William Blan (2 May 1922 – 13 April 2008) was 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 played in the 1940s and 1950s. 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

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 ...

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 ...

(two spells), St. Helens and

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 ...

, as a or .

Background

Blan's birth was registered in

district,

, England, he was the younger brother of the rugby league footballer

Jack Blan Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, includ ...

, and the older brother of the rugby league footballer Albert Blan, he died aged 85–86 in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, leaving behind his wife; Pat, and five children.

Playing career

International honours

Billy Blan 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 1951 against Wales, and France, in 1952 against Other Nationalities, and won

s for

while at Wigan in 1951 against New Zealand (3 matches).

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Billy Blan played at in

's 8–3 victory over

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 ...

in the

1947–48 Challenge Cup The 1947–48 Challenge Cup was the 47th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Bradford Northern at Wembley Stadium, and was the first ever rugby league match to be televi ...

Final during the 1947–48 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 1 May 1948, in front of a crowd of 91,465.

County Cup Final appearances

Billy Blan played at and scored a try in

's the 9–3 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the

1946–47 Lancashire Cup The 1946–47 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 9–3. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (hi ...

Final during the 1946–47 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 26 October 1946, played at in the 10–7 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the

1947–48 Lancashire Cup The 1947–48 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 10–7 The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (h ...

Final during the 1947–48 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 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 1 November 1947, played at in the 14–8 victory over

in the

1948–49 Lancashire Cup The 1948–49 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 14–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historicall ...

Final during the 1948–49 season at

on Saturday 13 November 1948, played and scored a try in the 20–7 victory over

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 ...

in the

1949–50 Lancashire Cup The 1949–50 Lancashire Cup competition was the 37th Rugby League Lancashire Cup. In the final, Wigan beat Leigh 20–7 to win the trophy. Thirty-five thousand people attended the match, which took place at Wilderspool, Warrington with receipt ...

Final during the 1949–50 season at

on Saturday 29 October 1949, and played in the 28–5 victory over

in the

1950–51 Lancashire Cup The 1950–51 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-eighth occasion on which the RFL Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 28–5 The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (histo ...

Final during the 1950–51 season at

on Saturday 4 November 1950.

Club career

Billy Blan joined Wigan from the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

straight after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and won a Championship medal in his first season. In his Wigan career he won two

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 ...

Winners medals, three

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 ...

medals, and five Lancashire Cup winners medals. Billy Blan made his début for

against

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the Lazenby Cup 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 Monday 10 August 1953.Dalby, Ken (1955). ''The Headingley Story – 1890–1955 – Volume One – Rugby''. The Leeds Cricket, Football & Athletic Co. Ltd ASIN: B0018JNGVM

Honoured at Wigan

Billy Blan was a life member at Wigan.

After playing

After Billy Blan finished his playing career, he worked as Wigan's Lottery Manager in Pools Office.

Note

The Civil Registration index gives William Blan's district of birth as being

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, whereas other sources state

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society profileStatistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Britain hold out Kiwis at Odsal
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at wiganwarriors.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blan, William 1922 births 2008 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league locks Rugby league second-rows St Helens R.F.C. players Wigan Warriors players 20th-century English sportsmen