Fred Perrett
{{short description|Wales international rugby union & league footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Fred Perrett
| image = File:Fred Perrett.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Fred Leonard Perrett
| birth_date = {{birth date|1891|5|9|df=y}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|Briton Ferry, Neath Port Talbot, Wales}}[http://www.ospreysrugby.com/ospreys_squad_view.php?player_id=103801 Ospreys player profiles]{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|12|1|1891|5|9|df=yes}}
| death_place = Boulogne, France
| height =
| weight =
| ru_position = Prop
| amatteam1 = Briton Ferry RFC
| amatteam2 = Aberavon RFC
| amatteam3 = Neath RFC
| ru_amupdate =
| repyears1 = 1912-1913 | repteam1 = Wales[https://archive.today/20110526161534/http://www.wru.co.uk/12750_14256.php?player=26217&includeref=dynamic WRU player profiles]
| repcaps1 = 5 | reppoints1 = 0
| ru_ntupdate =
| module = {{infobox rugby league biography | embed = yes
| position = Forward
| club1 = Leeds
| year1start = 1913 | year1end = 14
| appearances1 = | points1 =
| club2 = Hull FC
| year2start = 1914 | year2end = 16
| appearances2 = | points2 =
}}
| module2 = {{infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| unit = Welsh Guards
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
| battles = World War I
| service_years = 1916-18
| rank = second lieutenant
}}
}}
Fred Leonard Perrett (9 May 1891 – 1 December 1918) was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Neath. He won five caps for Wales, and in his first international game faced the touring South Africans.
Rugby career
Perrett originally played rugby for his local club Briton Ferry before eventually playing for Neath. While a member of Neath he earned his first Welsh cap against the touring South Africa team. Wales ran the South Africans close, but lost to a single penalty kick.
Perrett was reselected for Wales in the 1913 Five Nations Championship, one of only two Welsh players to appear in all four matches of the campaign; the other being Neath teammate Glyn Stephens. The two complemented each other well, especially during line outs.Griffiths (1987), pg 4:16. The Welsh team lost the first game against England, but won the final three games to finish second. Perrett may have been selected for further Wales matches, but turned professional at the end of the 1912/13 season, joining rugby league team Leeds, making his début on 6 September 1913, he later joined Hull FC.
Perrett's league career was cut short by the outbreak of World War I. He joined the Welsh Guards, and served in France from 19 February 1916.[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=4795801 Medal card of Perrett, Fred Leonard], DocumentsOnline, The National Archives (fee may be payable to view full original pdf of medal card). Retrieved 10 November 2008. He was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant, and transferred to the 17th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers with seniority from 27 June 1917.{{London Gazette|issue=30376|supp=y|page=11669|date=9 November 1917}}[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/4026803 Casualty details—Perrett, Fred Leonard], Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 10 November 2008. He was seriously injured and died of his wounds in a casualty clearing station almost a month after the Armistice. He is buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery at Wimille in France. Perrett is often left out of lists of the Welsh international war dead due to his supposed defection to the professional game.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/warstories/pages/rugbyinternationals.shtml Rugby Heroes who went to War] BBC Online Matthew Ferris, November 2008
International matches played
- {{ru|ENG}} 1913
- {{ru|FRA}} 1913
- {{ru|IRE}} 1913
- {{ru|SCO}} 1913
- {{ru|South Africa|1910}} 1912
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last=Billot|first=John|title=Springboks in Wales|year=1974|publisher=Ron Jones Publications|location=Ferndale}}
- {{cite book|last=Godwin|first=Terry|title=The International Rugby Championship 1883–1983|year=1984|publisher=Willows Books|location=London|isbn=0-00-218060-X}}
- {{cite book|last=Griffiths|first=Terry|title=The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records|year=1987|publisher=Phoenix House|location=London|isbn=0-460-07003-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Smith|first=David|last2=Williams|first2= Gareth|title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union|year=1980|publisher=University of Wales Press|location=Cardiff|isbn=0-7083-0766-3 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150122151908/http://www.neathrugby.co.uk/News/Article/37086 Neath RFC Remembers - First World War]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150122152229/http://www.neathrugby.co.uk/News/Article/10602 Neath Rugby Remembers]
{{WWI Welsh rugby fatalities}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrett, Fred}}
Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:British military personnel killed in World War I
Category:Royal Welch Fusiliers officers
Category:Rugby league players from Briton Ferry
Category:Rugby union players from Briton Ferry
Category:Wales international rugby union players
Category:Welsh Guards soldiers