Eric Litchfield
Born(1920-09-21)21 September 1920
West Derby, Lancashire
Died23 July 1982(1982-07-23) (aged 61)
Cape Town, South Africa
NationalityBritish
EducationBedford Modern School
Known forFootballer
Writer
Sports Editor

Eric Brimley Litchfield (21 September 1920 – 23 July 1982) was a British footballer for Newcastle United[1] and Leeds United,[2] sports editor of The Rand Daily Mail between 1956 and 1970,[3] sports editor of the Cape Times between 1970 and 1982[4] and an author of books on South African cricket, rugby and association football.[5][6][7]

Early life

Litchfield was born in West Derby, Lancashire on 21 September 1920[8] and educated at Bedford Modern School.[9] He left school at the age of 16 to join Bedford Town F.C. but was also a strong cricketer who had been offered a place at Northamptonshire.[10][11]

Football and World War II

Litchfield joined Newcastle United in January 1939 but, just as he was starting to establish himself, the war broke out and he was restricted to just two games, one in each of the 1939–40 and 1942–43 seasons.[1][12] He joined the Royal Air Force but still managed to make guest appearances as a footballer during the war years (for Millwall, Reading, York and Northampton) and was a sports journalist on several service newspapers.[10]

Litchfield made his debut for Leeds United against York in the first game of the 1941–42 Football League Northern Section (First Championship)[12] and in that season he scored his first goal for Leeds against Bradford.[12]

Journalism

After the war, Litchfield emigrated to South Africa where he became a journalist and author, initially in Durban with the Natal Mercury before moving to The Rand Daily Mail in 1949.[13] He became sports editor of The Rand Daily Mail in 1956[14][15] and was later sports editor of the Cape Times between 1970 and 1982.[4][14]

Authorship

Litchfield wrote The Springbok Story From The Inside in 1960,[16] followed by two books devoted to football: Goals In The Sun in 1963[17] and Book of Soccer in 1965.[18] His writing later turned to cricket with Cricket Grand Slam about South Africa's test series against Australia in 1970[19] and, with D.J. (Jackie) McGlew, Six for Glory in 1967.[20]

Litchfield was made a Life Member of the National Football League for his contribution to the establishment of professional football in South Africa.[10]

Personal life

Litchfield married Gillian Mai Johnston in 1948 and they had one son.[21] He later married Lynn with whom he had a daughter, Wendy. He was working as the new editor of the Protea Cricket Annual of South Africa when he died in Cape Town on 23 July 1982.[10]

Selected bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Milburn, Jack (22 March 2013). Jackie Milburn. ISBN 9781780578125. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Note on the Author, Eric Litchfield's Book of Soccer, Published H. Kearthland, Johannesburg, 1965
  3. ↑ Henderson, Jon (2 May 2013). The Wizard. ISBN 9781448114351. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 Chris Barron. "Obituary: Jack Botha: Sports writer and sportsman". Times LIVE. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Results for 'au:LITCHFIELD, Eric.' > 'Eric Litchfield' [WorldCat.org]". worldcat.org. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Jobs - Lord's". lords.org. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "N.F.L. Soccer History 1960-1967". vb-tech.co.za. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. ↑ England & Wales, Birth Index
  9. ↑ School of the Black and Red, A History of Bedford Modern School. A.G. Underwood (1981). Updated 2010
  10. 1 2 3 4 Note on the Author, Eric Litchfield's Book of Soccer, Published by H. Kearthland, Johannesburg, 1965
  11. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "Leeds United F.C. History". ozwhitelufc.net.au. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Cornelissen, Scarlett; Grundlingh, Albert (13 September 2013). Sport Past and Present in South Africa. ISBN 9781317988595. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  14. 1 2 Mervis, Joel (1989). The fourth estate. ISBN 9780947464028. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Chesterfield, Trevor (2003). South Africa's Cricket Captains. ISBN 9781868723768. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  16. 1 2 The Springbok story from the inside. OCLC 30257672.
  17. 1 2 Goals in the sun. OCLC 11154654.
  18. 1 2 Book of soccer. OCLC 2024089.
  19. 1 2 Cricket grand-slam. OCLC 122243.
  20. 1 2 Six for glory. OCLC 459128.
  21. ↑ "South African Marriage Records - IdentityNumber.org". identitynumber.org. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  22. ↑ The story of the Wilfred Isaacs XI. OCLC 66746167.
  23. ↑ Book of the tests. OCLC 814133304.
  24. ↑ "CRICKET GRAND–SLAM". sportspages.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  25. ↑ Cape Town City. OCLC 65197015.


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