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Billy Boston

Sir Billy Boston
MBE
Personal information
Full nameWilliam John Boston
Born (1934-08-06) 6 August 1934 (age 91)
Butetown, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
Playing information
Rugby union
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1950 Neath 1 0 0 0 0
1952 Pontypridd 1 1 0 0 3
Total 2 1 0 0 3
Rugby league
PositionWing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1953–68 Wigan 488 478 7 0 1448
1969–70 Blackpool Borough 11 5 0 0 15
Total 499 483 7 0 1463
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1954–63 Great Britain 32[a] 25[b] 0 0 75[c]
1954–63 tour games 27 53 0 0 159
1955 Other Nationalities 2 5 0 0 15
Source: [1]
Medals
Rugby league
Representing  Great Britain
World Cup
Winner 1960 Great Britain

Sir William John Boston (born 6 August 1934)[2] is a Welsh former professional rugby league player who played as a wing or centre. Born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. Regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever players, Boston scored a total of 571 tries in his career, making him the second-highest try scorer in rugby league history.

Boston spent 15 years of his career at Wigan to which he is most well known, where he scored a club-record 478 tries in his 488 appearances for the club. He finished his career at Blackpool Borough before retiring in 1970. Internationally, he represented Great Britain in 31 Test matches, scoring 24 tries,[3] and was part of the team that won the 1960 Rugby League World Cup.[1]

Early life

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Born on 6 August 1934 at Angelina Street, Butetown, Cardiff, Boston was the sixth of eleven children born to John Boston (a merchant seaman from Sierra Leone) and Nellie who came from Cardiff's Irish community.[4]

Rugby career

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Boston tackling Wakefield Trinity player Gert Coetzer during the 1962-63 Challenge Cup final

Boston began his career in rugby union with the newly formed Cardiff Internationals Athletic Club (CIACS; pronounced "kayaks").[5]

Boston also represented the Cardiff Schoolboys team in the late 1940s and went on to represent Wales in both the boys clubs' internationals and at Youth level.[4] The young Boston was an integral part of the CIACs "invincible" season of 1951–52, where the team won all of their 32 games.[6]

During this time, Boston was attracting attention from two famous Welsh clubs, with Neath RFC give him a trial in 1950 and Pontypridd RFC in 1952. His first-class rugby union debut was for Neath against Penarth on 2 December 1950.[7] His single appearance for Pontypridd was on 26 December 1952 against Cheltenham when he scored Pontypridd's only try in a 12–3 defeat.[8][9]

However no offer came from Cardiff, with the club having passed on other black and mixed race players (like Johnny Freeman and Colin Dixon), it has since been suggested that the club had issues with racism.[10]

Boston was called up for National Service with the Royal Signals at Catterick, North Yorkshire, which saw him scouted by a number of rugby league clubs.[11]

On 13 March 1953 Wigan chairman Joe Taylor and vice-chairman Billy Gore travelled to Boston's home in Cardiff and offered him £1,000 to sign for them. Although that was very large offer, Boston's mother rejected it on his behalf. A second offer of £1,500 was made in cash and the money was spread out on the table in five pound notes to show the family how much money it was. Boston later stated that he still didn't want to sign the contract and his mother told him "Don't worry son, I'll get rid of them for you. I'll ask them for so much that they'll go home." Boston's mother told the delegation that Billy would only sign for £3,000, double the increased offer (equivalent to £105,800 in 2023).[12] Within a minute the delegation agreed to the terms. Boston stated that he still did not want to sign, but his mother had given their word and Boston signed the contract.[13] Boston later told one journalist that he cried after signing for Wigan as he knew his dreams of playing rugby union for Cardiff and Wales were over,[4] because any player at the time who played rugby league, was banned from playing rugby union.[14]

Boston made his first team debut for Wigan against Barrow in November 1953 scoring a try.[15]

Boston played at centre in Wigan's 13–9 victory over Workington Town in the 1957–58 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 10 May 1958, in front of a crowd of 66,109.[16]

Boston played stand-off in Wigan's 8–13 defeat by Oldham in the 1957–58 Lancashire Cup Final at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 19 October 1957.[17]

He played on the wing and scored two-tries in the 30–13 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1958–59 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 9 May 1959, in front of a crowd of 79,811.[18]

Boston scored two tries in Wigan's 1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season Championship final victory.[19]

Boston played on the wing in the 20–16 victory over Hunslet in the 1964–65 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016.[20]

Towards the end of his career, Boston played for Blackpool Borough, making his final appearance in 1970. He scored a total of 571 tries in his career, making him the second highest all-time try scorer in the history of the game after Brian Bevan.[21]

Boston became one of fewer than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1,000-points in their rugby league career.[22]

During his time at Wigan, he beat Johnny Ring's record of 368 tries, going on to score a record still held to this day of 478 for the club.[23] Boston also twice equalled the then Wigan club record of seven tries in a game, only surpassed since by Martin Offiah and Shaun Edwards.[citation needed]

International career

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Boston played 31 test matches for Great Britain and was the first player to score four tries in a game, against New Zealand. He was the first non-white player to be selected for a Lions tour, doing so on their tour Australia and New Zealand in 1954, on which he set a new record of 36 tries in 18 games.[24] Boston also played in the 1962 tour, scoring a further 22 tries.[25]

Boston also represented Other Nationalities in the 1955–56 European Rugby League Championship. He also played at centre for them in a friendly, a 2–19 defeat by St. Helens at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Wednesday 27 January 1965, to mark the switching-on of new floodlights.[26]

After retirement

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After finishing his playing career, he took over the running of the Griffin Hotel pub near Central Park until his retirement.[citation needed]

Boston became one of the original inductee of three hall of fames: the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame in 1988, the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame in 1998

Boston was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours "for services to the community in Wigan, Greater Manchester."[27]

The Billy Boston Stand at Central Park was named in his honour.[when?] Similarly, the East Stand at the DW Stadium was officially renamed after Billy Boston in 2009. However, landlords Wigan Athletic later renamed the stand in October 2021.

In 2016, Boston was diagnosed with vascular dementia.[28] The same year, he was one of five players to feature on the rugby league statue at Wembley Stadium.[29] A second statue of him was unveiled a month later in Wigan.[30]

In December 2020 Boston was named as one of three Welsh rugby league players to be honoured with a new statue in Cardiff Bay, the other two being Gus Risman and Clive Sullivan.[31] The third statue of him was unveiled in July 2023.[32]

On 10 June 2025, Boston became the first ever rugby league player to receive a knighthood for service to the sport,[d] as part of the 2025 Birthday Honours.[37] Boston's investiture took place before the official announcement of the honour, due to uncertainty over Boston's health.[38] The London Gazette notice announcing the knighthood, dated 14 June 2025, noted that it was backdated to 10 June 2025.[39]

Honours

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Wigan Warriors

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Great Britain

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Other Nationalities

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Honours

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Notes

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  1. ^ 31 tests and one non-test international
  2. ^ 24 test tries
  3. ^ 72 test points
  4. ^ Glynn Hamilton West who played for Leeds in the early days of the Northern Union was knighted in 1916 for his services to the war effort.[33] Billy Bulmer, another former England international was knighted in 1922 but his knighthood was "for public service".[34] New Zealanders, Graham Lowe and Peter Leitch were knighted in 2013 and 2010 respectively but neither of these were directly for "services to rugby league".[35][36]
  5. ^ Wigan Warrors website erroneously records this as a KBE[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Congratulations to Sir Billy Boston!". www.therhinos.co.uk. Leeds Rhinos. 10 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Sir Billy Boston becomes rugby league's first knight". Rugby League International Federation.
  4. ^ a b c Jackson, Peter (5 December 2016). "Billy Boston: Welsh rugby legend who never played at the Arms Park". BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Billy Boston - Welsh Sports Hall of Fame". Welsh Sports {!} Hall of Fame. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Our History". CIACs RFC. Archived from the original on 9 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Neath too good for Penarth". Neath Guardian. No. 1671. 8 December 1950. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Boston, Billy". Pontypridd-RFC. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Cheltenham *3-1-12; Pontypridd 0-1-3". Western Mail. No. 26020. 27 December 1952. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ Hitt, Carolyn (16 May 2020). "The lost Welsh rugby heroes who never got to play union for Wales because they were black". Wales Online. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  11. ^ Wightwick, Abbie (10 June 2025). "The rugby legend Wales didn't want because of the colour of his skin". Wales Online. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  12. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  13. ^ Jackson, Peter (5 December 2016). "Billy Boston: Welsh rugby legend who never played at the Arms Park". BBC.
  14. ^ "Amateur status attacked by MPS". Independent.co.uk. 17 March 1995.
  15. ^ "Wigan 27, Barrow 15". Liverpool Daily Post. No. 30661. 23 November 1953. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "1957-1958 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  17. ^ "Wigan did not know!". Newton & Earlestown Guardian. No. 4035. 25 October 1957. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ "1958-1959 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  19. ^ "Wigan's forwards established the ascendency". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. No. 30690. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. ^ "1964-1965 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2016. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  21. ^ Thomson, Doug (10 June 2025). "It's Sir Billy Boston as Rugby League is recognised at last – Total Rugby League". Total RL. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  22. ^ Robert Gate (1988). "Gone North – Volume 2". R. E. Gate. ISBN 0-9511190-3-6
  23. ^ "RECORDS" Archived 28 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine at wiganwarriors.com
  24. ^ "Billy Boston: First non-white player to represent Great Britain on a Lions tour receives rugby league's first knighthood". Sky Sports.
  25. ^ Cummings, Thomas (24 February 2010). "Legends: Billy Boston". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  26. ^ Cook, H.B. (1965). Programme - St. Helens versus Other Nationalities. St. Helens Rugby F.C. Ltd.
  27. ^ "No. 54427". The London Gazette. 14 June 1996. p. 15.
  28. ^ "Rugby league star Sir Billy Boston's knighthood 'a little bit late', says son". Border Counties Advertizer. 10 June 2025.
  29. ^ "Rugby League legends immortalised in Wembley statue". Sky Sports.
  30. ^ "Billy Boston: Wigan rugby legend's statue is unveiled". BBC News. 2 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Boston, Risman & Sullivan to be honoured". BBC Sport. 2 December 2020.
  32. ^ Lloyd, Matt (19 July 2023). "Rugby trailblazers Billy Boston, Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman 'finally recognised' in Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  33. ^ Caplan, Phil (July 2025). "Our opening knight". Forty20. Vol. 15, no. 7. p. 13.
  34. ^ "Sir Billy Boston becomes rugby league's first knight". Rugby League International Federation. 10 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  35. ^ "New Year Honours List 2013 | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  36. ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours List 2010 | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  37. ^ Thomson, Doug (10 June 2025). "It's Sir Billy Boston as Rugby League is recognised at last – Total Rugby League". Total RL. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  38. ^ "Billy Boston to become first ever rugby league knight". BBC News. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  39. ^ "William BOSTON | Knights Bachelor | The Gazette". London Gazette. 13 June 2025.
  40. ^ "No. 64759". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2025. p. B2.
  41. ^ "Sir Billy Boston KBE".
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