Manchester
Sports & Olympic Champions (1 of 7)

Alfred Tysoe

Alfred Edward Tysoe

(1874-1901)
Salford Harriers : Olympic Middle Distance Runner
Alfred Edward Tysoe has been described s "the greatest Salford Harrier of them all". Born at Skerton, near Lancaster, Tysoe ran part-time with the Skerton Harriers running team, while still working as a farm labourer. In 1896 he won the Northern Counties 1000 yards and the one mile titles. His running successes brought him to the attention of Harold Hardwick, founder of Salford Harriers in 1884, and in 1897 Tysoe was persuaded to join the Salford team. Within his first year with Salford Harriers, he had achieved the Amateur Athletics Association championships in one mile and ten miles. In 1898 he helped the team to win their sixth National Cross Country championship. He acquired numerous other notable wins, including the 800 yards in the "Paris International Championships" in July 1900 - the forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. Just two weeks before those games he had broken the world record by running the 800 yards in 1 minute and 57.8 seconds. In the 1900 games he also won a gold medal as part of the 5000 metres team race. This proved to be his last season on the running track, as in early 1901 he became severely ill with pleurisy. Nursed by his father at his home in Blackpool, Alfred Tysoe tragically died on the 26th of October 1901, aged twenty-seven.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown

(1910-1971)
World Flyweight Champion Boxer 1932-1935
Jackie Brown was born into a poor family in Collyhurst, Manchester in 1910. During his career he was to win the World Flyweight Boxing Championship, as well as British and European Titles, all of which he lost in 1935 to the Scotsman, Benny Lynch. Brown amassed a small fortune during his short career - all of which he spent on fast living, clothes, parties, cars and women. During World War Two, he became a physical training instructor, but after all the fame and fortune, in obscurity he coped very badly, and was imprisoned for assault on a four month hard labour charge in Strangeways Gaol. This brought some renewed distinction, as his case was defended by Edgar Lustgarten, later to be a celebrated radio and television personality in the field of criminology.
Brown spent the last years of his life, from 1968 to 1971, in hospital at Crumpsall (now the North Manchester General Hospital), where he died at the age of 61.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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George Wilkinson

(1879-1946) Olympic Water Polo Player
A pioneer of British Water Polo, at a time when only the British really played the game, George Wilkinson is regarded as the world's first great water polo player. He was born in the Gorton district of Manchester on 3rd March 1879, where from an early age he demonstrated that he was a keen and enthusiastic swimmer at his local Gorton Baths.
Although a top class swimmer, he never won any straight swimming championships outright, but could only achieve runner-up in the Amateur Swimming Association's championships. At the age of 15, Wilkinson took up Water Polo, and was playing in the third division of the Manchester League when he was spotted and invited to join the Hyde Seal team in a friendly match against the local champion Osbourne Swimming Club.
His role was fundamental in the first defeat of Osbourne in seven years, and as a result he was recruited for the national Olympic Team by John Derbyshire, superintendent of Osbourne Street baths, and a powerful figure in Manchester swimming organisation. Wilkinson was a powerful and versatile player who played in left-forward position. His shooting accuracy was legend, as was his strong two-handed power drive and his speciality backhand flip.
Soon after the 1900 Olympic Games, Wilkinson moved to live in Hyde, and continued playing for the Hyde Seal Club at its home base in the Union Street Baths. He was captain of this team for some 22 years, achieving many top awards for himself and the team. These included 22 Northern Championship wins and 9 National Championships. Hyde Seal were also World Champions for 3 successive seasons under his captaincy. He captained both the Lancashire and Cheshire County Teams, gaining 24 English caps between 1900 and 1922. He personally gained a second Olympic Championship Medal in 1908, and captained the winning British Team at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. In 1925, now aged 46 and virtually retired from active participation, he was award a large purse and Testimonial Award, to which over a thousand local supporters had contributed.
On retirement, he became a licenced publican, and, with his wife ran various Manchester pubs, including "The Sportsman" in Hyde, "The Hen & Chickens" on Deansgate, "The Mess House" in Oldham and "The Wheatsheaf" in Hyde, where he remained until his death. His son, Harry, was to follow in his father's footsteps, and also became a Hyde Seal Player. After his health began to fail, George died, aged 77 on 7th August 1946, and is buried in Gorton Cemetery. A memorial to his memory also honours him in the Swimming Hall of Fame at Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States of America.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

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Emil Robert Voigt

(1882/3-1973)
Long Distance Olympic Running Champion
Emil Voigt was the Amateur Athletic Association's (the AAA) 5 mile Olympic Champion at the new White City Stadium at Shepherds Bush in London in 1908. This was an astounding feat considering that at the time he was suffering from an infected foot and had just decided to retire from competitive running events!
Born in Ardwick, Manchester in December 1882, the son of Carl Julius Voigt, a German born instrument maker who had trading premises in Cheetham Hill (see Footnote below). While still a schoolboy at Rose Place School, in 1901, he was encouraged to join the Manchester Athletic Club, based at Fallowfield. A strict vegetarian, he attributed all of his athletic prowess to this fact. He was also a talented linguist. Retaining his 5 mile championship in 1908, he went on to win the one mile championship in 1910. In 1911, then aged 29, he retired from athletics and emigrated to Australia, where he set up his own radio station, specialising in wrestling commentaries. He became President of the Australian Federation of Broadcasting Stations, and in 1948 he moved to live in Aukland, New Zealand, where he died on 16th October 1973 aged ninety.

Source: James W Bancroft Archive

Footnote:
Doubts have been raised as to the birth and dates supplied here for Emil Voigt. Since confidently writing this account of Emil Voigt in 1996 on the basis of information researched in James Bancroft's Book "Olympic Champions of Manchester" in the Local History Library, I have received a conflicting email from Robin Voigt, his granddaughter, living in Australia, which throws into doubt his origins. Robin writes:

"I was very intrigued to see you have written he was the son of Carl Julius Voigt (born) in December 1882. I have Emil's birth certificate here and he was born in March 1883 the son of Emil Robert (same name) a mantles salesman."

Robin also supplied the photo of Emil (below) in his 80s with his framed Olympic Certificate. Robin's email would seem, on the face of it, to be a very compelling and irrefutable source. However, I have left the original account intact, in the hope that some (better) knowledgeable person might throw light on this confusion.

Emil Voigt with his framed Olympic Certificate

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