Melbourne Tierney (3 December 1923 – 27 November 2014) was a Welsh 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 11 ...
footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. Starting with his home village club
Tumble RFC after the second world war, Tierney turned professional after the 1946 West Wales Cup final against Amman United RFC at Stradey Park, Llanelli. He played at representative level for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, and at club level for
Belle Vue Rangers and
Rochdale Hornets
The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...
, as a , i.e. number 11 or 12, 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.
Playing career
International honours
Tierney won a
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 ...
for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
while at Belle Vue Rangers in 1953.
County Cup Final appearances
He played left-, i.e. number 3, in
Belle Vue Rangers' 7-10 defeat by
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
in the
1947 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 Lancash ...
County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
Final during the
1947–48 season at
Wilderspool Stadium
Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
History
In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...
,
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 ...
on Saturday 1 November 1947.
Club records
Tierney holds
Belle Vue Rangers' most consecutive appearances record, with 137-appearances from Saturday 23 September 1950 to Saturday 5 December 1953.
Personal life and death
Tierney was born in
Tumble, Carmarthenshire
Tumble ( cy, Tymbl), is a village situated south of Cross Hands near the towns of Carmarthen and Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Tumble, along with Cross Hands is part of the community of Llannon.Davies (2008), pg 503. The population, includi ...
, Wales on 3 December 1923.
He married Eiry Bowen in 1947, in
Llanelli
Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...
district.
They had two children; Eiriona (born 1949 in
Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...
), and Linda (born 1953 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 ...
).
Tierney later worked as an engineer. He was predeceased by his wife, and died from dementia in
Stockport,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
on 27 November 2014, at the age of 90.
References
External links
* (archived by archive.is
Picture of Mel Tierney* (archived by archive.is
Mel Tierney* (archived by archive.ph
Picture of Mel Tierney* (archived by archive.ph
Mel Tierney* (archived by archive.today
Picture of Mel Tierney* (archived by archive.today
Mel Tierney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Melbourne
1923 births
2014 deaths
Broughton Rangers players
Rochdale Hornets players
Rugby league players from Carmarthenshire
Rugby league second-rows
Rugby union players from Carmarthenshire
Wales national rugby league team players
Welsh rugby league players
Welsh rugby union players