Club career Atkinson, who was tall, said he had not seen a rugby ball until the age of 17. He was introduced to the sport by
William Asquith, who suggested as they were going home from work at a coal pit that they should detour to watch Castleford training at their old ground. He was spotted by
Walter Smith, Castleford's representative on the Yorkshire County Committee and a member of the
Rugby League Council, as being "a big, likely sort of lad". Smith encouraged him to join in on the spot using borrowed kit. He was in the club's
A-Team as a for the next game, against
Brotherton St Johns, and played a few more times that season. In the following season, he played more frequently for the team, sometimes as a , and had his first match for the senior side against
Windhill, when he played one half as a and the other as full-back. When Castleford became a professional club for the following
1926–27 season, Atkinson played as a for a while before becoming the regular full-back for three seasons. His switch to what became his regular position as a came shortly before he was first selected for a representative side in 1929. He was still at the club a year later when the decision was made to sign his 18-year-old brother, Joseph. Atkinson was Castleford's captain from around 1930. Under his leadership, the club won the
Yorkshire County League in the
1932–33 season. That success included six "doubles" (home and away victories) over opposing teams and an unbeaten record at home, where the only opponent to come away with any league points was the
York club. They won the same competition in the
1938–39 season, although he missed a large part of the campaign after injuring his leg in a match at
Warrington in January 1939, which eventually resulted in him needing an operation to remove cartilage in March of that year. The league match against
Wakefield Trinity in February 1934 was designated a
benefit match for Atkinson, who was in his tenth season at the club. Playing as captain at right-centre, Atkinson scored a conversion in Castleford's 11-8 victory over
Huddersfield in the
1935 Challenge Cup final at
Wembley Stadium, London on 4 May 1935, in front of a crowd of 39,000. In September that year, in one of the first matches of the
new season, he and
David Morgan Jenkins, a
Dewsbury player, were sent off. Atkinson joined the
Royal Air Force in December 1940. mean that he is joint-second (along with
Dean Sampson) in the club's all-time appearance list behind
John Joyner, who has 613-appearances. He is an inductee of the Castleford Tigers Hall of Fame.
County honours Artie Atkinson won
caps, generally playing centre, for
Yorkshire in the 17-22 defeat by Glamorgan & Monmouth in
Cardiff on 15 April 1929, scoring one
try, and a
goal in the 12-25 defeat by Australia at Wakefield Trinity's stadium on 20 November 1929, the 9-3 victory over Cumberland at Huddersfield's stadium on 22 January 1930, the 6-13 defeat by Glamorgan & Monmouth at
Hunslet's stadium on 26 February 1930, the 25-15 victory over Lancashire at Wakefield Trinity's stadium on 18 October 1930, scoring a try, and six conversions in the 33-12 victory over Glamorgan & Monmouth at
Halifax's stadium on 15 April 1931, scoring a conversion in the 8-11 defeat by Lancashire at
Warrington's stadium on 17 October 1931, playing on the in the 20-35 defeat by Cumberland at
York's stadium on 28 October 1931, scoring a try in the 10-39 defeat by Cumberland at
Whitehaven's stadium on 1 October 1932, scoring a try and two conversions in the 30-3 victory over Lancashire at Wakefield Trinity's stadium on 29 October 1932, the 0-10 defeat by Cumberland at Whitehaven's stadium on 29 September 1934, the 5-5 draw with Lancashire at
Leeds' stadium on 9 January 1935, the 16-5 victory over Lancashire at
Widnes' stadium on 12 October 1935, and the 6-28 defeat by Lancashire at Castleford's stadium on 21 October 1936.
International honours Artie Atkinson won
caps for
England, playing against
Other Nationalities in 1929 and 1930, against Wales in 1931 and 1932, against Australia in 1933 and against France in 1936. He also won
caps for
Great Britain against Australia (three matches in 1929-30, another three in 1932, followed by one in 1933 and another in 1936), as well as three matches against New Zealand in 1932. Atkinson said after his first Test experience, in November 1929, His journey on the 1932 tour to Australia was marked before his leaving in April by various presentations - mostly monetary and gold items - from his club's directors, supporters and players. His return in September was lauded by the town council, who had organised a civic reception in his honour. The
Yorkshire Evening Post arranged to carry regular weekly reports provided by Atkinson,
Jim Brough and
Harry Sunderland during the 1936 Australasia tour. ==Personal life==