Liam Watts (born 8 July 1990) is an English professional

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 plays as a forward for

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

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 ...

. He is an

England Knights England Knights is the feeder team for the England national rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to compete for a place in ...

international. He has previously played for

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 ...

and

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

in the

. He has spent time on loan at

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: * Gateshead Thunder (1999), a rugby league team formed in 1999 and then merged with Hull Sharks * Gateshead Thunder (2000), a rugby league team formed in 2000, which became Newcastle Thunder in 2015 {{Disambigu ...

and

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

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) ...

Background

Watts was born in

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

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, and he was a junior at

Featherstone Lions Featherstone Lions are an amateur rugby league club from Featherstone, West Yorkshire who play in the National Conference League and the Yorkshire Men's League. The juniors (U7 - U18) play in the Yorkshire Junior & Youth League. The club also h ...

Career

Castleford Tigers

Watts made his first team debut and scored a try for the

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 an 88-10 victory over

Castleford Lock Lane Lock Lane ARLFC are an amateur Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Their home ground is the Castleford Sports Stadium, Hicksons Arena, part of the Lock Lane Sports Centre. The first team currently play in the National Conference L ...

in the Challenge Cup third round on 11 March 2007.

Hull Kingston Rovers

He made his

debut in a Challenge Cup fourth round tie in April 2008, and signed a two-year contract until the end of the 2010 season in June 2008. Liam Watts

After a fine season in 2010 in which Watts played 26 of 27

matches, he was called up to the England training squad for the Four Nations Championship in September 2010, and awarded the 2010 Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal.

Gateshead Thunder (loan)

In 2009 he spent time on loan from Hull KR at

in League 1.

Hull FC

Watts requested to be released from his contract with Hull Kingston Rovers in June 2012, and joined

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Hull coach

Peter Gentle Peter Gentle (born ) is a former Australian rugby league coach and former footballer who played in the 1980s. Gentle is currently the Recruitment Manager of Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Club career A halfback and St. George junior, Gentle playe ...

said: "Liam is certainly a promising player for the future and we are looking forward to helping him realise his potential". He signed a new three-year contract in July 2014, and a further two-year contract in March 2017. He won 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 ...

with Hull in 2016 and 2017 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

Doncaster (loan)

He spent time on loan from

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, playing for

in 2014.

Castleford Tigers

Watts signed for

on a three-year deal in March 2018. Hull had agreed a fee with

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 ...

side

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 ...

, but Castleford's "last-minute significant offer" saw him return to

Wheldon Road Wheldon Road (known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship purposes) is the home ground of Castleford Tigers Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. It is on Wheldon Road, just outside Castleford town centre. The record at ...

. He made 23 appearances in his first year. Watts had an outstanding personal season in 2019, playing in all but 2 of Castleford's games and earning a place in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists and ...

. At the club's end of season awards, he was named Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, and won the inaugural Immortals Award voted for by Castleford legends. He was also named as the Castleford Tigers Supporters Club player of the year. In July 2019, he signed a three-year extension until the end of the 2023 season. On 17 July 2021, he played for Castleford in their

2021 Challenge Cup final The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was the 120th final of the Rugby Football League's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. It took place on 17 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium between Castleford Tigers and St Helens. Background The 2021 Challenge Cup ...

loss against St Helens. Watts played 20 games for Castleford in the 2023 season as the club finished 11th on the table and narrowly avoided relegation. In the opening match of the 2024 season, Watts was controversially sent off for a high tackle on

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 ...

Tyler Dupree Tyler Dupree (born 8 February 2000) is a rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Wigan Warriors in the Super League. He previously spent time on loan from the Leeds Rhinos at the York City Knights, Featherstone Rovers and the Batley Bull ...

, under new laws introduced to Super League. On 27 February 2025, Castleford announced that Watts had left the club by mutual agreement.

Hull FC

On 3 March 2025 it was reported that he had re-joined

International career

England Knights

Watts played for the

in 2011.

England

Good performances for Castleford saw Watts called up for the England Performance squad in March 2019.

England 9s

He was selected in

England 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format, to be held in Australia on 18 and 19 October 2019. Twelve national teams competed, with four of those also fielding women's team ...

squad for the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League membe ...

Club statistics

References

External links

Profile at castlefordtigers.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at hullfc.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at hullkr.co.ukProfile at superleague.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Liam 1990 births Living people 21st-century English sportsmen Castleford Tigers players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players England Knights national rugby league team players English rugby league players Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers players Newcastle Thunder players Rugby league props Rugby league players from Featherstone