Richard Sykes (11 May 1839 – 31 May 1923) was a pioneering

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player who helped found two major clubs and became a landowner in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

, founding five towns there. He was the fourth son of Richard Sykes, owner of the Sykes Bleaching Company, and his wife Jane Hardcastle. He was born at

Edgeley Edgeley is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Edgeley is characterised largely by Victorian terraced housing around Alexandra Park. The population in 2011 was 14,176. Edgeley Park is home to Stockport County F.C. History R ...

House, Stockport, Cheshire, and was known as Dick. He went to

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

where he was Captain of Rugby in 1857. The following extract is from the ''First 125 years Liverpool Football Club Rugby Union 1857–1982'' by I R A Daglish.

In the Autumn of 1857, Frank Albert Mather, who had recently left Rugby School, wrote to his friend Richard Sykes the Captain of Football at Rugby School inviting him to take part in a game of football in Liverpool and bring with him one of the balls in use at the school, made by Linden a Rugby bootmaker. The game was arranged for Saturday 19 December 1857 on the Liverpool Cricket Ground at Edgehill. Fifty players arrived and they decided to play Rugby versus the World. Liverpool club was founded there and then.

Dick Sykes spent 18 months in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. He returned to England and helped to form the Manchester Football Club in 1860, being the club's first Captain. He was a partner in a textile firm 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 ...

'Callender, Sykes & Mather' until it failed in 1878. Then he went to America and over the years acquired considerable land holdings. He continued to live in England, but made annual trips to the States where he founded and named five North Dakota towns, * Sykeston, after his family * Bowdon, after his hometown *

, after his birthplace * Chaseley, after the English home of an old friend * Alfred, "because it was a good English name". He introduced rugby football to colleges and universities in the west of America and also introduced golf links to the northwest In 1904, at the age of 65 he married Fanny Elizabeth Walton of Broughton,

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 ...

, and sailed for the United States on their wedding day to make their future home, settling at Montecito, California. They had two sons. Sykes was the brother of Thomas Hardcastle Sykes and uncle of Sir Alan Sykes, 1st Baronet MP for

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

, Cheshire, and Sir Percy Sykes the geographer and explorer of central Asia.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Richard 1839 births 1923 deaths English rugby union players People educated at Rugby School Rugby union players from Stockport