Ephraim Longworth (2 October 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an

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 ...

international footballer for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the early part of the twentieth century. He was one of Liverpool's all-time greats, and was Liverpool's first ever

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Life and playing career

Longworth, born in

Halliwell Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to: People * Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper * Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s * David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

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 ...

, England, noted for his lock of hair, was comfortable in either the right or left-back berths. He joined

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the first division of the Lancashire Combination in 1908 from Hyde and then moved to London, signing for Southern League club

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

. It was here that Liverpool manager Tom Watson spotted his potential and signed him in 1910. He made his debut on 19 September 1910 in a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

game at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, but Liverpool lost 2–0 to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Longworth went on to appear 371 times in a Red shirt scoring five goals for the

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

club; in fact he went on to play until he was 40 years old. One of Liverpool's all-time greats Ephraim has the distinction of being Liverpool's first ever captain of the England national team, when he was given the job in only his second appearance - a 2–0 against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

at the Oscar Bossaert Stadion,

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1921. His debut for the national side was in 1920 and was just as memorable, England fought back from 4-2 down to beat bitter rivals

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 ...

5–4 at Hillsborough. Longworth went on to gain 5 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, none of which England lost. During his time at

Longworth won back to back league titles in 1921-22 and 1922–23 and appeared in the 1-0 1914 FA Cup Final defeat to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in front of the reigning King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. Longworth's final game came 17½ years after his first appearance for the club, it came in a 2–0 defeat at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 21 April 1928. After retiring in 1928 Longworth stayed on at Liverpool in a coaching role. Ephraim died in 1968 forever a Liverpool legend. In 2006 despite having been retired for almost 80 years, Longworth was voted in at 72nd place following a survey on Liverpool's website entitled '100 Players which Shook the Kop'.

Career details

*Liverpool F.C. (1910–1928) 371 appearances 2

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 ...

Championship medals ( 1921–22, 1922–23 ), (he played his last game as a 40-year-old) *England (1920–1923) 5 caps (Ephraim also captained his country, the first Liverpool player to do so)

References

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longworth, Ephraim 1887 births 1968 deaths England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers English men's footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Leyton Orient F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Bolton