Alfred Pullin

Alfred William Pullin, known by the pseudonym Old Ebor (30 July 1860 – 23 June 1934), was a British sports journalist who wrote primarily about rugby union and cricket. He wrote mainly for British newspapers the Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post. Considered by critics to be one of the greatest authorities in the country on his two sports, he wrote a daily column using his pseudonym "Old Ebor" for 40 years. Most often associated with his reporting on Yorkshire County Cricket Club, he has been credited as defining the role of a sports journalist. Two of his most widely known works were on cricket: Talks with Old English Cricketers and History of Yorkshire County Cricket, 1903–23.

Early life Pullin was born in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire in 1860, to Alfred Trask Pullin, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Adelaide Evans. Aged 25, he began to write for the Athletic News when he first used the name "Old Ebor",

With a family background in rugby union, he played for Cleckheaton as three quarter back in the early 1880s, but was not successful enough to pursue his sporting career. Later, he became a rugby referee.

Sports journalist

Career summary During the 1890s, newspapers began to develop sports pages. Len Hutton wrote that he and many others in Yorkshire had been brought up on Pullin's writing, while all cricketers were in his debt for the influence of his writing. Hutton himself as a young player appreciated Pullin's encouragement "in and out of print". Pullin retired from full-time writing in 1931 but continued to write in newspapers until his death.

Outside of journalism, Pullin was a director at the relatively short-lived Leeds City Football Club. These included Talks with Old English Cricketers (1900), a biography of Alfred Shaw (1902) and The History of Yorkshire County Cricket 1903–23 (1924). The first of these was his most widely known, The historian Mick Pope writes that it "stirred deep debate among the cricketing public and in the county committee rooms concerning the predicament of several old and seemingly forgotten professional cricketers and with it, tarnished the blossoming reputation of Yorkshire County Cricket Club during a period that they were set to dominate on the field." When investigating the whereabouts of John Thewlis, Pullin was told "Think dead; if not, Manchester". Pullin later wrote about Thewlis: "The moral responsibilities of cricket managers, so far as a player is concerned, should surely not end with the termination of his active career. He ought not to be cast aside like an old shoe."

There had already been public debate on the fate of retired cricketers, However, former players did not benefit from these reforms.

Pope suggests that Pullin's writing gave the debate "a renewed vigour and sharp focus once again." his attacks on Yorkshire County Cricket Club and general cricket administration aroused public support and led to action. Derek Hodgson, in the official history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, writes that Pullin "produced one of the most valuable source books on Victorian cricket". E.W. Swanton described him as "a thick, bearded fellow" and "a faithful old war-horse".

Lord Hawke, writing a foreword to his history of Yorkshire, referred to Pullin as the non-playing member of the county team: "His criticisms on our side form an invaluable guide to the captain, his enthusiasm is contagious, but never allows his judgement to become unbalanced, whilst his eloquent writings on cricket have gone to every part of the world in which there are lovers of the game ... I feel bound to say to the esteemed author of this book—'Well done, thou faithful friend.

Pullin died in 1934 while travelling to a Test match at Lord's Cricket Ground. He collapsed on a bus and was pronounced dead on his arrival at hospital. He had been suffering from heart trouble for some time, but wished to continue working and to die "with his boots on". He was buried in Wakefield cemetery. Upon his death, senior figures from Yorkshire County Cricket Club paid tribute to his influence, and his dignity and zealousness were praised by the Leeds branch of the National Union of Journalists. Hutton, who had just broken into the Yorkshire team aged 18, wrote that he "had just got into the habit of looking for that kindly, alert, grey-bearded face of Mr Pullin's either among the players before the day's play or in a Press-tent". Cardus concluded his tribute to Pullin in the Manchester Guardian: "[He] wrote simply, well, and with courtesy and knowledge. A good man and a good friend".