Samuel Wolstenholme (1878 – 28 January 1933) was an English footballer who played for, among others Everton,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

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 ...

. He played alongside

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

and

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 capt ...

in the England teams that won the British Home Championship in 1904 and 1905. He also played twice for ''The North XI'' against ''The South XI'' and played for the English League XI against the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. After retiring as a player in 1913, Wolstenholme accepted a coaching position in Germany. In the spring of 1914, he was appointed by the ''Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband (North German Football Association)'' as team coach/manager of their representative XI. However while there, the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out and he was subsequently interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. Wolstenholme was one of several former professional footballers in the camp. Others included fellow former

internationals

Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...

and

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

international

Edwin Dutton Edwin Dutton (8 April 1890 – 24 May 1972) was an Anglo-German footballer and coach. Dutton played as a forward for Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen, Newcastle United and Germany. During the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civ ...

and two fellow former Evertonians, John Cameron and

John Brearley John Brearley (October 1875 – 1944) was an English association football player and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He was able to play in at least five outfi ...

. Wolstenholme was a prominent member of the Ruhleben Football Association. Cup and league competitions were organised and as many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. The teams adopted the names of established teams and November 1914 Wolstenholme refereed a cup final between ''Tottenham Hotspur'' and ''Oldham Athletic''. Among the players participating were Bloomer and Dutton. On 2 May 1915 an ''England XI'' featuring Wolstenholme, Pentland, Brearley and Bloomer played a ''World XI'' captained by Cameron. Wolstenholme also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

at Rubleben and in July 1916 played for a ''Yorkshire XI'' that lost to a ''Lancashire XI'', featuring Bloomer.

Honours

England * British Home Championship: 2 **1904, 1905

References

External links

Career statsWolstenholme at www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolstenholme, Samuel 1878 births 1933 deaths England men's international footballers English men's footballers Everton F.C. players Croydon Common F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Gimnástica de Torrelavega managers English Football League players World War I civilian detainees held by Germany English Football League representative players Men's association football defenders English football managers People from Little Lever