Sam Wolstenholme (footballer)

Sam Wolstenholme
Personal information
Full name	Samuel Wolstenholme
Date of birth	1878
Place of birth	Little Lever, England
Date of death	28 January 1933 (aged 54–55)
Place of death	Wigan, England
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
–	Darley Vale
–	Farmworth FC
–	Farmworth Alliance
0000–1897	Horwich
Senior career*
Years	Team
1897–1904	Everton
1904–1908	Blackburn Rovers
1908–1909	Croydon Common
1909–1913	Norwich City
1913	Chester
International career
1904–1905	England
Managerial career
1924–1926	Gimnástica de Torrelavega
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Samuel Wolstenholme (1878 – 28 January 1933) was an English footballer who played for, among others Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and England. He played alongside Steve Bloomer and Vivian Woodward in the England teams that won the British Home Championship in 1904 and 1905. He also played twice for The North XI against The South XI and played for the English League XI against the Scottish League XI.

After retiring as a player in 1913, Wolstenholme accepted a coaching position in Germany. In the spring of 1914, he was appointed by the Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband (North German Football Association) as team coach/manager of their representative XI. However while there, the First World War broke out and he was subsequently interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp near Berlin. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. Wolstenholme was one of several former professional footballers in the camp. Others included fellow former England internationals Fred Pentland and Steve Bloomer, a German international Edwin Dutton and two fellow former Evertonians, John Cameron and John Brearley.^[1]

Wolstenholme was a prominent member of the Ruhleben Football Association. Cup and league competitions were organised and as many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. The teams adopted the names of established teams and November 1914 Wolstenholme refereed a cup final between Tottenham Hotspur and Oldham Athletic. Among the players participating were Bloomer and Dutton. On 2 May 1915 an England XI featuring Wolstenholme, Pentland, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron. Wolstenholme also played cricket at Rubleben and in July 1916 played for a Yorkshire XI that lost to a Lancashire XI, featuring Bloomer.

Honours

England

British Home Championship: 2
- 1904, 1905

References

^ Brown, Paul (2020). The Ruhleben Football Association: How Steve Bloomer's Footballers Survived a First World War Prison Camp. Goal Post. ISBN 9780995541238.

External links

[1] Brown, Paul (2020). The Ruhleben Football Association: How Steve Bloomer's Footballers Survived a First World War Prison Camp. Goal Post. ISBN 9780995541238.

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