Frederick Dewhurst (16 December 1863 – 21 April 1895) was an English professional footballer, who played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in the late 19th century. Dewhurst was the first North End player to play representative football for

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 ...

when he took part in the game against

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 ...

for the benefit of the Moorfield Colliery Relief Fund. He was a schoolmaster at the Catholic college in Preston and one of its first secretaries. As a player, he was renowned for testing his physical prowess against rival goalkeepers. Prior to the inauguration of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, North End were anxious to prove their worth against the

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. Preston won 3–1 at

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

and then 4–3 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

with Dewhurst netting a hat-trick.Hayes, p. 68. Dewhurst made his international debut in the

1885–86 British Home Championship The 1885–86 British Home Championship was the third annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. As common for the time, the matches were punctuated by some high scorelines and for the first time two teams fi ...

match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and scored in a 6–1 win on 27 February 1886. He scored on 29 March 1886 in a 3–1 win against

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 ...

. He played in all three 1886–87 British Home Championship matches against Ireland,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and Wales. Dewhurst scored two goals against Scotland and one against Ireland. He played in all three 1887–88 British Home Championship matches against Ireland, Scotland and Wales, scoring a total of five goals with one against Ireland, two against Scotland and two against Wales. He scored in all but one of his nine international appearances for England. Dewhurst, playing as an inside forward, made his League debut on 8 September 1888 at Deepdale when the visitors were

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. The home team won 5–2 and Dewhurst scored the first and fifth of Preston's League goals. He appeared in 16 of Preston's 22 League Championship matches and scored twelve goals. He scored twice on three occasions: two against Burnley in the opening game, two in the 5–0 win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

at Deepdale on 8 December 1888 and both goals in the 2–0 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

at Wellington Road on 9 February 1889. Dewhurst played in all five

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 ...

ties and scored the opening goal in the final at Kennington Oval on 30 March 1889 when Preston defeated

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

3–0.Metcalf, pp. 21–23. Dewhurst played only a minor role in Preston's successful defence of their League Championship title playing only six times and not scoring. He made his last first-team appearance in the 1890–91 season when he played in two matches, scoring one goal. He died in 1895 at the age of 31.

Professional baseball

Dewhurst played as an outfield with the professional

Preston North End Baseball Club Preston North End Baseball Club were a short lived English professional baseball club, who played their home games at Deepdale, competing for the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Preston North End Baseball Club Limited were for ...

of the

1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain The 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain was the first, and to date only, professional baseball championship for the national baseball title of Great Britain. The National League's headquarters were located at 38 Holborn Viaduct, Londo ...

, but spent most of the time in the amateur side.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewhurst, Fred 1863 births 1895 deaths Association football forwards England international footballers English footballers Schoolteachers from Lancashire People from Fulwood, Lancashire Preston North End F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Lancashire Corinthian F.C. players FA Cup Final players People educated at Mount St Mary's College English baseball players