Ralph Rodgerson
Personal information
Full name Ralph Rodgerson[1]
Date of birth (1913-12-25)25 December 1913[1]
Place of birth Sunderland, England
Date of death 18 April 1972(1972-04-18) (aged 58)[1]
Place of death Sunderland, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s) Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Millfield
19??–1935 Shotton Colliery Welfare
1935–1942 Sunderland 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ralph Rodgerson (25 December 1913 – 18 April 1972) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League as a full back for Sunderland.

Life and career

Rodgerson was born in Sunderland in 1913,[1] the son of Ralph Rodgerson and his wife Evelyn. Ralph senior was a professional footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town and Leeds United and in the Scottish League for Dundee.[2]

Rodgerson played Sunderland and District League football for Millfield – he also played cricket for the Miilfield club alongside his father[3] – and Wearside League football for Shotton Colliery Welfare before signing professional forms with Football League First Division club Sunderland in December 1935.[4] With the club's sixth League title already confirmed, Rodgerson was given a debut on 18 April 1936, playing at left back in a 4–3 win at home to Huddersfield Town,[5] and also played in the remaining two matches of the season, which were both heavy defeats.[6] He made two more first-team appearances, both at home to Manchester United, one in 1936–37 and the last in 1938–39,[7][8] before competitive football was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. He played for Sunderland and for North Shields in wartime matches,[9][10] but did not resume a professional career afterwards.[11]

The 1939 Register finds Rodgerson living in Sunderland with his wife, Vera, and working as a plater's helper.[12] He joined the police in December 1939.[13] He played for the Sunderland Police football team during the war,[9] and for their cricket team until well into the 1950s.[14] Rodgerson died in Sunderland in 1972 at the age of 58.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (2000). All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland AFC. ISBN 9781899538157.
  2. ↑ "Fatal collapse". Sunderland Echo. 10 July 1939. p. 7.
    "Due to natural causes. Wearsider's death after trench digging". Sunderland Echo. 11 July 1939. p. 10.
  3. ↑ "In Durham cricket fields". Sunderland Echo. 11 May 1934. p. 15.
  4. ↑ "Sunderland sign a back". Sunderland Echo. 27 December 1935. p. 9.
  5. ↑ "1935–36: Football League Division 1 – Match 40". The StatCat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "1935–36: Football League Division 1: Game by game". The StatCat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "1936–37: Football League Division 1: Game by game". The StatCat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "1938–39: Football League Division 1: Game by game". The StatCat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Player details: Ralph Rodgerson". The StatCat. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  10. ↑ "Shields get Sunderland back". Shields Evening News. 25 October 1939. p. 4.
  11. ↑ "Player search: Rodgerson, R (Ralph)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Ralph Rodgerson". 1939 Register. RG101/2720K FDKZ – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  13. ↑ "Testing time for North Shields F.C. New Year games decide fate". Shields Evening News. 28 December 1939. p. 3.
  14. ↑ "Sunderland eleven wins Police Cup". Sunderland Echo. 18 September 1954. p. 7.
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