Willie Watson was one of the twelve players to have represented
England at both cricket and football, and while CB Fry is probably
the best known, Watson was by far the most successful. He played
four times for the football team as an attacking right half and 23
times for the cricket team as an elegant left-hand batsman. It was
as a cricketer that Watson enjoyed his finest hour, sharing a fifth
wicket stand with Trevor 'barnacle' Bailey that occupied most of
the last day of the Lord's Test of 1953, and foiled what had seemed
a certain Australian victory. The duo's epic defiance effectively
enabled England to regain the Ashes - for the first time in more
than 20 years - when they won the fifth Test at The Oval. Watson
had played football for England against Ireland in 1949 (a game
which England won 9-2), and also against Italy, Wales and
Yugoslavia. In the latter game England manager Walter Winterbottom,
told him to play defensively, totally against his natural style,
and he was not a success. Watson never played football for England
again, though he was a member of England's World Cup squad that
went to Brazil in 1950 and lost to the USA. His international
cricket career, however, proved longer lasting. Willie Watson born
in Barnsley, was the second son of another Willie Watson, the
left-half for Huddersfield Town and a member of their winning Cup
Final side in 1922. At 16 the young Willie signed as an amateur
with Huddersfield Town and the next year became a full-time
professional. Meanwhile, his efforts with the bat came to the
notice of Yorkshire and n 1939 he made his debut for them. He was
transferred in 1946 to Sunderland for a fee of GBP8,000. Previously
an inside forward, he became a wing-half to make room for Len
Shackleton and Ivor Broadis. Watson made his Test debut against
South Africa in 1951, leaving Yorkshire seven years later to
captain Leicestershire. A Test selector from 1962, he retired as a
player in 1964. In his first-class career he scored 25,670 runs,
making 55 centuries. In the mid-1950s he was player-manager of
Halifax Town, a post to which he returned (though no longer as a
player) in 1964. In 1966 he became manager of Bradford City, taking
them to the top four of Division Four, before resigning two years
later. Watson then went to South Africa where he was manager of the
Wanderers club in Johannesburg, although he was always keen to join
the various reunions of England players. In 1986 he was made an
honorary life member of Yorkshire. He died in 2004.
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