James Lomas (26 August 1879 – 11 February 1960), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Jumbo", 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, 1910s and 1920s, 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 in the 1920s. three-quarter, and prominent

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

-kicker, he captained the

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

. After starting with his home town Maryport's

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 ...

club, Lomas switched to

, playing for Bramley,

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 ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

( Heritage No. 136) and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in a career that lasted for twenty-four years from 1899 to 1923, and saw him set new transfer fee and point scoring records. He also played representative matches 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 ...

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 ...

and

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. After retiring from playing Lomas coached Salford.

Early life

Lomas was born on 26 August 1879 in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland. The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield. Locatio ...

, England, the son of Sarah (née Tyson) and James Lomas. He is the younger brother of Tom Smith, who played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Career

Early career

Lomas started his career with his hometown rugby club, Maryport, while they were still playing

. His first known appearance for the first team came on 14 November 1896 in a 3–0 defeat against Millom. Lomas remained with the club when they made the switch to rugby league and joined the

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

in March 1898. In 1899, he made his début appearance for

aged 19, scoring the only try of the match which was a 3-0 victory over Cheshire at Whitehaven.

1900s

Lomas became rugby league's first £100 transfer, from Bramley to

in 1901 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £35,890 in 2013). He played for them in the

1902 Challenge Cup 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 ...

Final loss against

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester t ...

. He then played in 1904's first ever international rugby league match for

against

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

. His club record for most points in a game (39), achieved for Salford against Liverpool City on 2 February 1907, still stands today. He also played in the

1904 Challenge Cup 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 ...

final for Salford. Lomas was also notable for his goal-kicking style. He was the first player to stand the ball up on its end. Lomas 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 Salford playing , i.e. number 4, but arriving after the start of the match, in the 3-9 defeat by

Central Park, Wigan Central Park was a rugby league stadium in Wigan, England, which was the home of Wigan RLFC before the club moved to the JJB Stadium in 1999. Its final capacity was 18,000. The site is now a Tesco supermarket. History On 6 September 1902, Wig ...

on Tuesday 5 April 1904, in the first ever international rugby league match. in 1905 against Other Nationalities, in 1906 against Other Nationalities, in 1908 against New Zealand, and Wales, in 1909 against Australia (3 matches) and Wales. Lomas also won

s 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 ...

while at Salford in 1908–09 against Australia (2 matches, both as captain), in 1910 against Australia (2 matches),

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 ...

, and New Zealand. Lomas captained the successful first British tour of the Southern Hemisphere which began on 4 June 1910. He also represented England in 1910 against Wales.

1910s

In January 1911 he joined

from

for a fee of £300, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £104,600 in 2013). While there in 1911 he played for England against Wales, and Australia (2 matches). During the

1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the second ever Kangaroo tour and was actually a tour by an " Australasian" squad that included four New Zealand players in addition to 24 Australian representatives. It took place over the British ...

Lomas captained

in the second and third Ashes tests. Lomas also played in Oldham's

1912 Challenge Cup Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Final defeat by

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

. During Lomas' time there was

's 5-3 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1913–14 season. He had also represented

and

1920s

As the coach of Salford, player shortages forced Lomas to play in some cup matches for Salford in the 1922–23 season, and in 1923–24 season he was again forced to make some appearances. His last match for Salford, aged 44, was against

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

on 29 September 1923.Tom Mather (2010). "Best in the Northern Union". Pages 128–142. He continued in his coaching role at Salford until the 1925–26 season.

Statistics

Lomas was a prolific points scorer throughout his career, finishing with a total of 2,312 points in all competitions. Lomas' total points was an all-time career record until it was surpassed by Jim Sullivan during the 1928–29 season.

Honours

Club

Maryport Cumberland Senior League (1): 1899–1900 Oldham Rugby League Championship: 1910–11

Representative

Lancashire County Championship (3): 1902–03, 1903–04, 1905–06 Cumberland County Championship (3): 1907–08, 1909–10, 1911–12

Legacy

The

Courtney Goodwill Trophy The Courtney Goodwill Trophy is a rugby league trophy that was awarded for competition between the national rugby league teams of Australia, France, Great Britain and New Zealand between 1936 and 1988. The trophy is displayed in the Heroes and Lege ...

, international rugby league's first, was presented for the first time in 1936 and depicted Lomas, along with other pioneering greats of the code,

Jean Galia Jean Galia (born 20 March 1905 in Ille-sur-Têt, Pyrénées-Orientales, died 17 January 1949 in Toulouse) was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer and champion boxer. He is credited with establishing the sport of rugby league in Fran ...

(France),

Albert Baskiville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book "''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Pla ...

(New Zealand) and

Dally Messenger Herbert Henry Messenger, nicknamed "Dally" and sometimes "The Master" (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was one of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code. He played f ...

(Australia).“League Legends: fast facts about rugby league”
at ''nsm.org.au'' Lomas died in

Manchester 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 Salford to the west. The t ...

, England on 11 February 1960. He was the subject of a book, ''The King of Brilliance: James Lomas – a Rugby League Superstar'', which was published in 2011.

References

External links

Search for "Lomas" at espn.co.uk (RU)
1879 births 1960 deaths Bramley RLFC players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Place of death missing Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Maryport Rugby union players from Cumbria Salford Red Devils captains Salford Red Devils coaches Salford Red Devils players York Wasps players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub