Leonard Frank Newton (January or February 1888 – 7 February 1939), commonly known as Len or Leo Newton,
was a Welsh
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 as a
centre-forward or
half-back and made one appearance for the
Wales national team.
Club career
On Saturdays, Newton played for
Cardiff Corinthians in the early 1910s as a
centre-forward.
He was also a founding member and
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of Cardiff Post Office Soccer Club, established in 1906, who he played for on Wednesdays.
When called upon, Newton also played for
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
as a forward or
half-back, appearing in matches of the South Wales League. Between 1911 and 1914, he made four appearances for Cardiff City in the
Southern League.
International career
Newton made his debut for the
Wales amateur team on 17 February 1912 in
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham.
Much of the town's early history surro ...
against
England, which finished as a 0–3 loss. He impressed selectors for holding
Vivian Woodward
Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
He capta ...
during the match, thus earning himself his first and only cap for
Wales on 13 April 1912 in the
1911–12 British Home Championship
The 1911–12 British Home Championship was a football competition played between the British Home Nations during the second half of the 1911–12 season. England and Scotland shared the title after both beat Wales and Ireland and then drew the d ...
against
Ireland.
The home match, which was played in
Cardiff, finished as a 2–3 loss for Wales.
Newton made his second and final amateur international appearance in the following year, again a loss against England, this time by a score of 1–3 in
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
on 8 February.
Personal life
Newton was born to Ellen Newton in January or February 1888 in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada,
but by 1891 he and his family lived in the English village of
Beer, Devon at the age of 3. By 1901, at the age of 13, he and his family resided in
Cardiff. Newton married Bertha Elizabeth Hosgood on 25 December 1909 in Cardiff,
where he worked as a
post office sorting clerk and
telegraphist
A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio.
During the Great War the Royal ...
. On 7 February 1939, Newton died in Cardiff at the age of 51.
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Career statistics
International
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Leo
1888 births
Date of birth missing
1939 deaths
Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Soccer people from Nova Scotia
Welsh men's footballers
Wales men's international footballers
Wales men's amateur international footballers
Canadian men's soccer players
Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Men's association football forwards
Men's association football midfielders
Cardiff Corinthians F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players