Sam Hurdsfield

Sam Hurdsfield arrived on the athletics scene in 1899 when he won a 100 y handicap race off scratch at Middlewich. Shortly afterwards he joined Knutsford Harriers before also running for Crewe Tally Ho and Salford Harriers who he first joined in 1901. A machinist for the London and North Western Railway, Hurdsfield represented the Rest of England against the London Athletic Club in the 8 x 220 yards relay at Stamford Bridge in September 1904 in the very last LAC meeting at ‘the Bridge’ which had been sold and was to become the home of Chelsea FC. Samuel Hurdsfield won the Northern Counties 220 y title in 1906 at Fallowfield, Manchester, when he beat Hargreaves of Southport by inches. Hargreaves gained revenge by finishing third and beating Hurdsfield in the AAA’s at Rochdale six weeks later. Hurdsfield won a second NCAA title in 1908 when he took the 440 y title, a distance he had briefly tried, without success, in 1900. Long after his retirement from competitive athletics, he remained involved and officiated in the Railway Athletic Association Championships for many years.

Personal Bests: 220y – 22.8e (1908).