Kenneth Gee (23 September 1916 – 17 April 1989) was an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

winning 17 caps between 1946 and 1951,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

winning 18-caps between 1943 and 1951, and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

and

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

( Heritage № 417) (

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

guest), as a , i.e. number 8 or 10, during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s. He is an inductee of the

Wigan Hall of Fame The Wigan Warriors are an English professional rugby league club founded in 1872. In 1998, the club created a hall of fame to honour former players and coaches for their contribution to the club. The inaugural members were Billy Boston and Shaun Ed ...

, having featured in Wigan's

Rugby Football League Championship The Rugby Football League Championship First Division was the top division of rugby league in England between 1895 and 1996, when it was replaced by the Super League. History 1895–1904: Foundations The first season of rugby league (189 ...

wins of 1945–46, 1946–47 and 1949–50 as well as their Challenge Cup victories of 1948 and 1951. He also won Lancashire Cup winner's medals seven times.

Background

Ken Gee was born in

, England, and he died aged 72. Gee was the nephew of the rugby league footballer; Samuel Gee, and he was the grandfather of the rugby league footballer; Sam Gee. Ken Gee

Career

Signing with his home town club Wigan in 1933, Ken Gee went on to play played at right-, i.e. number 10, in

's 10–7 victory over

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in the 1938–39 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1938–39 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 22 October 1938. Gee played Tighthead- for a

Rugby League XIII The Rugby League XIII was an invitation team run along the same lines as the Rugby Union Barbarians team. Particularly in the Second World War, when international fixtures were restricted to England V Wales. The Rugby League would play representat ...

against

Northern Command XIII Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax on Saturday 21 March 1942. Ken Gee played left-, i.e. number 8, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

's 13-9 victory over Dewsbury in 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 system ...

Final first-leg during the 1943–44 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

on Saturday 13 May 1944, and played left- in the 12-5 victory over Dewsbury in the

Final second-leg during the 1943–44 season at

Crown Flatt Crown Flatt, currently known as the Tetley's Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league stadium in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of the Dewsbury Rams, who play in the Championship. The ground occupies the site of t ...

, Dewsbury on Saturday 20 May 1944. During the 1945–46 season Gee played at left- in Wigan's 3–7 loss to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the

1945–46 Lancashire Cup 1945–46 was the thirty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held, and the first since the end of the Second World War in Europe. For the first time for several seasons there is a new name on the trophy; that of one of ...

Final 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 lea ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

on Saturday 27 October 1945. During the 1946–47 season Gee played at left- in Wigan's 9–3 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the 1946–47 Lancashire Cup Final at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 26 October 1946. During the 1947–48 season Gee played at left- in the 10–7 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the

1947–48 Lancashire Cup 1947–48 was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 10-7 The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (historically in the count ...

Final at

on Saturday 1 November 1947. During the 1948–49 season he played in the 14–8 victory over

in the 1948–49 Lancashire Cup Final at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 13 November 1948, Ken Gee played left-, i.e. number 8, in

's 8-3 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

in the

1947–48 Challenge Cup The 1947–48 Challenge Cup was the 47th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Bradford Northern at Wembley Stadium, and was the first ever rugby league match to be televise ...

Final during the 1947–48 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on Saturday 1 May 1948, in front of a crowd of 91,465. During the 1949–50 season Gee played at left-, and scored a

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

in the 20–7 victory over

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

in the 1949–50 Lancashire Cup Final at

on Saturday 29 October 1949. He played left- and scored 5-

s in the 28–5 victory over

in the

1950–51 Lancashire Cup 1950–51 was the thirty-eighth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 28-5 The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, ( historically in the county of ...

Final during the 1950–51 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 4 November 1950, played left- and scored a

in the 14–6 victory over

in the 1951–52 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1951–52 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 27 October 1951, and played left- and scored a

in the 8–16 defeat by St. Helens in the 1953–54 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1953–54 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 24 October 1953. Gee joined Wigan teammate Joe Egan on tours down under in 1946 and 1950, playing in all nine matches of three consecutive

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

matches against Australia. On the famous unbeaten tour of 1946 to Australia, the "Indomitables" tour, the front row in the first two tests of

Frank Whitcombe Frank William Whitcombe (29 May 1913 – 17 January 1958), also known by the nickname of "The Big Man", was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played rugby union (RU) for Cardiff ...

, Joe Egan, and Ken Gee laid the foundation for this Ashes win. Gee amassed a total of 559 games for Wigan, second only to Jim Sullivan. He also kicked 508 goals. In recognition of Gee, an amateur rugby competition in Wigan called "Ken Gee Cup" was formed. Gee died 17 April 1989 (aged 72) and was buried at St Matthew's Church at Highfield, Wigan.

Background

Career

References

External links