John Thomas Toothill (birth registered second ¼ 1866 – 29 June 1947) 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 ...

, and 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. He played representative level rugby union (RU) 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

Bradford FC Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

, as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, 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, and club level rugby league (RL) for

, as a

(prior to the specialist positions of; ), during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s. Prior to Tuesday 27 August 1895, Bradford FC was a

club, it then became a

club, and since 1907 it has been the association football (soccer) club

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

Background

Jack Toothill's birth was registered in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

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 ...

, England, and he died aged 81 in

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Jack Toothill 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

(RU) while at Bradford FC in the

1890 Home Nations Championship The 1890 Home Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 1 February and 15 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

against Scotland, and Ireland, in the

1891 Home Nations Championship The 1891 Home Nations Championship was the ninth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 3 January and 7 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1891 Championship was won ...

against Wales, and Ireland, in the

1892 Home Nations Championship The 1892 Home Nations Championship was the tenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 2 January and 5 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England took the 1892 Champion ...

against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, in the 1893 Home Nations Championship against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, in the

1894 Home Nations Championship The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the twelfth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

against Wales, and 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.

County honours

Jack Toothill won

(s) for

(RU) while at Bradford FC, in

William Barnes Wollen William Barnes Wollen (6 October 1857 – 28 March 1936) was an English painter mostly known for his paintings of battle and historical scenes and sporting events. Career Born in Leipzig on 6 October 1857, he was educated at University Col ...

's painting of

's 11–3 victory over

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 ...

during the 1893/94 season, a painting that is now held at the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

headquarters in the

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

, Alfred "Alf" Barraclough can be seen being tackled, and passing the ball to Jack Toothill, with Tommy Dobson on the outside, although Tommy Dobson did not actually participate in this particular match.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Jack Toothill played as a

, i.e. number 15, in

's 0-7 defeat by

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

in the

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1897–98 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 23 April 1898, in front of a crowd of 27,941.

Change of Code

When Bradford FC converted from the

code to the

code on Tuesday 27 August 1895, Jack Toothill would have been approximately 29. Consequently, he was both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Bradford FC.

Genealogical information

Jack Toothill's marriage was registered during second ¼ 1892 in

References

External links

Search for "Toothill" at rugbyleagueproject.org (RL)Photograph "Bradford (F.C.) c.1888 - This team contained six England internationals. - 01/01/1888" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Roses match - W.B. Wollen's 'Roses Match' of 1895. Manningham's Alf Barraclough is seen passing to Bradford's Jack Toothill with Bradford's Tommy Dobson on the outside. - 01/01/1895" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "John Thomas (Jack) Toothill - Jack Toothill played for Yorkshire and England at Rugby Union and continued to play for Bradford in the Northern Union. - 01/01/1894" at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toothill, John 1866 births 1947 deaths Bradford F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players English rugby league players Rugby league forwards Rugby league players from Bradford Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Bradford Yorkshire County RFU players