Liam Kay (born 17 December 1991) is a retired

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international

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. He previously played for the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, and on loan from the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

in the

Kingstone Press Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League. Intr ...

. Kay has also played for the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

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 sys ...

and the

Toronto Wolfpack Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

in the Championship and the Super League. He also spent time on loan from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 ...

in the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

Background

Kay was born in

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 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England.

Career

Wakefield

Kay signed a professional contract at

in 2012 as a halfback but was mostly played on the wing. He scored 7 tries for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in 5 appearances. In 2013 he was sent on dual registration to

where he played at both halfback but mostly on the wing as he had done at Wakefield. He scored 12 tries in 21 appearances for Doncaster before he returned to Wakefield where a hat-trick of tries against

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

in the closing game of the 2013 season.

Leigh

Kay signed for

side Leigh in 2014 where he played as a . In his first season with the club, they finished top of the league and won the Grand Final against

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 ...

to win the Championship for the first time since 2004. In 2015 Kay equalled the record for most tries in a season by a Leigh which was 36 as the Leigh Centurions again won the Championship title.

Toronto

Kay was the first-ever signing to play for the newly formed Canadian club,

, for their inaugural season in 2017. Kay ended that season as the division's top try scorer. He was also named in the

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 ...

. In 2018 again

would finish top of the championship and would enter the playoffs for a chance for promotion. Unfortunately Kay suffered an extremely complex injury in the first week of the play-offs, unfortunately that wasn't the first of the bad news for

as they would later fail to reach the Super league losing to

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

In the Million Pound Game. In 2019 Kay would miss the first few games due to the injury he sustained in August 2018. But he made his return on Canadian soil against

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

. Again

would finish top of the table and at last gain promotion to Super League with Kay firmly in the mix.

Wakefield (II)

On 16 July 2020, Kay was loaned to

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

from the

for the remainder of the 2020 Super League season, while also signing a two-year deal with the Trinity for 2021 & 2022. Kay played 25 games for Wakefield Trinity in the

Super League XXVIII Super League XXVIII, known as the 2023 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the Super League and 129th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The season began on 16 February 2023, and ended with the Grand Final ...

season as the club finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

which ended their 24-year stay in the top flight.

Honours

Leigh

: (3) 2014, 2015, 2016

Toronto Wolfpack

RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...

: (1) 2017 *

: (2) 2018, 2019

Wakefield Trinity

RFL 1895 Cup The Rugby Football League 1895 Cup is an annual rugby league knockout tournament for clubs in the RFL Championship and RFL League One. History and format There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the ...

: (1) 2024 *

RFL Championship Leaders' Shield The RFL Championship Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Championship in the sport of rugby league football. Currently the Shield is awarded to the team finishing top of the Championship at the end of the re ...

: 2024

References

External links

Toronto Wolfpack profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Liam 1991 births Living people Doncaster R.L.F.C. players English people of Irish descent English rugby league players Ireland national rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Oxford Rugby League players Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Leeds Toronto Wolfpack players Wakefield Trinity players Irish rugby league players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Irish expatriate rugby league players English expatriate rugby league players Expatriate rugby league players in Canada