Valentine "Val" Cumberbatch (14 February 1911 – 23 January 1973) was an English 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 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level 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 ...

and

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 Lancashi ...

, and at club level for

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

and

Liverpool Stanley Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when i ...

, as a , i.e. number 2 or 5. Cumberbatch was inducted in to the Barrow Hall of Fame in 2019.

Background

Val Cumberbatch's death was registered in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Val Cumberbatch 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

while at Barrow in 1938 against France.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Val Cumberbatch played , i.e. number 2, in

's 4-7 defeat by

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 ...

in the

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1937–38 season at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 7 May 1938.

County Cup Final appearances

Val Cumberbatch played , i.e. number 2, in

's 4-8 defeat by

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 ...

in the

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

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 1937–38 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

on Saturday 23 October 1937.

Testimonial match

Val Cumberbatch's

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

es at

were shared with Bob Ayres, John Higgin, William Little and

Dan McKeating Daniel McKeating (fourth 1910 – death unknown) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for British Empire and Cumberland, and at club level for Whitehaven Recr ...

, and took place against Swinton on Saturday 27 April 1946, and against

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 ...

on Saturday 27 January 1947.

Career records

Val Cumberbatch is seventh in Barrow's all time

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

scorers list with 134-tries. Three players jointly hold Barrow's "most tries in a game" record with six tries, they are; Val Cumberbatch against Batley on Saturday 21 November 1936, Jim Thornburrow against

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland. The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield. Locatio ...

on Saturday 19 February 1938, and Steve Rowan against

Nottingham City Mansfield Marksman was a rugby league team based at various times in Mansfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Alfreton and ultimately Nottingham. The club changed its name to Nottingham City in 1989, and folded in 1994 a year after exiting the Rugby Foo ...

on Sunday 15 November 1992.

Contemporaneous article extract

''"The local intermediate League produced Val Cumberbatch, now with Liverpool Stanley, having been transferred during the war. Still an entertaining player to watch. A Lancashire County winger. Signed by Barrow in 1932."''

Genealogical information

Cumberbatch was the son of Theodore Theophilus Cumberbatch (1863/4 – 193

, a ship's steward, originally from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, and Mary Ellen

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Kewin originally from

Ramsey, Isle of Man Ramsey ( gv, Rhumsaa) is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,845 according to the 2016 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has ...

(Marriage third ¼ 1889 in Fylde distric

. Val Cumberbatch's marriage to Mary ( Given name#Name at birth, née Lightfoot) was registered during fourth ¼ 1937 in

district. They had children; John V. Cumberbatch
birth registered
during third ¼ 1938 in

district), and Barrie Cumberbatch
birth registered
during fourth ¼ 1942 in

district). Val Cumberbatch was the brother of the rugby league footballer James Cumberbatch.

References

External links

Val Cumberbatch at cumberbatch.orgVal Cumberbatch (Barrow's First Wembley Cup Final & Barrow Testimonial Game for "Big Five") at cumberbatch.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberbatch, Val 1911 births 1973 deaths Barrow Raiders players Black British sportsmen England national rugby league team players English people of Barbadian descent English people of Manx descent English rugby league players Lancashire rugby league team players Liverpool City (rugby league) players Place of birth missing Rugby league wingers