Harold 'Harry' Hargreaves (15 March 1896 – 1975) was a professional footballer who played for Great Harwood

Great Harwood F.C.

Great Harwood F.C. was an English football club based in Great Harwood, Lancashire. Their colours were red and white, and they played at the Showground.-History:The club was founded in the 1880s. In 1908 the joined Division Two of the Lancashire Combination...

, East Lancashire Regiment

East Lancashire Regiment

The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of two 30th and 59th Regiments of Foot with the militia and rifle volunteer units of eastern Lancashire...

, Nelson

Nelson F.C.

Nelson F.C. are an English football club, based in Nelson, Lancashire. They are currently members of the North West Counties Football League Division One, who played their home matches at Victoria Park, Lomeshaye Way. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.-Early years:...

, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

, Pontypridd, Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, Burnley

Burnley F.C.

Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

, Rossendale United

Rossendale United F.C.

Rossendale United F.C. was an English football club based in Newchurch, near Rawtenstall, Lancashire. The club was formed in 1898 but was expelled from the North West Counties League Premier Division on 18 June 2011....

 and Barnoldswick Town

Barnoldswick Town F.C.

Barnoldswick Town F.C. are an English football club based in Barnoldswick, Lancashire. Town were formed in 2003 following the merger of existing clubs Barnoldswick United and Barnoldswick Park Rovers.The club currently run three sides, with the East Lancashire League Third XI using the former Park...

. Outside of football, he was also a keen cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and bowls

Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...

 player.

Early life

Hargreaves was born in Higham, Lancashire

Higham, Lancashire

Higham is a village in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, south of Pendle Hill. The civil parish is named "Higham with West Close Booth". The village is north-east of Padiham and about south west of Nelson along the A6068 road. At the 2001 census Higham had a population of 808 in 338...

. From a young age, he was known by the nickname "Pey". During the First World War, he served with the East Lancashire Regiment

East Lancashire Regiment

The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of two 30th and 59th Regiments of Foot with the militia and rifle volunteer units of eastern Lancashire...

, reaching the rank of sergeant. He was wounded in action and detained as a prisoner of war for 18 months. While in the army, Hargreaves also represented the regiment football team.

Football career

Hargreaves played for Great Harwood and Nelson before signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers. The inside left made 53 appearances and scored eight goals between 1921–22 at Molineaux

Molineux stadium

Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...

. After a spell at Pontypridd, Hargreaves joined Tottenham Hotspur where he featured in 35 matches and netting seven goals. He left White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....

 to join Burnley where he went on to make a further 26 appearances and scored six times. After a spell with Rotherham United

Rotherham United F.C.

Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...

, Hargreaves played for Rossendale United and Barnoldswick Town in the Lancashire Combination

Lancashire Combination

The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League...

, before ending his career with Nelson Town.

After football

After retiring from football, Hargreaves concentrated on other sports and played cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 for the Railway Street Wesleyans in the Padiham League. In one season, he set the record for best batting and bowling averages and won a prize for the best fielding in the league. He later concentrated on bowls

Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...

 and won several awards in local leagues and competitions around the Burnley

Burnley

Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....

 area. After the Second World War, he became a director of the reformed Nelson F.C. and established a fish and chip shop

Fish and chips

Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...

 near Turf Moor

Turf Moor

Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of...

.