Wigan Album

Normally i do not like to contradict people but i'm dead sure that the Wigan player in the back ground is in fact BILLY BRETHERTON (COUSIN)NOT McGURRIN.

Wembley was open in those days, at both ends. This was an era of fine rugby players who graced the hallowed turf with poise and skill. I do believe that the game was better then; better to watch, and better to play.

This is not Billy. His hair was fairer and he was of a more stocky build.

There was a wonderful programme years ago with the late Colin Welland describing the 'real' rugby league and what it was about, how it was played and what it meant. Don't know if anyone saw it.

I take your point Alan but on balance I still favour Bernard McGurrin, mainly because Bill I always thought had a fairer complexion and how can I put this, a more "smiley" countenance.

Bill Bretherton did not play against Workington. Played year after against Hull.

My fault, I should have checked earlier, this is the 1958 Final, Bill Bretherton did not play in this match but appeared in the Final a year in 1959 in Wigan's win against Hull.

This is not old news but is relevant to Billy.
On Dec 5th this year Billy was honoured with the lifetime achievement award, presented in his hometown of Cardiff by Jonathan Davies the ex-Welsh RU and GB RL International. The following is a brief summary of this remarkable gentleman's life and career, a synopsis of the story by Peter Jackson, Journalist and Broadcaster.
Once upon a time long ago, two boys born in the same city in the same year grew up as neighbours - one at number four Angelina Street in the old Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, the other at number seven.
They made it together into the same Cardiff schoolboy rugby team of the late 1940s and then they went their separate ways.
The boy at number four - the late Joe Erskine - became heavyweight champion of Britain and the Empire, a stylist whose ring career included victories over three world title contenders - Willie Pastrano, Henry Cooper, George Chuvalo.
And what became of the boy at number seven Angelina Street? Well, how long have you got because we are talking about the greatest try-scorer in rugby history - union and league - 571 touchdowns in 562 matches.
His name is Billy Boston.
His mother, Nellie, was Cardiff-Irish, his father, John all five feet four inches of him, was a merchant seaman from Sierra Leone. They had 11 children and Billy came smack in the middle.
When Wigan tried to sign him they offered £1,500 but Billy didn't want to sign, after a while his mother Nellie took charge and told the Wigan Directors if they offered £3,000 Billy would sign.
Billy thought to himself: "That's a really smart way of getting rid of them. Three grand? Nobody's worth that much."
What they had no way of knowing was that before leaving for Cardiff, the Wigan delegation had drawn £3,000 out of the bank.
They put their heads together for less than a minute and said: "OK, Mrs Boston we will pay you three thousand pounds. All Billy has to do is sign this contract"
Boston didn't want to sign it and his mother had to remind him - Wigan had come up with the money, now they had to keep their word.
He signed and years later admitted that he cried that night, that he couldn't sleep. His dream of playing for Cardiff had gone, never mind playing for Wales.
But that was Cardiff's fault. Their complete failure to show any interest in the player beggared belief.
Nobody could be sure why they ignored him, but at about the same time they also ignored other black players from Butetown, like Johnny Freeman and Colin Dixon who both made it big in League.
And that left Boston with one possible explanation - that they didn't like the colour of his skin.
The late Great Britain test captain Vince Karalius, one of the hardest men to play the game, described Boston 'probably the most magnetic crowd puller in the history of British Rugby League.'
Another called him the Oscar Peterson of 50s rugby, a striking comparison with the vistuoso jazz pianist given that Billy led most opponents a merry dance.
But he wasn't just a great player. The fans loved him for that, of course. But they loved him too for his humility.
The late Phil Melling, Emeritus Professor of American Literature at Swansea University, put it best. Billy was a showman but never a show off.
In 15 years at Wigan until the late 1960s, he left records that will never be broken, not least 478 tries in 487 matches for the club.
And even when he was winning Challenge Cup finals at Wembley, with Billy it was all about the team, never about himself.
They loved him so much in Wigan that they stumped up £90,000 to put a bronze statue of him up in the town.
A truly great player but an even greater gentleman.

In the interest of accuracy, I think Brian Bevan actually scored more career tries than Billy, but I'm sure all their opponents would rather have tried tackling Bevan than Billy B. any day of the week.

I take your point John, but opponents of both would have had great difficulty stopping them, both fantastic players in their own different ways.

To-day Rugby players have short sleeve shirts so they can show off tattoos on their arms. Can't see the point really.

Billy's that good, he can play with one arm behind his back.

I saw both Bevan play for Warrington and Boston Play for Wigan over a decade or so. In no way am I intending to be disrespectful of Brian Bevan, but in all honesty to attempt to put Bevan in the same category as Boston verges on the ridiculous, I don"t care how many tries Bevan scored!

Garry,agree with you and what a mess they look.They will be sorry one day.tattos or no tattos none of today's players will ever be as good as Billy.