Colin J. Dixon (3 December 1943 – 21 June 1993) was a Welsh

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s. He played club level rugby union (RU) fo
Cardiff International Athletic Club
and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and at club level for Halifax (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. He played as a or , and coached club level rugby league (RL) for

, and is a Halifax Hall of Fame Inductee.

Background

Dixon was born in

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', ) is a district and community (Wales), community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marqu ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales, and he died aged 49 in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...

Rugby career

Halifax

Dixon, like

Gus Risman Augustus "Gus" John Ferdinand Risman (21 March 1911 – 17 October 1994) was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s through to the 1950s, and coached in the 1940s through to the 1970s. A devastating three-quarter ...

and Billy Boston, was a product of South Church Street School in

. Playing in the

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club () is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Ca ...

Youth team, he was already showing something of his future potential but was overlooked by

(RU) Youth. As a seventeen-year-old he signed for Halifax in 1961. Initially he played as a , providing many tries for his John "Johnny" Freeman, by coincidence also a former pupil of South Church Street School, but it was not until he moved to the back row of the pack in 1963 that he revealed his tremendous power. Dixon played in Halifax's 10–0 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

1963–64 Yorkshire Cup The 1963–64 Yorkshire Cup was the fifty-sixth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Halifax won the trophy by beating Featherstone Rovers by the score of 10-0 The match was played at Belle Vue, in the City of Wake ...

Final during the 1963–64 season at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

on Saturday 2 November 1963. In 1964 he was a key player in the first Halifax side to win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

since 1907. Dixon played in Halifax's 15–7 victory over St. Helens in the 1964–65

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Final during the 1964–65 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 22 May 1965.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 70 – 1964–65". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a As Halifax's captain in the 1967 and 1968 seasons Dixon led the side by example and was rewarded with his first

cap in 1968.

Salford

Transferred a few weeks later to

for a record £15,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £431,500 in 2016), he played in the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Final of 1969 losing to

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. Had

won he would almost certainly have been awarded the Lance Todd Trophy. That same season he was the

's highest scoring forward with 20 tries. Dixon played in

's 25–11 victory over Swinton in the 1972–73 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1972–73 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

on Saturday 21 October 1972, played in the 9–19 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the 1973–74 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at

on Saturday 13 October 1973, played in the 2–6 defeat by

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in the 1974–75 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

on Saturday 2 November 1974, and played in the 7–16 defeat by

in the 1975–76 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1975–76 season at

on Saturday 4 October 1975. Dixon played , and scored a try in

's 7–12 defeat by

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the 1972–73 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1972–73 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 24 March 1973. Dixon played in

's 0–0 draw with

in the

1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom ...

Final during the 1974–75 season at

the Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, City of Salford, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named ...

on Tuesday 17 December 1974, and played in the 10–5 victory over

in the

Final replay during the 1974–75 season at

on Tuesday 28 January 1975. He played his last game for

in 1980 before being sold to

for a fee of £4,000. He played for one season at the club, his last in professional rugby league, and helped the team reach the 1980–81 Challenge Cup final, although he did not play in the final itself. He played 418 times for

with 738 appearances in all first class games.

Representative honours

Dixon played in the

1972 World Cup winning side and toured

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

in 1974, playing in all three Tests against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(1 win, 2 losses) and all three in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(2 wins, 1 loss). Perhaps the highlight of his successful club career was winning the League Championship with

in 1973–74 and again in 1975–76. As an international he won 15 caps for

, and 14 for

. Only five players have played test matches for

as both a

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

, and a forward, they are; Colin Dixon, Frank Gallagher, Laurie Gilfedder, Billy Jarman and Harry Street.

Coaching career

Dixon had a brief spell as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at Salford in 1977–78. After retiring as a player, he went on to coach Halifax (1982–84) and

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

(1986–89). He later returned to Halifax to coach the academy team.

Personal life

Dixon's son, Paul, played

for

, and became superintendent of the Airedale and North Bradford police division. His daughter, Michelle, married the former

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

footballer, Peter Butler. Dixon's grandson, Chester Butler, was a member of the Wales squad for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

References

External links

Wakefield's spirit is intact
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
'Colin Dixon with the fans after Wembley 1969' photo at flickr.com'Wales 1975 Team – Seven of these players played for Salford at some stage' photo at flickr.com'Chairman John Wilkinson with former greats at a dinner in 1987' photo at flickr.comPhotograph "Colin Dixon gets the ball away – Colin Dixon of Halifax gets the ball away despite the attention of Geoff Wrigglesworth in the Boxing Day game at Odsal. – Date: 26/12/1967" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph 'Bill Ramsey forces his way over – Northern prop forward Bill Ramsey forces his way over Salford's try line after playing the ball forward. – Date: 25/04/1974' at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Colin 1943 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Black British sportsmen Footballers who switched code Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax Panthers captains Halifax Panthers coaches Halifax Panthers players Hull Kingston Rovers players People from Butetown Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby league second-rows Rugby league utility players Salford Red Devils coaches Salford Red Devils players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league coaches Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Other Nationalities rugby league team players