented

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-kicker, he scored a try in each of his four national representative appearances. Born in

Charters Towers, Queensland Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...

, Aynsley began his rugby league career there before in 1921 playing for the

Western Suburbs Panthers The Western Suburbs Panthers, often simply referred to as Wests for short, are a rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in rec ...

in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership. Three years later he made his début for Australia against the touring

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side playing in all three Test matches, scoring on each occasion. During the 1925 season he toured New Zealand with the Queensland team. He had a tremendous tour, scoring 34 tries in only eleven matches. This leading to the local press proclaiming him as "the Gloaming of rugby league" after the Australian race-horse which enjoyed success in New Zealand. His aggregate of 114 for the tour was beaten only by Queensland captain Jimmy Craig with 126. He played his fourth and final Test match for Australia in 1928 in Brisbane against Great Britain where he scored his fourth and final representative try. Aynsley also played for English side

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

from 1930 to 1935. He also played for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

's Starlights club.

Accolades

In June 2008, he was chosen in the

Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century The Queensland Rugby League Team of the Century is a hypothetical team comprising the best players who have played for Queensland to form a team for 1909 until 2008. Rugby league in Queensland was initiated in 1909 with the Queensland Rugby Foot ...

on the wing. In 2009 Aynsley was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. In 2015, Cec Aynsley was also selected in the Western Suburbs Panthers (Brisbane) team of the century.

References

External links

''Queensland Team of the Century named'' - article at nz.leagueunlimited.comWestern Suburbs Panthers Site
1902 births 1975 deaths Rugby league players from Queensland Wests Panthers players Australia national rugby league team players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Rochdale Hornets players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league wingers {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub