Brilliant Young Full-Back Goes North

Welshman James Sullivan came to Wigan as a 17 year old from Cardiff Rugby Union Club in the summer of 1921. 774 games later in the Cherry and White he had broken almost every record the game had to offer, records which still stand to this day. James "Jim" Sullivan, Wigan's greatest ever player.

You may have heard about Jim Sullivan during pub talk or seen his name appear on bits of paper from time to time. Overall his achievements are second to none. In his 25-year career with Wigan, he made 774 appearances scoring 83 tries, 2317 goals and 4,883 points. To this day, his goal scoring, points and appearance records haven't been remotely challenged. For good measure he also holds the record for goals and points in a game - which came against Flimby & Fothergill on Valentines Day 1925. He kicked 22 goals for a record 44 points on that infamous day. And that was just his playing record. Jim also had the honour of being Wigan's first ever coach when appointed to the role in 1932. He stayed on for 20 years where he became Wigan's most successful coach (alongside John Monie) winning 5 Championship titles and two Challenge Cups. He truly is a legend.

Sullivan was a vital cog in an ever emerging Wigan machine. This newspaper cutting from 1923 humorously sums it up: "For once in a way the Wigan full back Sullivan, failed to kick a solitary goal. Result, Wigan lost." His goal kicking record is extraordinary and has only been beaten by Neil Fox. Obviously, being a young Welshman, Sullivan grew up playing Rugby Union and turned out for his local side Cardiff RU at the age of sixteen. He very quickly became their first choice fullback and his goal kicking and talent became swiftly known in Union circles. At the age of seventeen, the teen prodigy got a call-up to the Barbarians squad. Cue the Northern Union circling like a vulture over a dying Gazelle (or something similar).

The 1920s saw the fortunes of Wales starting to subside. Formerly a world leader in coal production and other raw materials - along with heavy industry - the Valleys started to see demand fall sharply. Cheaper coal and labour costs were sought elsewhere around the globe so the demand for Welsh coal plummeted. Depression started to hit South (and North) Wales as the labour intensive industries of mining waned. Interesting stuff, but basically it became increasingly hard for Rugby Union players to play rugby when jobs needed to be held on to. A benefactor of this was the cash-rich Northern Union who would happily pick the cream of young Welshmen with the simple lure of pay per play type income alongside a very good chance of landing a job in a Mill or local industry (the North of England was still booming but economics is for elsewhere). James Sullivan had admirers from Northern towns ever since his goalkicking exploits for Cardiff were first known. Wigan eventually won his signature for a record-equaling fee of £750 at the tender age of 17. Sullivan and his family knew that he could happily play professional rugby - a game he loved - whilst he had the security behind him, a better life than what he'd have had in the bleakness of South Wales. Good timing for Wigan it seems. The 1920s saw a record number of Welshmen turn professional and 'went north' - 37 of them in fact. By contrast, 7 people turned pro in the 1990s (namely Scott Quinell).

Wigan at the time of Sullivan's signing were at a crossroads. Their first dynasty after the turn of the century came and went. Championships and Lancashire trophies seemed to dry up. The Challenge Cup was still elusive after several near misses and two Final appearances, Wigan got nowhere. The old guard of James Leytham, Joe Miller, Lance Todd and Bert Jenkins were gone. It seemed that after the First World War there was an opportunity to start afresh. The 'biggest name in the game' had a second chance to kick on.

From an early age and part of his career, Sullivan was gaining recognition for is talents. In a match away at Gloucester, whilst playing for Cardiff, Sullivan received a rare accolade of being applauded by the home supporters for his efforts: "The infant of the team well merited the tributes paid to him. He gave a flawless and polished exhibition of custodianship".

The game in Wales however was also at a crossroads. A local column in the Welsh Press had this to say about the migration of Welshmen: "There can be no ignoring of the fact that the Rugby League with its fair and open treatment of players is gaining in favour. Players are realising that man lives by not "caps" alone and they are ready to engage their services to the clubs who pay them best... The Rugby League clubs are prepared to buy all the class players there are, and the Rugby union are powerless."

Remind you of anything modern day? Swings and roundabouts. Notable players to go north at this period were Sullivan, Johnny Ring and William Absalom who all had Welsh Union caps. Most can remember the time in recent memory when the newly professional Union game were taking their pick of Rugby League talent. It is still happening to this day. Jason Robinson, Lesley Vainakolo, Andrew Farrell and Joel Tomkins are just a few to have crossed over to try their hand for mega-bucks. It was the same in the 1920s. Fans and local media are always fearful that their young talents will one day leave for fortunes in pastures new. Cardiff Rugby Union however really didn't have a choice but to let Sullivan go, along with others during that period

"Jim Sullivan, the young full-back who last year had such a wonderful rise to fame whilst playing for Cardiff, has signed on for Wigan, the Northern Union club's agents holding out one of the most tempting financial baits ever offered a player.Sullivan was only seventeen when he commenced to play for the [unknown word], and will not be eighteen until next December. Of fine physique, he was one of the most consistent players in Welsh Rugby, and jumped right from a junior club to first-class football. He was regarded as a certainty for his Welsh cap in the coming season.

The fee paid by Wigan is a record one for a full-back. 

Cardiff's loss is a particularly heavy one. Since the war very few young players who promised to atain the standard set up a decade ago have been found, and the discovery of Sullivan in the first half of last season was a great piece of luck. Sullivan then was barely seventeen years of age, and he jumped from St Alban's Old Boys XV, into the Cardiff premier team, making a highly successful debut, and retaining his place to the end of the season. Indeed, so phenomenally rapid was his progress that many good judges consider him to be destined to make one of the greatest full-backs ever produced by the Principality. His splendid physique - he is 5ft 11in in height and weighs 11st. 9lbs - makes it difficult to believe that he is under eighteen years of age. Had he retained his amateur status he would undoubtedly have won international honours. Indeed, he came within an age of being "capped" last February. It will be re-called that on the eve of the French match at Cardiff both Joe Rees (Swansea) and B.O. Maile (Cross Keys) were reported to be injured, and Sullivan was instructed to hold himself in readiness. Maile, however, was sent for, and was passed fit by Dr W. G. Williams.

A FINE PERFORMANCEOne of his finest performances last season was in the trial match at Pontypool, when he astonished the spectators by kicking no fewer than six goals from the halfway line. In every match he won the admiration of the crowd for his fearlessness in going down to the rushes. He kicks an extraordinary length, and his tackling and fielding are faultless. Experience will give him that sense of direction and judgment which at present are not quite as they should be. He is inclined to be on the slow side, but that too can be remedied. His invincible coolness is one of his greatest assets. Undoubtedly, Sullivan was one of Cardiff's greatest "finds" for many years, and it now remains to be seen whether he can adapt himself to the somewhat different conditions which apply to full-back play under Northern Union rules. In this connection it might be mentioned that Wigan has "caught him" young enough to learn." 

So he was nearly capped for Wales very early in his career. What a lucky escape that was. B.O. Maile? who was that I wonder? It seemed that after Sullivan had left Cardiff, there was a successor in place. A Dr. Tom Wallace was touted as being Sullivans replacement, being a current Irish international, a sure kick and good tackler. There were high hopes for him. But in 1924, B.O. Maile had by then left Cross Keys and joined Cardiff... and didnt do much else. If only Mr Maile was injured it could have been a whole new story - who knows what could have happened if a Welsh cap fell onto the head of a rugby-mad seventeen year old Sullivan. From this media piece alone you can sense that the loss was a huge blow for Cardiff. Six goals form the halfway line in a trial match? The superlatives are many.

Did it "remain to be seen" if Sullivan could adapt himself to the Northern Union? Quite easily really. On his debut for Wigan in August 1921, in a game versus Widnes, he scored 5 goals - a decent start. The Hull Daily Mail, commented on the opening games of the 1921/22 season. On what the reporter saw at Central Park versus Widnes:

The man who pleased me the most in the back division was Jim Sullivan, the young Cardiff full-back. Not 18 years old until December next, he will, barring accidents, prove worth every penny expended on securing him, especially to a club who, since the days of Sharrock, have not been to well served in the last line. When this lad becomes more accustomed to the rules there will not be many better full-backs playing. His kicking is beautifully clean; he is not afraid of going down to stop rushes, has a safe pair of hands, a fair turn of speed, and a splendid sense of position.

A SPLENDID DEBUT 

His was a brilliant debut. Three og his five goals were grand "places" and with te only kick at goal which failed to score the effort from the touch line was worth of Ben Gronow.

How right was he? By mid-November 1923 Jim has played in his hundreth consecutive match for Wigan along with a World Record kicking season 1922/23. He wasn't eve 20 years old yet. He was never injured.

The rest, they say... is History. And he played in Cherry and White.