James "Jim" Leytham was an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
professional
rugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer of the 1890s, 1900s and '10s who at representative level played for
Great BritainThe Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
,
EnglandThe England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
, and Lancashire, and at club level for Lancaster, and
WiganWigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
, playing at , i.e. number 2 or 5.
Jim Leytham played in the first ever
rugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
international for
EnglandThe England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
while at Wigan in 1905 against
Other NationalitiesThe Other Nationalities rugby league team regularly played international, and also county, rugby league football teams in Europe from 1904 to 1975. The team, created in 1904 to play England in the first ever rugby league international match, was at first made up of Welsh and Scottish players...
. He went on to win further caps in 1906 against Other Nations, in 1908 against New Zealand, in 1910 against Wales (2 matches), and won caps for
Great BritainThe Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
while at Wigan in 1908 against New Zealand (2 matches).
He was selected to go on the
1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New ZealandThe 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first international tour of the Great Britain national rugby league team, "The Lions". They played the second ever Ashes series against Australia before travelling to Auckland to take on New Zealand...
and played against Australia (2 matches),
Australasia-1911-12:Following individual tours by New Zealand and Australia in 1907-08 and 1908-09 respectively, the Northern Rugby Football Union invited an 'Australasian' team to tour Great Britain during the 1911-12 season...
(2 matches), and New Zealand. In this tour's Ashes series, he set the record for most tries in a match with four in Britain's victory in the second test.
Along with
Stanley "Stan" MoorhouseStan Moorhouse was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1910s and '20s who at representative level played for Great Britain, and England, and at club level for Huddersfield, and Bradford Northern playing at , i.e...
,
Peter NorburnPeter Norburn is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1950s and '60s who at representative level has played for England, and at club level for Swinton, playing at , or , i.e...
,
Keith FieldingKeith John Fielding is an English former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s, '70s and '80s who at representative level has played rugby union for England, and at club level for Moseley Rugby Football Club, playing at Wing, i.e...
,
Stuart WrightStuart Wright is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s, 70s and '80s who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and England, and at club level for Wigan, and Widnes, playing at , i.e...
,
Martin OffiahMartin Offiah MBE is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer.He is known as "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire...
, and
Sam TomkinsA pre-season unofficial friendly match provided Tomkins his first experience against top-flight opposition as he came off the bench during Lee Briers' testimonial match in a 30–22 loss to Warrington Wolves. Noble followed this up by providing Tomkins, aged 19, with his first team debut on 12 May...
; having scored four
triesA try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
, Jim Leytham, jointly holds the record for the most
triesA try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
scored in an England match, scoring four
triesA try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
against
Other NationalitiesThe Other Nationalities rugby league team regularly played international, and also county, rugby league football teams in Europe from 1904 to 1975. The team, created in 1904 to play England in the first ever rugby league international match, was at first made up of Welsh and Scottish players...
at
Odsal StadiumOdsal Stadium is a stadium situated in Odsal, Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The venue is used for rugby league and has been the home ground of Bradford Bulls/Bradford Northern since 1934...
,
BradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
on 2 January 1905.
Leytham along with several members of his family died in a fishing accident in
Morecambe BayMorecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
in 1916.
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