George Thomas Thomson (26 November 1856 – 31 October 1899) was an English

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1870s and 1880s. He played at representative level for

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

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and at club level for Halifax, in the forwards, e.g. front row,

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, or back row. Prior to Tuesday 27 August 1895, Halifax was a

club.

Background

George Thomson was born in Skircoat, Halifax,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and he died in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia.

Playing career

International honours

George Thomson won caps for

while at Halifax in 1878 against Scotland, in 1882 against Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, in 1883 against Ireland, and Scotland, in 1884 against Ireland, and Scotland, and in 1885 against Ireland. In the early years of rugby football the ''goal'' was to score goals, and 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 ...

had zero value, but it provided the opportunity to ''try'' at goal, and ''

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

'' the try to a goal with an unopposed kick at the goal posts. The point values of both the try and goal have varied over time, and in the early years footballers could "score" a try, without scoring any points.

Honoured at Halifax RLFC

George Thomson is a Halifax RLFC Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Search for "Thomson" at rugbyleagueproject.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, George 1856 births 1899 deaths England international rugby union players English rugby union players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Halifax, West Yorkshire Yorkshire County RFU players