William Benyon (born 7 March 1945) is an English former 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 and 1970s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. 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 ...

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 ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and at club level for St Helens,

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

and

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 ...

, as a or , and coached at club level for St Helens and

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 ...

Background

Billy Benyon was born in St. Helens,

, England.

Playing career

St Helens

Benyon played in St. Helens' 7–4 victory over Swinton in the 1962 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1962–63 season 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 ...

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 ...

on Saturday 27 October 1962, played left- and scored a try in the 12–4 victory over Swinton in the 1964 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

on Saturday 24 October 1964, played left- in the 2–2 draw with

in the 1967 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1967–68 season at

on Saturday 7 October 1967, played right- in the 13–10 victory over

in the 1967 Lancashire Cup Final replay during the 1967–68 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 2 December 1967, played right- in the 30–2 victory over

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 ...

in the 1968 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1968–69 season at

on Friday 25 October 1968, and played right- in the 4–7 defeat by

in the 1970 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1970–71 season at

on Saturday 28 November 1970. Benyon played at in St Helens' 35–12 victory over Halifax 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 ...

Final during the 1965–66 season at

on Saturday 28 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 30,165. He also played in the 1970–71 Championship final in the 16–12 victory against

, scoring the winning try in the last minute of the game. Benyon played left- in St. Helens' 21–2 victory over

in the 1966 Challenge Cup Final during the 1965–66 season 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536, played right- in the 16–13 victory over

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 ...

in the 1972 Challenge Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

on Saturday 13 May 1972, and played in the 20–5 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 1976 Challenge Cup Final during the 1975–76 season at

on Saturday 8 May 1976. Benyon played left- in St. Helens' 0–4 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1965 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1965–66 season 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 Tuesday 14 December 1965, played right- in the 4–7 defeat by

in the 1968 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1968-69 season at

on Tuesday 17 December 1968. played right- in the 5–9 defeat by

in the 1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1970–71 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Tuesday 15 December 1970, played right- in the 8–2 victory over

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

in the 1971 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1971–72 season at

on Tuesday 14 December 1971, and played right- and scored a try in the 22–2 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in the 1975 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1975–76 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 16 December 1975. Benyon played in St. Helens' 2–25 defeat by the

1975 NSWRFL season The 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 68th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydn ...

premiers,

Eastern Suburbs Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the unofficial

1976 World Club Challenge The 1976 World Club Challenge was an unofficial trial of what would later become the World Club Challenge concept, with the 1975 NSWRFL season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs hosting the 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season's Premiershi ...

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

on Tuesday 29 June 1976.

Warrington

Billy Benyon played right- in

's 9–4 victory over

in the 1977–78 Players No.6 Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 January 1978, and played left- in the 4–16 defeat by

in the 1978–79 John Player Trophy Final during the 1978–79 season at

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 April 1979.

International honours

Billy Benyon 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 St Helens in 1968 against Wales, in 1970 against Wales, and won

s for

while at St Helens in 1971 against France (2 matches), New Zealand, and New Zealand (

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

/ substitute), and in 1972 against France (2 matches).

Notable tour matches

Billy Benyon played right centre ie number three in St Helens 11-7 victory over Australia national rugby league team at Knowsley Road on 13 November 1973. Billy had a superb game in an under strength Saints side who beat a team contains Australian legends Bobby Fulton and Artie Beetson amongst others. Billy Benyon played left- in

's 15–12 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 ...

on Wednesday 11 October 1978.

Coaching career

County Cup Final appearances

Billy Benyon was the

's 26–10 victory over

in the 1980 Lancashire Cup Final replay during the 1980–81 season at

, St. Helens on Saturday 4 October 1980, in St. Helens' 0–16 defeat by

in the 1982 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1982–83 season at

on Saturday 23 October 1982, and in the 26–18 victory over

in the 1984 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1984–85 season at

on Sunday 28 October 1984.

Honoured at St Helens R.F.C.

Billy Benyon is a St Helens R.F.C. Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Profile at saints.org.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benyon, Billy 1945 births Living people Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards coaches Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. coaches St Helens R.F.C. players Warrington Wolves players 20th-century English sportsmen