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Players Index Page Last Updated
29 December 2022
 
 
 

Ron Sewell

Blackburn Rovers FC

1 appearance, 2 goals against
0 clean sheets

P 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 F 1: A 2
0% successful
1924

captain: none
minutes played: 90

Timeline
  Gunner Walter Ronald Sewell
  He is not a William, and he was not born in Wingate. His census', baptisms and registrations, confirm he was not.
Birth 19 July 1890 at 6 Clarence Street, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire [there is no registration].
Clarence Street, like many of the neighbouring streets, are demolished. The street itself, is the Hazel Court estate, in the shadow of the Magistrates Court in the centre of town.
Baptism 16 September 1890 at St. John's Church, Middlesbrough. His father is stated as being a butcher.
 

According to the 1891 census, there a six children with parents, John and Sarah Barbara, living at 6 Clarence Stree, however, none of the six is Walter Ronald. His father is a shipyard labourer.
 

According to the 1901 census, Ronald is the youngest of four children, still with their parents, living at 86 Russell Street in Middlebrough. His father is a general labourer.
His mother, Sarah Barbara, died in 1906.
 

According to the 1911 census, Walter Ronald, a profesional footballer, is living with his married brother, Henry John, who married Mary Ellen, and they have a daughter, Doris Helen. They live at 6 Abingdon Road in Middlesbrough.
Marriage to Eva Eliza Atkinson [registered as Walter R. in Grimsby, June 1912]. They had two children, Ronald (b.1916) and Betty (b.30 April 1923). Eva died in early 1947.
"GRIMSBY GOALKEEPER'S UNSUCCESSFUL CLAIM
"At the Lindsey Appeal Tribunal at Lincoln, yesterday, Walter Ronald Sewell, described as a licensed victualler and smallholder, who was granted exemption to August 25, appealed for this to be extended. He said he was willing to do work of national importance.
"captain Morris, the military representative: 'You are only 26, and would be a very good man in the Army. I think you would be better there than on munition work.'
"Applicant stated that it would be impossible for his wife to manage the business and the land.
"The appeal was dismissed." - Friday, 8 September 1916, The Yorkshire Post
  
"Ronald Sewell, the Burnley, ex-Gainsborough Trinity, and Grimsby goalkeeper, is back in Lincoln, on crutches. Shrapnel got him in the leg last October, and he has had a spell in hospital." - Saturday, 9 February 1918, The Lancashire Daily Post.
  According to the 1921 census, Walter Ronald is a licensed victualler now married to Eva Eliza and they have one son, Ronald. Along with one servant, they live at the John Bull Inn in Bracebridge.
CUTE LINCOLN WIFE
"The fact that he has a wife who is a little too clever for swindlers has saved Ronald Sewell, the famous goalkeeper of the Blackburn Rovers Football Club, and landlord of the John Bull public house (left) Bracebridge Heath, the loss of £3. When Sewell was playing at Nottingham last Saturday a telegram was sent to his wife at Lincoln stating: 'Money stolen. Telegraph £3 G.P.O., Nottingham - Ronnie.' Mrs. Sewell refused to be 'had,' and the money was not sent. The individual who sent the telegram therefore spent 1s 8d for nothing. In a letter to the football club Sewell states 'perhaps he (the swindler) thought there was a chance, as I am a goalkeeper, but he reckoned without Mrs. Sewell, who once worked for a Scotsman in a Yorkshire health resort.'" - Thursday, 4 December 1924, The Lincolnshire Echo
  According to Passenger Lists, Walter Ronald Sewell was part of the FA Tour that left Southampton bound for Quebec, Canada on 15 May 1926 on board the Empress of Scotland, they returned to Liverpool on 23 July 1926 on board the Montroyal.
According to the 1939 register, Walter R., a licensed victualler, is married to Eva E., and they live at 173 High Street in Lincoln.
Death 4 February 1945 in Lincoln County Hospital, aged 54 years 200 days [registered as Walter R. in Lincoln, March 1945]. Living at Treaty of Commerce Hotel, Lincoln.
Funeral 7 February 1945 at Mary-le-Wigford's Chucrh in Lincoln, by Rev. H.W. Butolph, Sewell was then interred at St. Nicholas Cemetery.

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &

Playing Career
Club(s) Began his playing career with Gainsborough Trinity FC, from where, in September 1910, in the North-Eastern League, he signed for Wingate Albion FC. He returned to Gainsborough Trinity FC in the summer of 1911. Burnley FC signed the entire back line on 1 February 1913, that included Sewell for an £1800 transfer fee, following an FA Cup second round tie between the two sides, the defenders were Sam Gunton and Cliff Jones. One report says that the deal was signed at 6.20pm, only ninety minutes after the completion of the match which Burnley won 4-2, to set up a third round match with Middlesbrough FC. During WW1, Sewell served as a gunner for the Royal Garrison Artillery and guested for Grimsby Town FC in 1916 and Lincoln City FC in 1919. After the war, he decided that he no longer wanted to play second fiddle to Jerry Dawson, Sewell was suspended and transfer-listed, Blackburn Rovers FC signed him on 13 February 1920. He retired from playing on 20 September 1927, However, the day after, the directors at Gainsborough Trinity FC convinced him to change his mind and signed him on.
Club honours Football League Division Two runners-up 1912-13, Division One runners-up 1919-20; FA Cup winners 1913-14; Midland League winners 1927-28;
Individual honours None
Distinctions Awarded the Silver War Badge on 9 April 1918.
Height/Weight 5' 10", 12st. 6lbs [1913], 5' 11½", 12st. 8lbs [1925].

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career
Player number One of four who became the 468th players (468) to appear for England.
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Only match No. 139, 3 March 1924, England 1 Wales 2, a British Championship match at Ewood Park, Ewood, Blackburn, aged 33 years 228 days.
Major tournaments British Championship 1923-24;
Team honours None
Individual honours None
Distinctions None

Beyond England
A one-time seafarer and briefly, a bookmaker (Sports Ltd), Sewell was a Lincoln licensee, firstly in The John Bull Inn, on the London Road in Bracebridge Heath, from early 1916 until at least 1926, then at The Cattle Market Hotel (left), on the Monks Road, and from 8 March 1934 until at least 1940, The Treaty of Commerce Hotel (right), in the High Street, until his death. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.219/220.

 

Ron Sewell - Career Statistics
Squads Apps comp. apps Mins. GA GA Av.
min		 Clean
Sheets		 Cln
Sht Av.		 Capt. Disc.
1 1 1 90 2 45 min 0 0 none none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.

 

Ron Sewell - Match Record - All Matches - By Type of Match
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home - British Championship 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1
All 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1

 

Ron Sewell - Match Record - Tournament Matches
British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1923-24 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1
BC All 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1
All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1
All 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0 0 1.00 2.00 0.00 -1

 

Ron Sewell - Match History
 Club: Blackburn Rovers F.C. - 1 full cap

F.A. International Select Committee - 1 full capx

Age 33
1 139 3 March 1924 - England 1 Wales 2, Ewood Park, Blackburn BC HL Start gk

Notes

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CG