Cecil Christmas

Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas (13 January 1886 – 7 October 1916)[1] was an English amateur footballer who played twice for Southampton in 1912.

Cecil Christmas
Personal information
Full name Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas
Date of birth (1886-01-13)13 January 1886
Place of birth Southampton, England
Date of death 7 October 1916(1916-10-07) (aged 30)
Place of death Le Transloy, France
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1912 Southampton 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Southampton in early 1886, he joined Southampton as an amateur in 1908 and made several appearances for the reserve team, but his business career prevented him devoting much time to football. In 1910 he left football to devote himself full-time to his family hotel business, but was persuaded to return to The Dell by reserve team manager George Carter the following year. In March 1912, following the dismissal of first choice centre forward Henry Hamilton for a serious breach of club discipline, Christmas was drafted into the first team. Despite his "pace and dribbling skills"[2] he was not a success and he returned to the reserves.

Following serious injury, at the end of the 1911–12 season he "gave up trying to make the grade"[3] and ended his football career.

Military service and death

During the First World War he enlisted in the 1/28th (County of London) Battalion (Artists Rifles), London Regiment in June 1915, before being commissioned as second lieutenant in the 18th (Service) Battalion (Arts & Crafts) King's Royal Rifle Corps in March 1916,[4][5] effective from December 1915.[6]

He died in France on 7 October 1916, aged 30, of wounds received in action in an attempt to secure the road between Le Sars and Flers during the Battle of the Somme,[4] and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial,[7][8] and on the Southampton Cenotaph.[9]

Personal

Christmas was the son of Edwin and Margaret Abigail Christmas, of Southampton.[10] He was initiated into the Freemasons' Lodge of Peace and Harmony in January 1915.[11]

References
  1. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  2. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  3. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints - A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 237. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  4. "2nd Lieutenant Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas". Southampton Masonic Roll of Honour. www.sussexpeople.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  5. "No. 29512". The London Gazette. 17 March 1916. p. 2942.
  6. "No. 29521". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 March 1916. p. 3272.
  7. "Casualty Details: Christmas, Edwin Cecil Russell". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  8. "Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas: Service Record". Football and the First World War. National Football Museum. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  9. "Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas". Southampton Cenotaph. 29 December 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  10. "2nd Lieutenant Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas". Sussex People. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. "2nd Lieutenant Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas". Masonic Great War Project. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
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