Edward Breaks (29 December 1919 – November 2000) was an English professional
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 in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
as a
left back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
for
Halifax Town.
Life and career
Breaks was born in 1919 in
Halifax, in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
.
He worked at John Holdsworth & Co
textile mills
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...
in the town before the Second World War.
[ He was called up in 1940, served with the ]7th Queen's Own Hussars
The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...
, and had a narrow escape when the tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
he was driving was struck by a German shell.[.] He played football while in the services, captained his regimental team, and after demobilisation he returned to Holdsworth's and played for the Shaw Lodge Mills works team
A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.
Association footb ...
. Breaks joined Halifax Town on amateur forms in 1947, and became a part-time professional a year later: he thought he was too old to take the risk of embarking on a full-time professional career.[
The team started the 1948–49 season badly, and Breaks was promoted from the reserves. He made his senior debut on 13 September 1948 against ]Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...
in the Third Division North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
.[ Although the team continued to struggle, Breaks did not. Over the next seven seasonsfour as a first-team regularhe made 179 appearances in the ]Football League Third Division North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and ...
,[ and was spoken of as a possible replacement at ]Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
after Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...
's move to 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 ...
.[ He scored once, when he injured a knee against Crewe Alexandra in 1950: unable to play in defence, he was still able to wander about the forward line.][ He shared a benefit match with the equally long-serving David McCormick in April 1955, in which Halifax Town lost 10–4 to a Football League Select XI which included their own ]player-manager
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
, Willie Watson.[ and acted as first-team trainer after ]Alan Ure
Alan Ure was an English football manager. He managed Gillingham for the 1937–38 season, which saw the club finish bottom of the Football League Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the Engl ...
retired in January 1962. After manager Harry Hooper also left the club, Breaks followed suit during the 1962 close season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
.
Breaks returned to work at Holdsworth's,[ while continuing his involvement with football at local level with Hebden Bridge as player and coach and then as coach of St Mary's.][
Breaks and his wife, Maureen, had a daughter, Christine. He died in a Halifax nursing home at the age of 80]
Career statistics
Notes
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaks, Ted
1919 births
2000 deaths
Footballers from Halifax, West Yorkshire
English footballers
Association football fullbacks
Halifax Town A.F.C. players
English Football League players
Date of death missing
7th Queen's Own Hussars soldiers
British Army personnel of World War II