Harold Wagstaff (9 May 1891 – 19 July 1939), also known by the nickname of "Waggy", 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played as a and was nicknamed the ''Prince of Centres''. A captain of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, he also played representative rugby league 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

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. Wagstaff has been inducted into the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame, and the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

Hall of Fame.

Background

Wagstaff was born in the village of Underbank within Holmfirth on 9 May 1891 and first played at local amateur side, Underbank Rangers, aged 14.

Playing career

1900s

Wagstaff's first professional game, for Huddersfield in 1906, was at the age of 15 years and 175 days. For many years he was considered to be the youngest person to play professional rugby league. However it is Harold Edmondson who holds this accolade, making his first try for Bramley against Bradford Northern on 1 February 1919 aged 15 years 81 days. Edmondson later joined Wagstaff at Huddersfield. Wagstaff became the youngest representative in rugby league football when he turned out for Yorkshire age 17 years and 141 days, and a few months later made his début for

against the first ever touring Australian side: the 'First Kangaroos' of 1908.

1910s

By 1912 Wagstaff was appointed captain of Huddersfield, aged 19. He captained Huddersfield at in their 2–8 loss against Wakefield Trinity in the

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

County Cup Final during the 1910–11 season at

Headingley Rugby Stadium Headingley Rugby Stadium shares the same site as Headingley Cricket Ground and is home to Leeds Rhinos. Headingley is the 5th largest rugby league stadium in England. History 1889-1980s: Construction and development Leeds St Johns, who ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on Saturday 3 December 1910, played right-, i,e, number 3, and scored a

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 ...

in the 22–10 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in the 1911

County Cup Final during the 1911–12 season at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Saturday 25 November 1911, In 1914 Wagstaff was made captain of Great Britain, a post held during that year's tour of Australia and New Zealand. He was captain in the famous 'Rorke's Drift' match on 4 July 1914. Wagstaff and played right-, i.e. number 3, and scored 2- tries in the 31–0 victory over Hull F.C. in the

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

County Cup Final during the 1914–15 season at

on Saturday 28 November 1914. During his career as the captain of the Huddersfield team, known as ''The Team of all The Talents'', he led them to victory in the Rugby League Challenge Cup, the Championship Trophy, the

County Cup, and the

County League in 1915. They thus became the second of only three teams ever to win All Four Cups, the others being Hunslet (1908) and Swinton (1928). Wagstaff was also stationed in Egypt during

World War I 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 ...

1920s

Wagstaff once again captained Great Britain on their 1920 tour of Australasia. In November that year, rugby league's first players' union, the 'Northern Rugby Union Players' Union was founded in Huddersfield under the chairmanship of Wagstaff, with his Huddersfield team-mate Gwyn Thomas as secretary. The enrolment fee was five shillings with a weekly contribution from each member; the declared aims of the union were (i) the promotion of the spirit of comradeship amongst the players, (ii) to redress grievances, (iii) to obtain modification of the transfer rules and (iv) to obtain benefits for players after fixed term of service. Wagstaff played his last Test match in January 1922, when he helped Great Britain beat Australia and regain the Ashes. His career had lasted for 19 years until his retirement in 1925.

Post-playing

Wagstaff was the manager of the Royal Swan Hotel, Westgate, Huddersfield, and died in 1939. In 1988 he was inducted into the

British Rugby League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

. He was one of five famous players to feature on a set of British stamps issued in 1995 to commemorate the centenary of Rugby League. Wagstaff and his contribution to Anglo-Australian rugby league culture were the subject of 2003's annual Tom Brock Lecture, given by Tony Collins.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Harold Wagstaff at rugbyleaguehistory.co.uk
*(archived by archive.is

*(archived by web.archive.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagstaff, Harold 1891 births 1939 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Service Corps soldiers England national rugby league team captains England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants captains Huddersfield Giants players People from Holmfirth Publicans Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Yorkshire Yorkshire rugby league team players