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Not until 1919-20 did a Football League season ever begin in August - and then only on the 30th of the month – all of which meant that pre-First World War practitioners of the ‘winter game’ could also become active devotees of the ‘summer game’ without undue overlap.

For that reason many early footballers also played cricket at the higher levels and four men with Derby County links achieved the ultimate accolade – they played for both the Rams and in a Test match for England. These are the rare members of that noble ‘double breed’ which modern-day fixture lists have long-since rendered extinct.

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FRANK HOWE SUGG was a Rams centre-forward in their pre-League days and the scorer of the first competitive hat-trick for Derby County, in a 3-0 away win against Stafford Road on 15 November 1884. He played cricket for Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire and his two Tests against Australia came in 1888. His passion for cricket continued into his senior years – in 1926 and 1927 he was a first-class umpire, although the players he gave out didn’t always think so! Sugg was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, on 11 January 1862, and died in Liverpool on 29 May 1933, aged 71.

WILLIAM CHATTERTON played inside-forward for Derby in their first Football League season and at the same time captained Derbyshire at cricket. He played for his county from 1882-1902 and scored seven centuries. He made 48 in his one Test innings, against South Africa in Cape Town in 1892. Chatterton was born on 27 December 1861 in the village of Thornsett, Derbyshire - which adjoins Birch Vale in the High Peak - and died aged 51 of consumption on 19 March 1913, in Flowery Fields, Hyde, Cheshire.

WILLIAM STORER was born in Butterley, Derbyshire, on 25 January 1867. He played 27 games for the Rams and appeared in all five forward positions. His versatility knew no bounds as he was more famous as a Derbyshire and England wicketkeeper who also captured 214 wickets for his county as a bowler. Not content with that, he set a batting record in 1896 during Derbyshire’s home game with Yorkshire,when he became the first professional (only amateurs had done it previously) to score two centuries in a match. The remarkable all-rounder played in six Tests against Australia and scored 12,966 runs in first-class cricket. He was the brother of Harry Storer senior - who played cricket for Derbyshire and football for Liverpool and Arsenal - and uncle to Harry's son, the Rams player and manager Harry Storer. William died in Derby on 28 February 1912, aged only 45.

ARNOLD WARREN was born in Codnor, Derbyshire, on 2 April 1875, and died there on 3 September 1951, aged 76. He was both a winger and a swinger, playing a single season with the Rams in 1901-02 but gaining more lasting fame as a Derbyshire fast bowler. Between 1897 and 1920 he took 939 wickets in first-class cricket and shared in a world-record ninth-wicket partnership of 283 with Jack Chapman for Derbyshire against Warwickshire at Blackwell in 1910. In his one Test against Australia at Leeds in 1905 he took 5 for 57 in the first innings.

The above has been extracted from The Little Book of Derby County by Peter Seddon - with thanks to the Derby-based publisher Breedon Books.

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County:  Derbyshire

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