William Ivison (5 June 1920 – 12 March 2000) was an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

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 club level association football (soccer), for

Gillingham F.C. Gillingham Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent, England. The club's first team play home matches at Priestfield Stadium and competed in League Two, the fourth tier of the Englis ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) 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

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and at club level for

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

, as a .

Background

Billy Ivison was born in

Hensingham Hensingham is a suburb of Whitehaven and former civil parish, now in the parish of Whitehaven, in the Cumberland district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,145. Historically in ...

, England, and he died aged 79 in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Billy Ivison 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 Workington Town in 1949 against Wales, and Other Nationalities, in 1951 against Other Nationalities, in 1952 against Other Nationalities,. Billy Ivison represented

while at Workington Town in 1952 against France (non-

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

matches).Edgar, Harry (2007). ''Rugby League Journal Annual 2008 age-110'. Rugby League Journal Publishing. Along with William "Billy" Banks, Edward "Ted" Cahill, Gordon Haynes, Keith Holliday, Robert "Bob" Kelly, John McKeown, George Parsons and Edward "Ted" Slevin, Billy Ivison's only

appearances came against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

prior to 1957, these matches were not considered as

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

, and consequently

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

were not awarded.

County honours

Billy Ivison represented

while at Workington Town. Billy Ivison played , and scored a try in

's 5–4 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 ...

in the

1948–49 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1948–49 Kangaroo tour was the seventh Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played thirty-seven matches, including the Ashes series (rugby league), Ashes series of three R ...

match at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

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. ...

on Wednesday 13 October 1948, in front of a crowd of 8,818.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Billy Ivison played and won the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to man of the match in the annual Challenge Cup Final. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was kill ...

's 18–12 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

1952 Challenge Cup Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 f ...

Final during the 1951–52 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 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093, and played in the 12–21 defeat by Barrow in the

1955 Challenge Cup Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first Nuclear marine propulsion, nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18� ...

Final during the 1954–55 season at

on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513.

Honoured in Workington

Ivison Lane
in Workington is named after Billy Ivison.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
'It's about time too'30 April 1955 Photograph of Workington Town
(William Ivison is in the centre of middle row wearing a

scrum cap The scrum cap is a form of headgear used by Rugby football, rugby players to protect the ears in the scrum (rugby), scrum, which can otherwise suffer injuries leading to the condition commonly known as cauliflower ears. Although originally design ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivison, William 1920 births 2000 deaths Men's association football players not categorized by position British Empire rugby league team players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English men's footballers English rugby league players Gillingham F.C. players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Place of death missing Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Whitehaven Footballers from Cumbria Workington Town players 20th-century English sportsmen