 Joe Cartwright retired from playing football in 1926, and he started work at the Parsonage Colliery, Leigh building underground roads.After his death in December 1949, an inquiry was held to determine if it was caused by work conditions, at which point his health was investigated.Cartwright had not been employed at the colliery very long when he was struck in the back by a sharp piece of stone, and he was out of work 15 weeks.