Arthur Johnson (rugby league)

Arthur Johnson, also known by the nickname of "Chick", a local to Widnes, was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Widnes and Warrington, as a wing, prop, hooker, second-row, or loose forward, during the era of contested scrums.[1] Arthur Johnson inherited his nickname of 'Chick' from his father, the rugby league footballer who played in the 1890s for Lancashire, and Widnes; Old 'Chick' (James "Jim") Johnson.

For other people named Arthur Johnson, see Arthur Johnson (disambiguation).

Arthur Johnson
Extract from Widnes Playing Register for the 1907–08 season showing Arthur Johnson's entry along with his fellow future Great Britain tourist John "Jack" O'Garra
Personal information
Full nameArthur Johnson
Born28 October 1890
Widnes
Playing information
PositionWing, Prop, Hooker, Second-row, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1909–23 Widnes 258 43 6 0 141
1923–24 Warrington 58 10 0 0 30
Total 316 53 6 0 171
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1914 England 1 0 0 0 0
1914–20 Great Britain 4 3 0 0 9
Source: [1][2][3]

[4]

Playing career

International honours

On the 1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, Widnes provided Jack O'Garra, from a well-known footballing family, and Arthur "Chick" Johnson a renowned as an exponent of the long-dead art of dribbling a rugby ball. He was a forward playing out of position on the wing. With 20 minutes left in the game he dribbled the ball from inside his own half, beating Australia's fullback, Howard Hallett, to score a try, in what became known as the Rorke's Drift Test.

Johnson, gained a cap for England at Widnes in 1914 against Wales,[2] and four caps for Great Britain while at Widnes in 1914 against Australia, and New Zealand, and He was selected to go on the 1920 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia and played against Australia (two matches).[3]

Club career

Johnson is a Widnes Hall Of Fame Inductee. Johnson made his début for Warrington on 3 February 1923, and made his final appearance for Warrington on 15 November 1924, making 40-appearances for Warrington in 1923–24 season.

Forename confusion

Johnson's forename is stated as Arthur on the rugby.widnes.tv website, but Albert on both the englandrl.co.uk, and rugbyleagueproject.org websites. The latter forename is a longstanding error, dating to at least as far back as Keith Macklin's 1962 book History of Rugby League Football, it probably arises from confusion with Albert Johnson, a Great Britain player of the 1940s. However contemporary press reports, RFL playing registers and census records all confirm that he was named Arthur, not Albert.

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. RL Record Keeper's Club
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