Linda Uttley
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| Born | 26 October 1966 Barnes, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 27 November 2009 (aged 43) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Linda Pauline Uttley (26 October 1966 – 27 November 2009) was an English rugby union footballer.
She was born in Barnes, London and was the youngest of eight siblings.[1] Her rugby career began in 1989 at Teddington Rugby Club.[2] She moved to Wasps Rugby Club in 1995 and won her first international cap in 1997, the start of her career with the Women's England Team.[3] She won a total of thirteen caps, playing in every position except full-back, hooker and prop, and was a member of the squads in the Five Nations and World Cup in 1998.[4] She went on to play for the Classic Lionesses in Bermuda in 2000.[3]
In November 2007 she was diagnosed with 'end-stage' leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer.[2][4] Despite her illness, she continued to work for the Rugby Football Union and toured with the England Lionesses.[3] She died on 27 November 2009 at Princess Alice Hospice in Esher at the age of 43.[3] She remains the only deceased capped Englishwoman.
Since then, winners of the RFU Linda Uttley Award, in recognition of the commitment and dedication of an individual, have included Sophie Hemming[5] and Catherine Spencer.[6]
