| Max Woosnam | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Maxwell Woosnam | |
| Date of birth | 6 September 1892 | |
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | |
| Date of death | 14 July 1965 (aged 72) | |
| Place of death | London, England | |
| Playing position | Centre half | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1914, 1919 1919–1923 |
Corinthian Chelsea Manchester City |
? 3 (0) 96 (4) |
| National team | ||
| 1922 | England | 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
| Olympic medal record | ||
| Men's Tennis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1920 Antwerp | Doubles |
| Silver | 1920 Antwerp | Mixed doubles |
Maxwell "Max" Woosnam (6 September 1892 – 14 July 1965) was an English sportsman.
Max Woosnam was born into to a wealthy family in Liverpool. The son of Charles Maxwell Woosnam, a clergyman who served as canon of Chester and Archdeacon of Macclesfield,[1][2] Woosnam spent most of his childhood in Aberhafesp, Mid Wales. He attended Winchester College, where he captained the golf and cricket teams,[3] and also represented the school at football and squash. As a schoolboy he made scores of 144 and 33 not out for a Public Schools XI while playing against the MCC at Lord's.[3]
In 1911 Woosnam enrolled in Cambridge University. Whilst here he represented the university at football, cricket, lawn tennis, real tennis and golf (being a scratch golfer), becoming a quadruple Blue.[4]
After Cambridge Woosnam played amateur football for the then highly successful team, Corinthians and Chelsea
In the First World War he fought alongside Siegfried Sassoon on the western front and in the Gallipoli Campaign. Woosnam took part in a number of wartime sporting events, including football matches between a team of enlisted Corinthians players and Aldershot Command,[5][6] and a Military vs Queen's Club tennis match.[7]
After the war Woosnam continued his amateur sporting career taking part in several sporting events. Following a defeat while representing Cambridge University in a tennis match against Queen's Club in April 1919, the Times remarked that "Woosnam is a player of many games, and he could excel at tennis if he could devote enough time to the game... ...tennis is a mistress who must be constantly wooed."[8] However, Woosnam continued to divide his attention; he played football for Chelsea either side of the Queen's Club match, captaining the team.[9][10] His performance for Chelsea led to selection for a North versus South international trial match.[11] Once the football season finished Woosnam took part in several tennis tournaments. He won both the singles and doubles titles in the Cambridge University tournament,[12] and entered Wimbledon for the first time. His tennis form in 1919 led The Times correspondent to describe his partnership with Noel Turnbull as a "doubles team of promise".[4] Woosnam declined the opportunity to become a professional sportsman, finding the idea 'vulgar'.
Upon moving to Manchester he signed for Manchester City on amateur terms. He made his first on 1 January 1920 against Bradford City, a match which also saw the debut of Sam Cookson.[13] Initially he played only home matches due to other commitments. However, when Manchester City, without Woosnam, suffered a shock 3–0 FA Cup defeat to Leicester City at the end of the month, some supporters blamed Woosnam's employers, Crossley Brothers. As a result, the engineering firm ordered Woosnam not to miss another game.[1].
Playing at centre half, Woosnam eventually became Manchester City captain at the recommendation of his team-mates. This was highly unusual for an amateur among professionals. Eventually his success allowed him to play for England (both for the amateur team and as a full international as captain). Woosnam was also selected to captain the British football team at Olympics, but refused, having already committed himself to the tennis team. He continued other sporting endeavours outside of football however, winning doubles titles at Wimbledon and the Olympics, and captaining the Great Britain Davis Cup team. After leaving Manchester City in October 1925, he continued playing football occasionally for Northwich Victoria.[14]
He was appointed to the board of ICI, and died in 1965 of respiratory failure.
His life is chronicled in the book All Round Genius - The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman, by Mick Collins.
Woosnam's uncle, Hylton Philipson, was a cricketer and played five Test matches for England.
He once defeated actor and film director Charlie Chaplin at table tennis playing with a butter knife instead of a bat.[15] Besides being a pioneer for table tennis, he was very experienced at snooker too, once achieving a maximum break.
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  | WOOSNAM, Ven. Charles Maxwell - Who's Who |
| | Max Woosnam - Max Woosnam | England Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com |
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