William Blan (2 May 1922 – 13 April 2008) was an English professional

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 112 ...

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 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 is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

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 populati ...

(two spells), St. Helens and

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

, as a or .

Background

Blan's birth was registered in

district,

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

and the older brother of the rugby league footballer

Albert Blan Albert Blan (13 January 1930 in Wigan, Lancashire – 27 September 2015) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s and 1970s. He played at representative level for Eng ...

, he died aged 85–86 in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Wigan in 1951 against Wales, and France, in 1952 against

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

, and won

s for

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

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Billy Blan played right- in

's 8-3 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

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 televise ...

Final during the 1947–48 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 1 May 1948, in front of a crowd of 91,465.

County Cup Final appearances

Billy Blan played right- 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 the 9-3 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the

1946–47 Lancashire Cup 1946–47 was the thirty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion 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, (historically in the coun ...

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 right- in the 10-7 victory over Belle Vue Rangers in the

1947–48 Lancashire Cup 1947–48 was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion 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, (historically in the count ...

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 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 1 November 1947, played right- in the 14-8 victory over

in the

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

Final during the 1948–49 season at

on Saturday 13 November 1948, played and scored a

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, Staf ...

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 receipts of ...

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

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 United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

straight after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

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 system ...

medals, and five

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

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 Headingle ...

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. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, 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