Herod "Harry" Ruddlesdin (June 1876 – 26 March 1910) 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 le ...

who played most of his career with The Wednesday, helping them claim the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

title in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, followed by 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 ...

championship in

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

and

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

. He also made three appearances 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 ...

Career

Ruddlesdin was born in

Birdwell, South Yorkshire Birdwell is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England and is located approximately south of Barnsley, north-east of Sheffield, and west of Doncaster. The village falls within the Rockingham Ward of the Barn ...

and played part-time football for Birdwell F.C. while working as a collier. He joined The Wednesday in the summer of 1898 and soon slotted well into the half-back line, being able to play equally well on either wing. His first season saw Wednesday relegated to the Second Division, but in 1899–1900 he was ever-present as Wednesday regained their place in the top flight, claiming the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title by two points over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Back in the First Division, Ruddlesdin formed a settled half-back line alongside

Tommy Crawshaw Thomas Henry Crawshaw (27 December 1872 – 25 November 1960) was a professional footballer who played almost his entire League career with Sheffield Wednesday. Crawshaw was a centre-half whose career lasted from 1894 to 1909 during which time ...

and Bob Ferrier, who between them hardly missed a match over the next four seasons, as Wednesday took

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 ...

championship in

and again the following season. During the period from 10 September 1898 to 23 March 1901, Ruddlesdin played every match, an unbroken run of 100 games. Ruddlesdin made his first appearance for

playing alongside Crawshaw in a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

on 29 February 1904. Both Ruddlesdin and Crawshaw retained their places for the next 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 ...

two weeks later, which ended in a 3–1 victory, with Alf Common scoring twice. Ruddlesdin's final international appearance came the following year in a 1–1 victory over

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 ...

. By now, illness was beginning to restrict Ruddlesdin's appearances for Wednesday, and although he made a recovery for

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, his health soon deteriorated and he was forced to retire from the game in December 1906. Although he attempted a comeback, first with Wednesday and then with Northampton Town it "soon became apparent that he was no longer up to the rigours of full time football". Ruddlesdin died of tuberculosis in his hometown on 26 March 1910.

Honours

The Wednesday *

Champions -

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Champions -

References

External links

*
Profile on ww.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddlesdin, Harry 1876 births English men's footballers Footballers from South Yorkshire 1910 deaths England men's international footballers Men's association football wing halves Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players People from Birdwell, South Yorkshire Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England