Thomas Edwin Holliday (13 July 1898 – 19 July 1969), also known as "Tom" or "Tosh", was an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, and 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s.Godwin, p197 He was a dual-code international, playing for the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

, British Lions, and the

England national rugby league team The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league. The team, largely formed from the Great Britain team which also represented Wales and Scotland, is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. ...

Biography

Thomas Edwin Holliday, born 13 July 1898 in

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells ...

, the youngest of four brothers, two of which died in the

Great 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 ...

, came from a long line of Cumberland sporting personalities. He began his education at the local school before winning a scholarship to attend

The Nelson Thomlinson School The Nelson Thomlinson School is a comprehensive secondary school located in the market town of Wigton, Cumbria, England. The school's motto is the Latin phrase ''Fide et Operis'', "Faith and Works". The position of Headteacher has been occupied ...

, Wigton. After the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

he began playing rugby for his home town club,

Aspatria RUFC Aspatria Rugby Union Football Club is based in Aspatria, Cumbria (formerly Cumberland) in north west England, not far from the Scottish Border. They are nicknamed the "Black Reds", and have a red cockerel as their logo. They currently play i ...

. He received the first of his 36

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

county caps playing against

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in 1920. In 1921, he played fullback for the North in their annual game against the South. In 1923, he received the first of his seven international caps, playing against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In the same year he captained Aspatria when they defeated Silloth RFC to regain the Cumberland county cup. In 1924, he went on the British Lions' tour to South Africa but suffered a broken collar bone in the opening game and took no further part in the series. In 1925, he played in three of the four international matches, taking the field against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, France and Scotland. In 1925, he played against France and Scotland. In 1924, he captained Cumberland when they won the County Championship, for the first and only time in their history, defeating

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

by six points to three in the final at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. He continued to captain the county side until 1926, when he accepted one of many offers to play

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 112 ...

, signing professional forms for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

. In 1927, Oldham beat Swinton by 26 points to 7, in the first BBC broadcast Rugby League Challenge Cup final. Tosh scored three tries and became only the third man in the history of the final to achieve that recognition. F. W. (Basher) Ashworth, another native of Aspatria also played in that final. In 1996,

Robbie Paul Robert Rawiri Hunter-Paul (born 3 February 1976) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. He has since become a business owner and television pundit, runninXtra Mile Marketing an inbound and digital marketing company. Robbie retired fr ...

also joined that elite grouping, playing for

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

when they defeated St. Helens. Tosh also gained an international cap for England playing against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1928. He retired from the game in 1931, when he returned to Aspatria to run a shop selling drapery and ironmongery.West Cumberland Times 2 October 1946 He died at Aspatria on 19 July 1969. The eldest brother Jonathon (Jont) was a highly respected three-quarter back, won the first of his 32 county caps at the age of seventeen. He was a member of the Aspatria side that won the county cup in 1909, 1911 & 1912, and beaten finalists in 1908 and 1910. Perhaps his greatest achievement came in 1913, when he played in the county side narrowly beaten by

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in the final of the county championship. On 18 November 1916, two individual telegrams arrived at the family home, regarding the disappearance of both Jont and his younger brother Alex, reports later substantiated.

Rugby union

Holliday played at fullback for

. He also captained

in the English County Championship, against

in 1924. He later played for , on 17 March 1923 against at

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills a ...

. He was capped a further six times between then and 1926. The following year, he went on the

1924 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1924 British Isles tour to South Africa was the tenth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 195 ...

, but was injured in the first match, and so was unable to play in the rest of the tour. He was not the only 1924 British Lion to switch to rugby league,

Roy Kinnear Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in ''How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeers ...

also did so.

Rugby league

At club level, he played for

. Holliday 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

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 ...

while at Oldham in 1928 against Wales.

Contemporaneous article extract

"T. Holliday' Aspatria, Cumberland and England (Rugby Union.) ''Born in 1899 ( sic "1898"), T. Holliday has played a great part in the post-war success of Cumberland in the County Championship. A tower of strength to the Aspatria Club, he gained an international cap for England in 1923, and he has since played eight ( sic "seven") times for England. Primarily he is a full-back, but for his club and for his country he has frequently played with success in the centre ( sic "only as a fullback for England"), and his sense of position has always stood him in good stead. He is a safe full-back, and although he does not have a kick of great length, he always makes sure of finding touch.''" Ogden's (circa-1926). ''Famous Rugby Players (Card 4 of 50)''. Ogden's. ISBN n/a

Note

Although Holliday's nicknames were "Tom", or "Tosh", he is erroneously nicknamed "Toff" in some references.

References

* Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) *

External links

Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holliday, Thomas 1898 births 1969 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Dual-code rugby internationals England international rugby union players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Oldham R.L.F.C. players People educated at the Nelson Thomlinson School Rugby league players from Wigton Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks People from Wigton Rugby union players from Wigton