William Cunliffe (1897 – 10 August 1942) 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 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. 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 ...

and

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 at club level for Pemberton Rovers ARLFC (in Pemberton,

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

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 . Cunliffe is a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.

Background

Cunliffe was born in

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 ...

, England, and he died aged 45 in

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north o ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Cunliffe was selected to go on the

1920 Great Britain Lions tour The 1920 Great Britain Lions tour was the third British national rugby league team or 'Lions' tour of Australasia, where it was winter and matches were played against the Australian and New Zealand national sides, as well as several local teams. I ...

and

1924 Great Britain Lions tour The 1924 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1924. The tour involved a schedule of 27 games; 18 in Australia, including a three- ...

of Australia and New Zealand. 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 Warrington in 1920 against Australia, and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1921-22 against Australia (3 matches), in 1924 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, and in 1926 against New Zealand. He also won

s for

while at Warrington in 1921 against Wales, Other Nationalities, and Australia, in 1922 against Wales, in 1923 against Wales (2 matches), in 1925 against Wales (2 matches), in 1926 against Wales, and Other Nationalities.

Championship final appearances

Cunliffe played at in

's 10-22 defeat by

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 1925–26 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 Saturday 8 May 1926, in front of a crowd of 20,000.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 31 – 1925–26". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Cunliffe played at in

's 3-5 defeat by Swinton in the 1927–28 Challenge Cup Final during the 1927–28 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 ...

on Saturday 14 April 1928, in front of a crowd of 33,909.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 33 – 1927–28". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

Genealogical information

Billy Cunliffe was the older brother of the forward for

;

Tom Cunliffe Tom Cunliffe (born 1947) is a British yachting journalist, author and broadcaster. Biography Cunliffe learnt how to sail in a 22 ft gaff sloop as a teenager on the Norfolk Broads. After studying law at university, he chose not to enter t ...

, the brothers shared a joint

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

in the 1927–28 season.

References

External links

Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunliffe, Billy 1897 births 1942 deaths Broughton Rangers players Date of birth missing England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league props Warrington Wolves players 20th-century English sportsmen