Harry Bedford (rugby)

Harry Bedford (1866 – January 1929) born in Gildersome, was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s and '90s, playing at representative level for England, and at club level for Batley, as a Forward, e.g. Front row, Lock, or Back row, he died in Leeds. Prior to Thursday 29 August, Batley was a rugby union club.

International honours

Harry Bedford won caps for England while at Batley in 1889 against New Zealand Natives, and in 1890 against Scotland, and Ireland.

In the early years of rugby football the goal was to score goals, and a try had zero value, but it provided the opportunity to try at goal, and convert the try to a goal with an unopposed kick at the goal posts. The point values of both the try and goal have varied over time, and in the early years footballers could "score" a try, without scoring any points.

Change of Code

When Batley converted from the rugby union code to the rugby league code on Thursday 29 August 1895, Harry Bedford would have been approximately 29 years of age. Consequently, he may have been both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Batley.

ESPNscrum states Harry Bedford's year of birth as 1866, and date of death as January 1929, making him 62–63 at the time of his death. FreeBMD quotes his age at the time of death as 61, which would indicate an 1867 or 1868 birth.