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

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 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 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 ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and at club level for Halifax ( captain),

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 ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

. 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'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and 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 the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales, and he died aged 49 in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Rugby career

Halifax

Dixon, like Gus Risman and Billy Boston, was a product of South Church Street School in

. Playing in the Cardiff RFC 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, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in the 1963–64 Yorkshire Cup 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 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

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 system ...

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 system ...

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 Final of 1969 losing to

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

. Had

won he would almost certainly have been awarded the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed i ...

. 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 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 21 October 1972, played in the 9-19 defeat by

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 ...

in the

1973–74 Lancashire Cup The 1973–74 Lancashire Cup was the sixty-first occasion of the Lancashire Cup. Wigan won the trophy by beating Salford by the score of 19–9 in the final. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington. The attendance was 8,012 and receipts ...

Final during the 1973–74 season at

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

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 1974–75 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1974–75 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 2 November 1974, and played in the 7-16 defeat by

in the

1975–76 Lancashire Cup 1975–76 was the sixty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Widnes won the trophy by beating Salford by the score of 16-7 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). ...

Final during the 1975–76 season at

on Saturday 4 October 1975. Dixon played , 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 7-12 defeat by

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

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 in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Rugby League Club from 1878 to 1992. T ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district 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 confluence into ...

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 K ...

Final during the 1974–75 season at

the Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, 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 after the abunda ...

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, but played one last season in the

winning

team during the 1980–81 season. He played 418 times for

with 738 appearances in all first class games.

Representative honours

Dixon played in the

1972 World Cup The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 a ...

winning side and toured

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

in 1974, playing in all three Tests against Australia (1 win, 2 losses) and all three in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(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 match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es for

as both a

back The human back, also called the dorsum, 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 column runs ...

, and a forward, they are; Colin Dixon, Frank Gallagher, Laurie Gilfedder, Billy Jarman and Harry Street. 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 Black British sportspeople Footballers who switched code Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax R.L.F.C. captains Halifax R.L.F.C. coaches Halifax R.L.F.C. 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