Joseph Richardson

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
19-02-1887
N/A
Date unknown.
Abertillery RU
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
28-09-1912 v Oldham
Oldham
1914-
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1912-1913
58 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
9
2
0
31

Biography of Joseph Richardson



HERITAGE NO : 220
Joe Richardson by Alex Service

One of a number of Welshmen to be signed by the club in the years leading up to the first World War, Joe came with a good pedigree in the 15-a-side code. The St. Helens Newspaper on 9th August 1912 gave us the first inkling that a signing was imminent:

"The club's supporters are anxiously awaiting the result of two of the club officials to South Wales a week ago. It is said that one of the objects of this visit was to secure a well-known fly-half whom several Northern Union clubs have angled after for some time. He is a friend of Browning's and he has the reputation of being one of the best players in his position in South Wales".

News soon came out that the mysterious Welshman was Joe Richardson, the Abertillery and Monmouthshire county half-back, a miner, who lived in the town and had recently married. There was a healthy crowd at Knowsley Road for the first practice match of the season, normally between the First and A teams. But, as the St. Helens Newspaper reported [3rd September] things didn't quite go as planned:

"Altogether the first practice was a huge success and augurs well for the approaching season. There was only one unfortunate point, and that was a serious one, for just on the finish, Richardson, the new half-back from Wales, who has not had a proper chance yet to show what he can do was heavily tackled and in the fall he broke his collar bone. This is a bad start with his new club, but the medical man in attendance states that in two or three weeks he will be quite fit again".

Sure enough, the diagnosis was correct and Joe made a long-awaited debut against Oldham at Watersheddings and the teams drew 10-10. "Saints forwards on top against Oldham" trumpeted the St. Helens Newspaper [1st October] and this was a feature in Joe Richardson's debut success:

"In the first half there was a spell in which the ball came out on the Saints' side of the pack nine times in succession, so that there was someone doing the hooking with a vengeance. It was fortunate that the forwards should have made their effort on the occasion of Richardson's debut, as it gave the diminutive Welshman an opportunity to show what he was made of and it may be said at once that he rose to the occasion. I have never seen the ball flashed out from the pack with such smartness for years, and more than once it was in the hands of the backs before the Oldham scrum-half realised it had left the pack. He pounced on the leather with unerring aim, never fumbling it on the ground, and then got it away or dashed into beat the opposition himself. He made Bryce look a novice by comparison and several times had the defence in a knot by his tricky little kick over the scrum, one of these realising to a try. He tackled fiercely, played in that fearless fashion which Arthur Kelly first showed us and if he has still something up his sleeve which his friends swear he has, then he is just the man for the Saints".

So, an incredible debut, reminiscent of another Welsh debutant many years later, when Bob Prosser, also a scrum-half, ripped the visiting Kiwis to bits at Knowsley Road in 1965! It is such a shame that just as the club was at last moving in a positive direction in terms of playing staff that the Great War should intervene. Ironically, Joe's last match was also away at Oldham, on 4th April 1914, when the Saints unfortunately could not replicate the result of Joe's first game, this time losing 5-32! It was the last of his 58 games for the club and he scored 9 tries and kicked 2 goals for good measure. Joe was certainly a highly-rated footballer and but for the terrible conflict would surely have been a mainstay in the St. Helens team for years to come. In 1939 Joe was living back in his hometown at 19 Bridge Street, Abertillery where his occupation was listed as a Coal Hewer. His death is registered in Cheltenham in December 1962 at the age of 75.


SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1912~136 1 0 31
1913~14 3 1 0 27
TOTALS:9 2 0 58
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1912~13 0001
TOTALS:0001

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
28th Sep 1912 1
D
 7 Oldham L A 10 10 VIEW
5th Oct 1912 2
L
 7 Swinton L A 2 9 VIEW
19th Oct 1912 3
L
 6 Dewsbury L A 11 27 VIEW
26th Oct 1912 4
L
 6 Runcorn L H 5 12 VIEW
2nd Nov 1912 5
W
 7 Warrington LC1 H 18 10 1 VIEW
9th Nov 1912 6
L
 7 Leigh L A 5 8 VIEW
16th Nov 1912 7
L
 7 Rochdale Hornets LCSF A 8 10 VIEW
21st Nov 1912 8
L
 7 Warrington L H 7 10 VIEW
23rd Nov 1912 9
W
 6 Broughton Rangers L H 20 12 2 VIEW
7th Dec 1912 10
W
 7 Dewsbury L H 16 9 VIEW
14th Dec 1912 11
L
 7 Salford L A 3 11 1 VIEW
21st Dec 1912 12
L
 7 Rochdale Hornets L H 5 6 VIEW
25th Dec 1912 13
W
 7 Widnes L A 10 5 VIEW
26th Dec 1912 14
L
 6 Wigan L H 8 10 1 VIEW
28th Dec 1912 15
L
 6 Hunslet L A 0 9 VIEW
1st Jan 1913 16
L
 7 Huddersfield L H 5 32 VIEW
4th Jan 1913 17
W
 7 Wakefield Trinity L H 17 3 VIEW
11th Jan 1913 18
L
 7 Warrington L A 5 6 VIEW
18th Jan 1913 19
W
 7 Coventry L A 26 0 VIEW
21st Jan 1913 20
L
 7 Rochdale Hornets L A 5 11 VIEW
25th Jan 1913 21
W
 7 Swinton L H 17 0 VIEW
1st Feb 1913 22
L
 7 Wakefield Trinity L A 7 14 1 VIEW
8th Feb 1913 --
W
 7 Torquay * Fr Tour P 29 5 VIEW
15th Feb 1913 23
W
 7 Coventry L H 51 9 1 VIEW
22nd Feb 1913 24
W
 7 Barrow L A 23 6 VIEW
1st Mar 1913 25
W
 7 Oldham L H 10 2 VIEW
8th Mar 1913 26
L
 7 Huddersfield CC1 H 0 19 VIEW
21st Mar 1913 27
L
 7 Wigan L A 10 33 VIEW
22nd Mar 1913 28
W
 7 Salford L H 6 0 VIEW
24th Mar 1913 29
L
 7 Huddersfield L A 3 21 VIEW
5th Apr 1913 30
W
 7 Leigh L H 20 0 VIEW
9th Apr 1913 31
L
 7 Broughton Rangers L A 11 22 VIEW
11th Oct 1913 32
L
 7 Widnes L A 0 25 VIEW
18th Oct 1913 33
W
 7 Leigh L H 37 7 VIEW
1st Nov 1913 34
W
 7 Runcorn LC1 H 26 6 VIEW
8th Nov 1913 35
W
 7 Broughton Rangers L H 18 8 1 VIEW
15th Nov 1913 36
L
 7 Oldham LCSF A 5 17 VIEW
19th Nov 1913 37
W
 7 Wakefield Trinity L A 24 8 VIEW
22nd Nov 1913 38
L
 7 Barrow L H 11 18 VIEW
29th Nov 1913 39
L
 7 Hunslet L A 11 20 1 VIEW
6th Dec 1913 40
W
 7 Swinton L H 19 5 1 VIEW
13th Dec 1913 41
W
 7 Runcorn L H 18 5 VIEW
20th Dec 1913 42
L
 7 Rochdale Hornets L A 2 31 VIEW
25th Dec 1913 43
W
 7 Widnes L H 10 3 1 VIEW
26th Dec 1913 44
L
 7 Wigan L H 3 17 VIEW
27th Dec 1913 45
L
 7 Broughton Rangers L A 0 11 VIEW
1st Jan 1914 46
D
 7 Huddersfield L H 8 8 VIEW
3rd Jan 1914 47
W
 7 Hull L A 8 6 VIEW
10th Jan 1914 48
W
 7 Wakefield Trinity L H 12 5 VIEW
17th Jan 1914 49
L
 7 Barrow L A 5 24 VIEW
31st Jan 1914 50
W
 7 Dewsbury L A 12 11 VIEW
2nd Feb 1914 51
L
 7 Hull L H 7 15 VIEW
21st Feb 1914 52
L
 7 Warrington L H 8 22 VIEW
28th Feb 1914 53
W
 7 Wigan Highfield CC1 H 27 4 VIEW
14th Mar 1914 54
D
 7 Rochdale Hornets CC2 A 3 3 VIEW
18th Mar 1914 55
L
 7 Rochdale Hornets CC2(rep) H 0 10 VIEW
21st Mar 1914 56
L
 7 Leigh L A 6 7 VIEW
28th Mar 1914 57
L
 7 Salford L H 2 8 VIEW
4th Apr 1914 58
L
 7 Oldham L A 5 32 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 24 | LOSSES : 32 | DRAWS : 3

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