Joe Riley Gledhill (16 June 1882 – 28 February 1950) was an English 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 1890s, 1900s and 1910s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed rugby union in the 1910s and 1920s. He played representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

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

Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once muc ...

and Halifax, as a or , and coached rugby union (RU) at the newly established

Halifax RUFC Halifax Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The club currently runs three senior men's teams (1xv, 2ndxv & Vets) along with 2 Women's rugby union teams (1xv & Development) and a Mixed Abilit ...

(formed 1919), with fellow Halifax Hall Of Fame Inductee; Archie Rigg, after both of their playing careers finished.

Background

Riley was born on 16 June 1882 in

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 ...

. For most of his non-rugby life, he worked for Smith, Bulmer & Co., a textile business based in

Holmfield Holmfield is an area of Halifax in West Yorkshire, England, north of the town centre. Early maps show no village in the area. Holmfield was developed in the 19th century after a mill, known as Holme Field Mill, was built on Strines Beck in the ...

. Riley died on 28 February 1950, aged 67. His funeral took place at

cemetery.

Playing career

International honours

Riley won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Halifax in 1910 against Wales, in 1911 against Australia, and won

s for

while at Halifax on the

1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first international tour of the Great Britain national rugby league team, "The Lions". They played the second ever Ashes series against Australia, and their first as the visiti ...

against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

County Honours

Riley won

s for

while at Halifax.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Joe Riley played in Halifax's 7-0 victory over

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in the 1902–03 Challenge Cup Final during the 1902–03 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 25 April 1903, in front of a crowd of 32,507,Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 7 – 1902–03".

Rugby Leaguer Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

ISBN n/a and he played right-, and scored a

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in the 8-3 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1903–04 Challenge Cup The 1903–04 Challenge Cup was the 8th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Halifax became the second team to record back-to-back Cup wins but would not reach another final until 1921, nor win the Cup again ...

Final during the 1903–04 season at

The Willows The Willows may refer to: Places * The Willows, El Paso, Texas, USA * The Willows, Queensland, a town in Australia * The Willows, Salford, home of Salford Rugby League club in Salford, England, UK * The Willows, Saskatoon, a residential community ...

on Saturday 30 April 1904, in front of a crowd of 17,041.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 8 – 1903–04".

ISBN n/a

Club career

Riley made his début for Halifax on Saturday 7 September 1901, he suffered a badly

broken leg The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb ext ...

in the match against

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

on Saturday 2 January 1915, this fracture ended his rugby league playing career.Tom Mather (2010). "Best in the Northern Union". Pages 128-142.

Testimonial match

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

at Halifax was shared by Joe Riley, and Asa Robinson at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax in 1920. 20,000 people attended the match, and Riley received a cheque for £400.

Honoured at Halifax

Riley is a Halifax Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Joe 1882 births 1950 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Halifax RUFC coaches People from Sowerby Bridge Sportspeople from Calderdale Rugby league players from West Yorkshire Place of death missing Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Yorkshire rugby league team players