:John Challen
{{Short description|Welsh footballer (1863–1937)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name = John Challen
| image = John Challen c1895cr.jpg
| country = England
| fullname = John Bonamy Challen
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|03|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1937|06|05|1863|03|26|df=y}}
| death_place = Eastbourne, Sussex, England
| heightft = 5
| heightinch = 6.5
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast-medium
| club1 = Somerset
| year1 = 1880–99
| type1 = First-class
| columns = 1
| column1 = First-class
| matches1 = 52
| runs1 = 1656
| bat avg1 = 19.71
| 100s/50s1 = 1/6
| top score1 = 108
| deliveries1 = 1029
| wickets1 = 16
| bowl avg1 = 35.75
| fivefor1 = 0
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = 4/43
| catches/stumpings1 = 32/–
| date = 12 January
| year = 2010
| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3480/3480.html CricketArchive
| module =
{{Infobox football biography
| embed = yes | header-color = #b0c4de
|name = John Challen
|position = Right wing
|nationalyears1 = 1887–1890
|nationalteam1 = Wales
|nationalcaps1 = 4
|nationalgoals1 = 0}}
}}
John Bonamy Challen (23 March 1863 – 5 June 1937) was a Welsh amateur sportsman who played first-class cricket and association football during the late 19th century. He played football for Corinthian F.C., and was selected to play for Wales four times between 1887 and 1890. As a cricketer, he made over 50 first-class appearances, all for Somerset County Cricket Club. His availability in both sports was limited by his career in education; he was headmaster at a number of schools across southern England.
Challen was considered one of Somerset's principal amateur batsmen during the late 1880s and early 1890s, when he frequently finished near the top of their batting averages. His style was more defensive than many of his fellow amateurs, and he was often praised for playing vital innings to keep Somerset's batting together. He scored the only first-class century of his career in 1893 against Sussex, but began to appear less often after 1894, finally bowing out of county cricket after the 1899 season. In all, he scored 1,656 first-class runs at an average of 19.71.
Early life and background
John Bonamy Challen was born in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, on 26 March 1863. He was the son of a school master based at Ruthin Grammar School; the family home was later in Nunney, near Frome in east Somerset. He was educated at Honiton Grammar School, Philberds School and then Marlborough College.{{cite book |last1=Ashley-Cooper |first1=F. S. |authorlink1=F. S. Ashley-Cooper |last2=Haygarth |first2=Arthur |authorlink2=Arthur Haygarth |title=M. C. C. Cricket Scores and Biographies |volume=XV |year=2004 |orig-year=1925 |publisher=Roger Heavens |location=Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire |isbn=1-900592-44-4 |page=73}} He gained a competitive scholarship to Marlborough in 1877, in which year his father John Louis Challen, who had been ordained priest in 1870 from the Salisbury Diocesan Theological College, became rector of Nunney. By 1882 his father was involved in bankruptcy proceedings.{{cite news |title=District News: Frome |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/18771217/030/0006 |work=Western Daily Press |date=17 December 1877|page=6}}{{cite book |title=The Ecclesiastical gazette, or, Monthly register of the affairs of the Church of England |date=1871 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJ4OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA21 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=The Clergy Directory and Parish Guide|date=1890 |publisher=J.S. Phillips. |page=121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Fg4AQAAMAAJ |language=en}}{{cite book |title=The Solicitors' Journal & Reporter |date=1882 |publisher=Law Newspaper Company |page=336 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJczAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA336 |language=en}} His younger brother Louis Bonamy (born 1868) went to Derby School on a choral award, and then Durham University. He also became a schoolmaster, teaching in Crediton as John had.{{cite book |last1=B. Tacchella |first1=Derby School |title=Register, 1570-1901 |date=1902 |publisher=Bemrose |page=105 |url=https://archive.org/details/register00schogoog/page/n254/mode/1up |language=English}}
At Marlborough, Challen played for the school's cricket team in 1879, and played at Lord's in their annual fixture against Rugby School, in which he scored 15 and 4 runs, and took one wicket, though Marlborough lost the match by 97 runs.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/178/178532.html |title=Marlborough College v Rugby School: Other matches in England 1879 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=22 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }}
Teaching career
Challen left Marlborough College at the end of 1879.{{cite book|title=Marlborough College Register: From 1843 to 1879 Inclusive. With Alphabetical Index |date=1880 |publisher=R. Clay, sons, and Taylor |page=260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wcOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA260 |language=en}} He went directly into teaching, at age about 17. He taught at Thornton Heath in Surrey from 1880 until 1882, and then Wellingborough Grammar School until 1892. He was then appointed as headmaster of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Crediton for three years.
Later, Challen moved to the Devon County School in West Buckland for four years. He then was headmaster at Philberds School, in the Maidstone area, from 1905 to 1910; and Aldro in Eastbourne until 1918. After that he became a partner at the Christopher's school in the same town.
Challen died in a nursing home in Eastbourne on 5 June 1937, aged 74.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000328/19370617/156/0008 |title=Births, Marriages, Deaths |work=North Devon Journal |location=Barnstaple |page=8 |date=17 June 1937 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
Sporting career
=Cricket=
In 1875, while still a teenager, Challen was among the youngest of those to donate half a guinea to help establish Somerset County Cricket Club.{{cite book | title = Somerset Cricketers 1882 – 1914 |last=Hill |first=Stephen |year=2016 |publisher=Halsgrove |location=Wellington, Somerset |isbn=978-0-85704-291-0 |pages=79–80}} Five years later, in 1880, Challen began playing for Somerset; he appeared for the county in a match against sixteen players from Ashton Court in July,{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/338/338376.html |title=Ashton Court v Somerset: Other matches in England 1880 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} and in three county matches the following month.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3480/Miscellaneous_Matches.html |title=Miscellaneous matches played by John Challen (36) |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} Though he played primarily as an attacking, free-hitting batsman, and an occasional fast-medium paced bowler, he also kept wicket for Somerset against Leicestershire in 1880, taking a stumping in the first innings.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/128/128345.html |title=Leicestershire v Somerset: Other matches in England 1880 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} His teaching career meant that his availability for Somerset was limited, and the vast majority of his appearances were made during the summer holidays, typically in August. In 1883, while teaching at Wellingborough, he played a match for Northamptonshire, but the following season he was playing for Somerset again.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3480/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-class matches played by John Challen (52) |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} In June 1884, Challen scored 205 runs for Wellingborough Grammar School against an Oxford team put together by R. T. Hughes.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1884/#257/z |title=[no title] |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=239 |date=26 June 1884 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113221639/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1884/#257/z |url-status=dead }}
Challen's appearances for Somerset in 1880, and Northamptonshire in 1883, had all been in "second-class" cricket, as neither team had first-class status at the time. As such, Challen's debut in first-class cricket came in August 1884, when he played for Somerset against Hampshire. Somerset lost the match by a large margin, but after scoring 11 runs in the first innings, Challen made his team's highest score in the second, finishing with 93 runs.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2877.html |title=Hampshire v Somerset: County Match 1884 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} Challen, along with Stephen Newton, played a similar role in the next match; Somerset were trailing after both teams had batted their first innings, and after following-on, Challen and Newton resisted the Lancashire bowling. When Challen was dismissed for 42 runs, the Western Daily Press said that "it was felt that the chances of Somerset were very poor." They went on to lose by eight wickets.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/18840813/041/0006 |title=Lancashire v. Somerset |work=Western Daily Press |location=Bristol |page=6 |date=13 August 1884 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} It was as a bowler that Challen was most effective in the following match against second-class Devon. In a spell described in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette Daily Telegram as "destructive", Challen took four wickets in the first innings against a weak Devon side,{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000505/18840816/018/0003 |title=Cricket, Somerset v. Devon |work=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette Daily Telegram |page=3 |date=16 August 1884 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} helping Somerset earn victory by an innings.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/308/308343.html |title=Somerset v Devon: Other matches in England 1884 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} Challen completed the season with two further first-class appearances, return matches against Hampshire and Lancashire, in which he did not score many runs. In his four first-class matches in 1884, he scored 176 runs at an average of 25.14, and took seven wickets at 22.71.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3480/f_Batting_by_Season.html |title=First-class batting and fielding in each season by John Challen |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }}{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3480/f_Bowling_by_Season.html |title=First-class bowling in each season by John Challen |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-access=subscription }} He also made six appearances for the East Somerset Cricket Club, where he was one of their top batsmen, scoring 155 runs at an average of just over 30.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/18841017/040/0007 |title=East Somerset Cricket Club |work=Western Daily Press |location=Bristol |page=7 |date=17 October 1884 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
The next season, Somerset struggled once again; they won just one of their six first-class fixtures. Challen was available for five of the six matches, and though he scored less prolifically than in the previous season, he ranked amongst the county's top batsmen; his 163 runs at 16.3 placed him fifth in the batting averages, and third by total number of runs.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000526/18850902/031/0008 |title=Somerset Cricket |work=Taunton Courier |page=8 |date=2 September 1885 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} Of Challen's runs for Somerset that year, almost half came in one match, against Gloucestershire. In the first innings of that match, in which he scored 39 runs, Challen's batting was described by the Gloucester Citizen as "vigorous but rather lucky",{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/18850828/035/0004 |title=Cricket, Gloucestershire v. Somersetshire |work=Gloucester Citizen |page=4 |date=28 August 1885 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} while he was the final wicket to fall in the second innings, for 40.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/18850828/043/0003 |title=Somerset v. Gloucestershire |work=Nottingham Evening Post |page=3 |date=28 August 1885 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
Somerset were stripped of their first-class status in 1886; they had not played enough cricket the previous year, and when they did their performances had been below that expected of a top-level county side.{{Cite book | title = Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: The History of Somerset Cricket | last=Foot | first=David | year = 1986 | publisher = David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot, Devon | isbn = 0-7153-8890-8 |pages=23–28}} Challen only played four county matches during the season; appearing three times for Somerset, and once for Northamptonshire. His scores between 1886 and 1889 were generally reasonably low, though he did score 91 runs against the MCC to help Somerset to victory at Lord's in 1888.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000526/18880815/085/0007?browse=true |title=Cricket, M.C.C. and Ground v. Somersetshire |work=Taunton Courier |page=7 |date=15 August 1888 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} He topped Somerset's batting averages in 1888, scoring 219 runs at 31.2.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1888/#451/z |title=The Counties in 1888: Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=420 |date=20 September 1888 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113221800/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1888/#451/z |url-status=dead }} As a batsman, Somerset cricket historian Stephen Hill describes Challen as "a beautiful timer of the ball capable of taking the fight to the bowlers." However, Hill also notes that he often had to temper his game and play more steadily to accommodate some of the more reckless amateur batsmen in the Somerset team of the time. In 1889, Challen batted in seven innings for the county, averaging 21 runs, though his top-score was a relatively modest 28 not out.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1889/#440/z |title=The Minor Counties: Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=395 |date=12 September 1889 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165508/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1889/#440/z |url-status=dead }}
The subsequent 1890 season was a successful one for Somerset; they were unbeaten in their thirteen county matches, winning twelve and tying the other. Challen was fourth in Somerset's batting averages, achieving his highest score of the season, 67,{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#473/z |title=Minor Counties in 1890: Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=420 |date=25 September 1890 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222107/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#473/z |url-status=dead }} against Leicestershire.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#359/z |title=Somersetshire v. Leicestershire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=315 |date=7 August 1890 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222107/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#359/z |url-status=dead }} Later in the season, he also scored 49 of the 107 runs that Somerset managed during their tied match against Middlesex; his innings was described as "far and away the best innings of the side."{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#406/z |title=Somersetshire v. Middlesex |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=356 |date=28 August 1890 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222107/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1890/#406/z |url-status=dead }} Somerset's strong performance in 1890 saw them readmitted to first-class cricket in 1891, whereupon they joined the County Championship, a competition which had only been instituted the previous year. Challen, playing in a first-class match for the first time in over five years, only managed six runs against Middlesex in May that season, though Cricket magazine described the wicket as "not in favour of the batsmen" due to heavy rain.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#116/z |title=Middlesex v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=116 |date=21 May 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#116/z |url-status=dead }} In Somerset's first win of 1891, Challen made modest scores of 41 and 18 not out, but he was praised for his steady play, both in a partnership with Lionel Palairet on the first day, and with his brother Richard Palairet towards the end of the game.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#273/z |title=Kent v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=271 |date=16 July 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#273/z |url-status=dead }} Challen was praised later in the season for his resilient batting in difficult conditions against Lancashire's spin bowling duo of Johnny Briggs and Arthur Mold, though he could not prevent his side from losing.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#346/z |title=Lancashire v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=342 |date=13 August 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#346/z |url-status=dead }} He scored his highest total of the season in mid-August against Surrey, playing "sound cricket with plenty of hit tempered by excellent defence" to score 89 runs in the second innings and help Somerset to victory.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#359/z |title=Somersetshire v. Surrey |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=355 |date=20 August 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#359/z |url-status=dead }} In the next match, he took advantage of difficult bowling conditions to score 79 runs against Gloucestershire during another win for Somerset.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#357/z |title=Gloucestershire v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=353 |date=20 August 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#357/z |url-status=dead }} Challen finished the season top of the Somerset batting averages, and eleventh in the national averages, with 394 runs scored at 26.26.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#442/z |title=The first-class averages |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=438 |date=24 September 1891 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165254/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1891/#442/z |url-status=dead }}
In 1892, Challen played an "excellent innings" to score 45 runs against a strong Middlesex team, but could not offer any resistance in the second innings as Middlesex won by 112 runs.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#197/z |title=Middlesex v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=192 |date=9 June 1892 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165348/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#197/z |url-status=dead }} He played well again to give Somerset victory over Kent, when he scored 48 not out in the second innings, and a string of good results for the county led Cricket magazine to suggest that they "must not be overlooked" in the county championship race.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#342/z |title=Cricket Notches |last=Holmes |first=Robert Stratten |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=334 |date=4 August 1892 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165348/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#342/z |url-status=dead }} In early August, Challen made a pair of centuries for the Old Wellingburians, scoring 166 against the Old Bedford Modernians, and 104 against Rolvenden.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#366/z |title=Pavilion gossip |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=357 |date=11 August 1892 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165348/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#366/z |url-status=dead }} During a victory over Middlesex, Challen scored his highest total of the season, 72 runs scored in an hour and a half.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#402/z |title=Somersetshire v. Middlesex |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=391 |date=25 August 1892 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165348/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#402/z |url-status=dead }} Challen was fourth in the county batting averages, and 33rd nationally, scoring 835 runs at 22.33.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#437/z |title=Batting averages |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=424 |date=8 September 1892 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165348/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1892/#437/z |url-status=dead }} Challen was missing for much of the early part of 1893, but performed well in both matches against Sussex that year. He scored 57 of Somerset's 137 runs in the first innings of their match in Brighton,{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#178/z |title=Sussex v. Somersetshire |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=164 |date=1 June 1893 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165429/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#178/z |url-status=dead }} while he played "free and attractive cricket without a mistake" to score 108 in two hours at Taunton.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#368/z |title=Somersetshire v. Sussex |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=351 |date=17 August 1893 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165429/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#368/z |url-status=dead }} That score was both his highest score, and his only century in first-class cricket.{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/10699.html |title=Player profile: John Challen |website=ESPNcricinfo |access-date=13 November 2017}} He once again finished the season fourth in the county averages, with 311 runs at 25.91.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#411/z |title=Somerset: Batting averages |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=394 |date=7 September 1893 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165429/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1893/#411/z |url-status=dead }}
Though Challen was able to play six times for Somerset in 1894, he only managed to score 92 runs at an average of 7.66.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1894/#391/z |title=Somerset: Batting averages |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=367 |date=30 August 1894 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165401/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1894/#391/z |url-status=dead }} His appearances became less frequent over the following years; he played for Somerset just once in 1895, five times in 1896, and then not again until 1899. He did score a half-century on his first match in 1896, but struggled in his later appearances.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1896/#440/z |title=Between the innings |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=427 |date=17 September 1896 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165225/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1896/#440/z |url-status=dead }} During two matches against the Nondescripts in 1899, Challen scored centuries in non-first-class matches, scoring 102 for a team he put together, and 100 exactly for North Devon Cricket Club.{{cite journal |url=http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1899/#372/z |title=Pavilion gossip |journal=Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game |page=366 |date=24 August 1899 |access-date=13 November 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165457/http://stats.acscricket.com/Cricket/1899/#372/z |url-status=dead }} His final first-class appearance was against Gloucestershire from 28 to 30 August 1899, when he scored six runs in the first innings, and was not needed in the second as Somerset won by five wickets.{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/5/5345.html |title=Somerset v Gloucestershire: County Championship 1899 |website=CricketArchive |publisher=The Cricketer |access-date=13 November 2017 |url-access=subscription }} He completed his career with 1,656 first-class runs at an average of 19.71, and sixteen wickets at 35.75.
=Football=
Challen made his first appearance for the Wales national football team in February 1887, playing against England in the 1886–87 British Home Championship. Wales lost the match 4–0.{{cite news |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=somelib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=CS118017116&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |title=Football: England v. Wales |work=The Times |location=London |date=28 February 1887 |issue=32007 |page=7 |via=Gale |url-access=subscription }} Challen appeared again the following month against Scotland, in a 2–0 loss for Wales.{{cite news |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=somelib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=CS168479862&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |title=Football: Scotland v. Wales |work=The Times |location=London |date=22 March 1887 |issue=32026 |page=10 |via=Gale |url-access=subscription }} In each of these appearances, Challen is listed by The Times as representing Ruthin, but it is unclear if this refers to a football team, or just the place of his birth. He played his third match for Wales in February 1888, when they lost 5–1 to England, though Challen was praised for his play on the right-wing.{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/482550804/ |title=Football: Association |work=The Manchester Guardian |location=London |date=6 February 1888 |page=7 |via=ProQuest |url-access=subscription }} His fourth and final international appearance came in March 1890, and was once again in a match against England. Though the Welsh lost 3–1, Challen was again praised for his play, and had two openings at goal, though he did not manage to score either.{{cite news |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=somelib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=CS168743537&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |title=Football, association rules: England v. Wales |work=The Times |location=London |date=17 March 1890 |issue=32961 |page=10 |via=Gale |url-access=subscription }}
Challen played football for Corinthian F.C., an amateur team which "[cherry-picked] the best players from leading sides".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RcfKAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |title=The Victorian Football Miscellany |last=Brown |first=Paul |publisher=Goal-Post |year=2013 |page=101 |isbn=978-0956-2270-58}} The club had been formed to provide the England national football team with players that were used to playing together, and during the late-1880s and early-1890s, the majority of England players also played for the Corinthians. As the club was strictly amateur, it did not compete in the FA Cup, and players could continue to represent other teams in professional competitions. Challen supplemented his matches for the Corinthians with appearances for Swifts F.C., based in Slough, Berkshire.{{cite news |title=The Football Association Challenge Cup: Crewe Alexandra v. Swifts |work=The Manchester Guardian |location=London |date=2 January 1888 |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|482534973}} }}
=Rugby Union=
Challen also played rugby union for Crediton RFC, between 1892 and 1895.{{cite news |title=Crediton Rugby Club - Remembering John Bonamy Challen |url=https://www.creditoncourier.co.uk/sport/crediton-rugby-club-remembering-john-bonamy-challen-585865 |work=Crediton Country Courier |date=2 January 2023}}
Family
On 5 September 1893, Challen married Amy Price, in Willey, Warwickshire.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000385/18930908/143/0005 |title=[Untitled notices] |work=The Coventry Herald and Free Press |date=8 September 1893 |page=5 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} She was the daughter of the Rev. Edward Henry Price, rector of Willey, and formerly Master of Philberds School, and his wife Annie Price, sister of Bonamy Price.{{cite book |title=The Woman at Home |date=1894 |publisher=Warwick Magazine Company |pages=273–274 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA273 |language=en}}{{acad|id=PRY841EH|name=Rice, Edward Henry}}{{cite book |last1=Leinster-Mackay |first1=Donald |title=The Rise of the English Prep School |date=16 December 2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-35754-7 |page=123 note 27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9M7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT123 |language=en}} They had one son, John Bonamy Rhys Challen (1895–1966), wounded at Cambrai with the Middlesex Regiment in 1917 and awarded the Military Cross.{{cite news |title=Well-Known Townsmen with the Forces |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001928/19171212/115/0005 |work=Eastbourne Gazette |date=12 December 1917|page=5}}{{cite web |title=Military Cross, Lieutenant John Bonamy Rhys Challen, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), Online Collection, National Army Museum, London |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?q=searchType%3Dsimple%26simpleText%3D%26themeID%3D233%26resultsDisplay%3Dlist%26page%3D13&pos=257&total=663&acc=2014-01-1-1 |website=collection.nam.ac.uk}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Commons category|John Challen}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Challen, John}}
Category:Corinthian F.C. players
Category:People educated at Marlborough College
Category:Footballers from Denbighshire
Category:Wales men's international footballers