John William Sutcliffe (14 April 1868 – 7 July 1947), commonly known as John Willie Sutcliffe and J.W. Sutcliffe, was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

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 ...

player. He was the last person to represent England at full international level in both sports.

Life and career

Born in

Shibden Shibden is a small dispersed community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Shibden Hall has a north-west driveway to its lake, café and miniature railway; an adjoining driveway runs up a landscaped garden to the hall which hosts the West ...

, he started his career in 1886 at Bradford Rugby Club playing at either full back or centre three quarter before moving to the club from

Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen pa ...

where he gained his only cap 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 ...

against the New Zealand Natives in 1889, scoring one

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 ...

, and one

conversion 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" ...

for five points. Heckmondwike was suspended by 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 ...

over allegations of professionalism and he switched codes to play football for

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 ...

, finally playing in the first team as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Here he gained his first of five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

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 ...

in a 6–0 win in

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

. 1894 saw him on the losing side in the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

. 1902 saw Sutcliffe at Southern League Millwall Athletic before moving on in 1903 to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

where he played 28 games. He joined

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in January 1905 and by the end of the season had become the club's first choice goalkeeper. The Argyle handbook for the 1905–06 season describes Sutcliffe as "a marvel for his years." In more than seven years with the club, he made 214 appearances in league competition and four in the

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 ...

. He left the club at the end of the 1911–12 campaign and became a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. His last known club was South Kirkby Colliery, who he joined in 1913. Sutcliffe was appointed manager of Dutch club

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

in 1914. He returned to England after the First World War to work for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

as a coach. Sutcliffe died on 7 July 1947 at the age of 79 in Bradford.

References

External links

* *Plymouth Argyle A Complete Record 1903–1989, Brian Knight *Plymouth Argyle 101 Golden Greats, Andy Richie
Statistics at scrum.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutcliffe, John Willie 1868 births 1947 deaths Association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bradford F.C. players England international footballers England international rugby union players English expatriate football managers English Football League players English Football League representative players English football managers English footballers English rugby union players FA Cup Final players Footballers from Halifax, West Yorkshire Footballers who switched code Heckmondwike RFC players Manchester United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Rugby league players from Halifax, West Yorkshire Rugby union players from Halifax, West Yorkshire SBV Vitesse managers South Kirkby Colliery F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Southern Football League players Western Football League players