John Woollam

John Woollam made his début for Lancashire juniors as a 15-year-old in 1915, in the first representative lacrosse match after the outbreak of World War I. It was a charity match for the benefit of the wives of soldiers and sailors in the Manchester area who had gone off to fight in the Great War. Woollam himself served in the Air Force. After the hostilities, played his lacrosse as a defender with Old Hulmeians, the Old Boys team of the William Hulme’s Grammar School in Manchester. He also played for The North and Lancashire. In 1927 he was a member of The North team that beat The South by a record 26 goals to two in the 50th anniversary match at Lord’s.

Woollam played in some other memorable matches during his career. In 1923 he was involved in one of the most remarkable Senior Northern Flags games ever, when the Old Hulmeians went into the match having suffered six League defeats throughout the season, whilst their opponents Stockport were unbeaten. It was the Old Boys, however, who came out on top with a memorable 6-4 win. A chemical engineer, Woollam later went on to captain Lancashire and his finest moment with his club side was in 1932 when they followed up a Norther Flags triumph by beating Oxford University 13-1 to win the Iroquois Cup.