Richard Hargreaves Duckworth (14 September 1882 – Q3 1965) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Manchester United, with whom he won the Football League twice and the FA Cup once.

Career

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, he played for Smedley Road School and as a youth player for Harpurhey Wesleyan Juniors, Rossall Mission and Stretford.Dykes (1994), p. 116. His first professional contract was with Newton Heath Athletic, who paid him 7

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

and sixpence a week. As a centre-forward, he scored twice against the Manchester United reserves, and he was signed by the club in October 1903. He scored on his debut, a 4–2 win over

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

on 19 December 1903. Although he played at right-half in the match, it was not until after a reserve team derby against Manchester City on Christmas Day 1903 that he was considered for the position on a regular basis. In 1904–05, he scored six goals in eight league appearances, his best goal return in a season. By the 1906–07 season, Duckworth became Manchester United's regular right-half, forming an effective partnership with

Charlie Roberts Charles Roberts (6 April 1883 – 7 August 1939) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He spent nine years at United, where he was c ...

and

Alex Bell Alexander Bell (20 October 1882 – 30 November 1934) was a footballer who played as a wing half. His professional career was mostly spent in England, where he won trophies with Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers. Born in South Africa, he w ...

. The following year, the club won their first major honour, the First Division title, and followed it up with the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

a year later and another league title in 1911. In total, Duckworth scored 11 goals in 254 appearances for Manchester United. A severe knee injury meant he played his final game for the club against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 15 November 1913, though he remained on their books until 1915.Dykes (1994), p. 117. He was also part of a Football Association representative team on a tour of South Africa in 1910, and made five appearances for the Football League XI.

Personal life

After his retirement, Duckworth became a pub licensee, operating the Queen's Arms in Manchester as well as others in Bury, Royton, Castleton, Edenfield and Bacup. In 1949, while working in Edenfield, his 1909 FA Cup winner's medal, which he had lost 20 years earlier, was found in a pile of rubble at a hotel he had once managed. His death was registered in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in the third quarter of 1965. His son, also called Dick, was also a professional footballer who was on the books of Manchester United before playing in the Football League for Chesterfield,

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

and

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

; he later managed York, as well as

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

, Darlington and Scunthorpe United.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Manchester United * First Division (2): 1907–08, 1910–11 *

(1): 1908–09

References

Bibliography * Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Duckworth, Dick 1882 births Year of death missing People from Collyhurst English footballers Association football wing halves Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players