Linda Uttley

Linda Uttley
Date of birth(1966-10-26)26 October 1966
Place of birthBarnes, London, England
Date of death27 November 2009(2009-11-27) (aged 43)
Place of deathEsher, Surrey, England
Rugby union career
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1989-1995 Teddington Rugby Club ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1995-2007 Wasps ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1997-2007 England

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]

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