William Lloyd Francis (23 September 1947 – 17 February 2024) was an English-born 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 played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level 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 ...

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

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

, St. Helens,

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and

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, ...

, as a or .

Background

Francis 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 Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England, and attended Normanton Grammar School. He died on 17 February 2024, at the age of 76.

Playing career

Wigan

Francis made his début for

in March 1964, at the age of 16, playing on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

in a 12–0 victory over Liverpool City in a Western Division Championship match 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 ...

. He became a first team regular during the 1967–68 season, and was the club's top try scorer for the season with 29 tries. He improved on this total in 1968–69 with 40 tries, making him the league's overall top try scorer. He also won his first trophy during this season, playing in Wigan's 7–4 victory over St Helens in the 1968 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at

on 17 December 1968. Francis helped Wigan win the Lancashire League during the 1969–70 season. He played in the 1969 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy final on 16 December 1969, kicking two

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s, but losing 6–11 defeat to

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, Staffor ...

. He also played at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

for the first time in the 1970 Challenge Cup final, but lost 2–7 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 ...

. Francis also won the Lancashire Cup twice while at Wigan, playing at , and scoring a try in Wigan's 15–8 victory over

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

1971–72 Lancashire Cup The 1971–72 Lancashire Cup was the fifty-ninth occasion on which the completion had been held. Wigan Warriors, Wigan won the trophy by beating Widnes Vikings, Widnes by the score of 15-8 in the final. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccl ...

final at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St Helens on Saturday 28 August 1971, and playing in a 19–9 victory over

in the 1973–74 Lancashire Cup 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 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 13 October 1973. He played left- and was sent-off for fighting with

Gary Hetherington Gary Hetherington (born 1954) is an English professional rugby league executive and former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He is the chief executive officer of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. As a player, Hetherington pla ...

in the 78th minute in Wigan's 8–7 defeat by

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in the 1976–77 Players No.6 Trophy

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

during the 1976–77 season at

Clarence Street Clarence Street is a former rugby stadium in York, England. From 1885 until 1989 it was the home of York F.C. (later York R.L.F.C.) before being sold and demolished. The site is now housing. History York Football Club was formed in 1868 and p ...

on Sunday 7 November 1976, he scored his last try for Wigan in a 52–8 victory over

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

at Central Park, Wigan on Sunday 28 August 1977, and he played his last match for Wigan in a 18–13 defeat by

Bradford Northern 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 ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Sunday 9 October 1977.

St Helens

Francis was transferred to St Helens in October 1977 for a fee of £8,000. He played in St Helens' 26–11 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1977 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at Craven Park,

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

on Tuesday 13 December 1977, and played in a 13–7 defeat by

in the 1978 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1978–79 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 12 December 1978.

Later career

Francis moved to

, making his debut in August 1979. He then moved on to

during the 1980–81 season, where he finished his playing career.

International honours

Francis had Welsh

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

s, and was eligible to play for

due to the grandparent rule. He won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Wigan in 1975 against France, England, in the

1975 Rugby League World Cup The 1975 Rugby League World Cup (officially known as the 1975 Rugby League World Championship) was the seventh Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams and ran from 2 March to 12 November. Australia were the w ...

against France, England, Australia, New Zealand, England, Australia, New Zealand, and France, in 1977 against England, and France, while at St. Helens in 1978 against France, England, and Australia, in 1979 against France, and England, while at Oldham in 1980 against France, and England, and won

s for

while at Wigan in 1967 against Australia, and in the 1977 Rugby League World Cup against New Zealand, Australia (two matches). Jointly with John Mantle, he coached

for one game in a 60–13 defeat by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 28 May 1978 at

, St Helens; both Francis & Mantle played that day.

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.comProfile at saints.org.ukWales 1975 Team - Seven of these players played for Salford at some stageBill Francis - Salford v Swinton 1981Packing down against Bradford in the 17-13 Challenge Cup win February 1981Bill Francis - Salford RLFC 1981
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Bill 1947 births 2024 deaths English people of Welsh descent English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Featherstone Rugby league wingers Salford Red Devils players St Helens R.F.C. players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team coaches Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Wigan Warriors players Yorkshire rugby league team players 20th-century English sportsmen