Dick Duckworth (footballer, born 1882)

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Dick Duckworth
Personal information
Full name Richard Hargreaves Duckworth
Date of birth (1882-09-14)14 September 1882
Place of birth Collyhurst, Manchester, England
Date of death Q3 1965
Position(s) Right half
Youth career
Stretford
Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1903–1914 Manchester United 225 (11)
Total 225 (11)
International career
Football League 5 (?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard Hargreaves Duckworth (14 September 1882 – Q3 1965) was an English footballer who played as a wing half for Manchester United, with whom he won the Football League twice and the FA Cup once.

Career[edit]

Born in Manchester, he played for Smedley Road School and as a youth player for Harpurhey Wesleyan Juniors, Rossall Mission and Stretford.[1] His first professional contract was with Newton Heath Athletic, who paid him 7 shillings and sixpence a week.[1] As a centre-forward, he scored twice against the Manchester United reserves, and he was signed by the club in October 1903.[1] He scored on his debut, a 4–2 win over Gainsborough Trinity on 19 December 1903.[1] Although he played at right-half in the match, it was not until after a reserve team derby against Manchester City on Christmas Day 1903 that he was considered for the position on a regular basis.[1] In 1904–05, he scored six goals in eight league appearances, his best goal return in a season.

By the 1906–07 season, Duckworth became Manchester United's regular right-half, forming an effective partnership with Charlie Roberts and Alex Bell.[1] The following year, the club won their first major honour, the First Division title, and followed it up with the FA Cup a year later and another league title in 1911.[1] In total, Duckworth scored 11 goals in 254 appearances for Manchester United. A severe knee injury meant he played his final game for the club against Middlesbrough on 15 November 1913, though he remained on their books until 1915.[2] He was also part of a Football Association representative team on a tour of South Africa in 1910, and made five appearances for the Football League XI.[1]

Personal life[edit]

After his retirement, Duckworth became a pub licensee, operating the Queen's Arms in Manchester as well as others in Bury, Royton, Castleton, Edenfield and Bacup.[2] In 1949, while working in Edenfield, his 1909 FA Cup winner's medal, which he had lost 20 years earlier, was found in a pile of rubble at a hotel he had once managed.[2] His death was registered in Rochdale in the third quarter of 1965.[3] His son, also called Dick, was also a professional footballer who was on the books of Manchester United before playing in the Football League for Chesterfield, Rotherham United and York City; he later managed York, as well as Stockport County, Darlington and Scunthorpe United.[2]

Career statistics[edit]

Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester United[4] 1903–04 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
1904–05 8 6 0 0 0 0 8 6
1905–06 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
1906–07 28 2 2 0 0 0 30 2
1907–08 35 0 3 0 2 0 40 0
1908–09 33 0 6 0 0 0 39 0
1909–10 29 0 1 0 0 0 30 0
1910–11 22 2 3 0 0 0 25 2
1911–12 26 0 6 0 1 0 33 0
1912–13 24 0 5 0 0 0 29 0
1913–14 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Total 225 11 26 0 3 0 254 11

Honours[edit]

Club[edit]

Manchester United

References[edit]

Bibliography

  • Dykes, Garth (1994). The United Alphabet: A Complete Who's Who of Manchester United F.C. Leicester: ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 0-9514862-6-8.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Dykes (1994), p. 116.
  2. ^ a b c d Dykes (1994), p. 117.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  4. ^ "THE WEBSITE OF DREAMS". stretfordend.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2018.