Ralph Makepeace

Ralph Makepeace (23 February 1909 – 1995) was an English footballer who played as a left half or centre half. After beginning his career in English local football, he emigrated to Canada, where he spent two years playing for Canadian clubs, including representing the province of Saskatchewan in the Dominion Championships. He returned to England and played for Blackhall Colliery Welfare, from where he signed for Football League First Division club Sunderland. He was released after a few months, and joined Third Division North club Hartlepools United, with whom he played 45 matches in the Football League over two seasons. He also played once in the Third Division for Darlington in between further spells with Blackhall Welfare.

Ralph Makepeace
Personal information
Full name Ralph Makepeace[1]
Date of birth (1909-02-23)23 February 1909[1]
Place of birth Trimdon Grange,[1] England
Date of death 1995 (aged 85–86)[2]
Place of death Borough of Hartlepool,[2] England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Left half, centre half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
192?–1929 Trimdon Grange Recreation
1929–1930 Prince Albert Penitentiary
1930 Sons of England
1930–1931 Westminster Royals
1931 Blackhall Colliery Welfare
1931–1932 Sunderland 0 (0)
1932–1934 Hartlepools United 45 (2)
1934 Blackhall Colliery Welfare
1934–1935 Darlington 1 (0)
1935– Blackhall Colliery Welfare
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Personal life

Makepeace was born in Trimdon Grange, County Durham,[1] the fourth child of Robert Hutchison Makepeace, a coal miner, and his wife Eleanor. At the time of the 1911 Census, the family were living in Ferryhill.[4] Several of his brothers were good at football: his three older brothers played for teams in Canada,[5] and his younger brother Robert was on the books of Hartlepools United, though never played for their first team.[6] He married Vera Kirkbride in September 1936.[7] Makepeace died in early 1995 in the Hartlepool area.[lower-alpha 1]

Football career

Makepeace played football as a left half for his local club, Trimdon Grange Recreation, and had a trial with Football League First Division club Leicester City. In April 1929, he followed his older brothers Tom and Joe to Canada where they were playing for the Prince Albert Penitentiary club,[5] soon to be joined by another brother, Cud.[9] From Prince Albert, Makepeace joined the Saskatoon-based Sons of England in the spring of 1930.[10] He helped them win that year's Saskatchewan Challenge Shield and with it the right to represent the province in the Dominion Championships;[11] they lost to Manitoba's Winnipeg Hearts in the regional qualifier. Makepeace played as a forward in the second leg to accommodate other players in the half-back line.[12] He, his brother Cud and another player moved on to Challenge Trophy-holders the Westminster Royals for 1931, a move attributed by the Manitoba Free Press to the lack of suitable off-field employment to fit in with the requirements of their football career.[13]

He returned to England in 1931 and resumed his domestic career with Blackhall Colliery Welfare of the Wearside League. In October, he joined First Division club Sunderland on trial. While he was still in Canada, in a match between Westminster Royals and a Football Association touring side that included numerous international players, Makepeace had played at left half against the England and Sunderland right winger Tommy Urwin, who recommended him to the club.[3][14] His performance during the initial month earned him a contract, but he played only for the reserve team and was listed for transfer at the end of the season.[1][15]

Makepeace signed for Third Division North club Hartlepools United ahead of the 1932–33 season.[3] In a pre-season practice match, the Northern Daily Mail thought him to be "a worker, but not over constructive".[16] He made his Football League debut on 3 September, in Hartlepools' first home game of the season, a 3–1 win against Wrexham;[17][18] the Mail's correspondent thought he would keep his place, despite a lack of pace.[19] He was reportedly outstanding against Gateshead,[20] but a few weeks later, he appeared to lack both speed and stamina, and his form was "so far below that of which we know he is capable, that I can conclude only that it was too bad to be true or permanent".[21] The next week, he was tried at centre half, and played well defensively, although the Mail's reporter was unimpressed with the way he "punted the ball down the field, anywhere so long as he parted with it", and felt he would need to improve the constructive side of his game if he was to keep the position.[22] He was a regular selection through the season when fit, but missed games in the winter with a damaged thigh and at the end of the season, also because of injury.[17][23] He came back into the side in mid-October 1933, and played regularly until the following February, when he sustained an ankle injury, and appeared only twice more in what remained of the season.[17][24] Despite having been the subject of transfer interest during the season,[25] Makepeace was given a free transfer at the end of it, and returned to Blackhall Welfare.[26]

Makepeace played once more in the Football League.[1] He signed for Third Division Darlington in November 1934,[26] and was preferred to Arthur Childs as replacement for the injured Dan Cassidy in the New Year's Day match at home to Accrington Stanley, a 5–0 win.[27] After leaving Darlington, he returned once more to Blackhall Colliery Welfare.[28] By 1937, he was the team's captain.[29] He helped them reach a standard high enough to earn the club admission to the North-Eastern League for the 1939–40 season,[30] remained with them during the early months of the Second World War,[31] and was brought back into service after it when a rule forbidding guest players was introduced for the 1945–46 Durham Challenge Cup.[32]

Notes
  1. Makepeace's death was registered in February 1995 in the North Cleveland registration district,[2] which corresponds to the Borough of Hartlepool.[8]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. "England & Wales deaths 1837–2007 Transcription". Ralph Makepeace. District: North Cleveland. County: Durham. Death quarter: 1. Death year: 1995. District number: 3511A. Register number: J43. Entry number: 147. Date of registration: 0295. Retrieved 28 November 2014 – via Findmypast.
  3. T.F. (8 August 1932). "Sports Notes. 'Pools' new half-back". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription 3 Pit Street East Howle Ferryhill, Ferryhill, Durham, England". Ralph Makepeace. Age: 2. Birth place: Durham Trimdon Colliery. Census reference: RG14PN29697 RG78PN1720 RD546 SD2 ED16 SN108. Retrieved 28 November 2014 – via Findmypast.
  5. "Trimdon half-back goes to Canada". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 26 April 1929. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Blackhall wedding. Bride a sister of 'Pools player". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 10 September 1932. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Footballer bridegroom". Sunderland Echo. 26 September 1936. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "North Cleveland Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  9. "Leaving for Canada. Trimdon footballer joining his three brothers". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 7 June 1929. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "4 players leave city". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. 17 September 1930. p. 11.
  11. "Saskatchewan Challenge Shield, 1906–1938". Canadian Soccer History. Colin Jose. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
    "Represent Saskatchewan here". Winnipeg Free Press. 12 July 1930. p. 26 – via Findmypast.
  12. Eggleston, Mac (19 July 1930). "Two changes in line up". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. p. 11.
  13. "Sons of England lose four leading players". Manitoba Free Press. 17 September 1930. p. 11 – via Findmypast.
  14. "T.F.'s Sports Notes. On trial with Sunderland". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 14 October 1931. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "English Football Association Tour, 1931". Canadian Soccer History. Colin Jose. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
    Morrison, Neil (15 November 2012). "British "FA XI" tours: 1931 tour of Canada by the (English) FA". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  15. "Retained at Roker Park". Sunderland Echo. 18 April 1932. p. 10 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. T.F. (18 August 1932). "Sports Notes. 'Pools' practice". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Ralph Makepeace". PoolStats. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  18. "Two changes. 'Pools' team to play Wrexham. Makepeace's debut". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 1 September 1932. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. T.F. (5 September 1932). "Sports Notes. Slowness in the team". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. T.F. (15 September 1932). "Sports Notes. Ridley's debut". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. T.F. (24 October 1932). "Sports Notes. Too bad to be true?". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. T.F. (31 October 1932). "Sports Notes. Two thousand loyalists". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. T.F. (7 December 1932). "Sports Notes. 'Pools Cup team". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Rotherham's downfall". Yorkshire Post. 15 April 1933. p. 18 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. M.C. (12 February 1934). "Football Topics. The first time". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. M.C. (13 March 1934). "Football Topics". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. "'Quakers' sign Makepeace". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 9 November 1934. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. "Darlington v. Accrington S.". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 1 January 1935. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. M.C. (28 November 1935). "Sports Review. Ex-'Pools players". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  29. M.C. (8 January 1937). "Sports Review. Makepeace moves". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  30. 'Sentinel' (23 August 1939). "This is Fell country. Blackhall Welfare assured". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  31. "To-morrow's sport in 'Pools and district. North-Eastern League". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 19 January 1940. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Teams for to-morrow. North-Eastern League". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 29 March 1940. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. "To-morrow's teams and fixtures. "No guests": Blackhall and Horden changes". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 21 December 1945. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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