Full name John William Sutcliffe Name John Sutcliffe Place of birth Shibden, England Role Football player | Place of death Bradford, England Height 1.83 m Playing position Position Goalkeeper | |
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Date of birth (1868-04-14)14 April 1868 Date of death 7 July 1947(1947-07-07) (aged 79) Died July 7, 1947, Bradford, United Kingdom | ||
John William Sutcliffe (14 April 1868 – 7 July 1947), commonly known as John Willie Sutcliffe and J.W. Sutcliffe, was an English football and rugby union player. He was the last person to represent England at full international level in both sports.
Life and career
Born in Shibden, he started his career in 1886 at Bradford Rugby Club playing at either full back or centre three quarter before moving to the club from Heckmondwike where he gained his only cap for England against the New Zealand Natives in 1889, scoring one try, and one conversion for five points.
Heckmondwike were suspended from the RFU over allegations of professionalism and he switched codes to play football for Bolton Wanderers, finally playing in the first team as a goalkeeper. Here he gained his first of five England caps against Wales in a 6–0 win in 1893. 1894 saw him on the losing side in the FA Cup final.
1902 saw Sutcliffe at Southern League Millwall Athletic before moving on in 1903 to Manchester United where he played 28 games. He joined Plymouth Argyle in January 1905 and by the end of the season had become the club's first choice goalkeeper. The Argyle handbook for the 1905–06 season describes Sutcliffe as "a marvel for his years." In more than seven years with the club, he made 214 appearances in league competition and four in the FA Cup. He left the club at the end of the 1911–12 campaign and became a player-coach at Southend United. His last known club was South Kirkby Colliery, who he joined in 1913.
Sutcliffe was appointed manager of Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in 1914. He returned to England after the First World War to work for Bradford City as a coach. Sutcliffe died on 7 July 1947 at the age of 79 in Bradford.