William Robert "Bob" Eccles (born 10 July 1957) 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 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, 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 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 ...

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

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 ...

, Springfield Borough and Barrow, as a , and coached at club level for Chorley Borough 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 ...

Background

Bob Eccles was born in St Helens,

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Bob Eccles won a

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 ...

for

while at Warrington in 1982 against Australia. He had previously played twice for Great Britain Under-24s.

County Cup Final appearances

Bob Eccles played right- (replaced by substitute

Ian Potter Sir William Ian Potter (25 August 190224 October 1994), known as Ian Potter, was an Australian stockbroker, businessman and philanthropist. Potter was knighted in 1962. The Ian Potter Foundation, which he established in 1964, has made grants to ...

) in

's 26–10 victory over

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 ...

in the

1980 Lancashire Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 fo ...

Final during the 1980–81 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 4 October 1980, played left- and scored a try in the 16–0 victory over St. Helens in the

1982 Lancashire Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 fo ...

Final during the 1982–83 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 23 October 1982, and played left- in the 8–34 defeat by

in the 1985 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1985–86 season at

, St. Helens, on Sunday 13 October 1985,

John Player Trophy Final appearances

Bob Eccles appeared as a substitute (replacing Edwin Hunter) in

's 12–5 victory over Barrow in the 1980–81 John Player Trophy Final during the 1980–81 season at

on Saturday 24 January 1981.

Club records

Bob Eccles made his début for

on Wednesday14 September 1977, he is second in Warrington's "Most Tries in a Season" list with 37-tries scored in the 1982–83 season only bettered by

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He became the only player ever to be inducted int ...

, 10 years later he topped the try scoring at Barrow with 20 Tries, he also equalled Warrington's "Most Tries in a Match" for a

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

record with 5-tries scored in the 36–15 victory over

Blackpool Borough Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and wa ...

on Sunday 12 December 1982, he played his last match for Warrington on Sunday 17 May 1987, and on Sunday 16 March 2014 he was inducted into the Warrington Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, Bob 1957 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen Barrow Raiders players Blackpool Borough coaches Blackpool Borough players Chorley Lynx coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Great Britain under-24 national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rochdale Hornets coaches Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Rugby league second-rows Warrington Wolves players