Cecil Ralph Mountford (16 June 1919 – 19 July 2009), also known by the
nickname of "The Blackball Bullet", was a New Zealand
rugby league footballer and
coach.
Mountford was one of ten siblings, he and four of his brothers played rugby league for the South Island whilst
Bill Mountford and
Ken Mountford
Kenneth Henry James Mountford (27 May 1924 – 19 January 1967) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. He was the brother of fellow players Ces Mountford and Bill Mountford.
Playing career
Mountford played for Bla ...
played for New Zealand. Mountford also played for West Coast, along with Bill and Ken, in inter-provincial matches.
Early years
Mountford played soccer at school, as he was considered too small to play rugby league. In 1935 at the age of 16 he joined Blackball Rugby League club, where he earned the nickname 'The Blackball Bullet' due to his speed on the field.
Player for Wigan
Mountford signed for
Wigan Rugby League Club in 1946, he shared in one of Wigan’s finest moments in the 1949/50 campaign when, as captain – in place of usual
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Joe Egan who was on tour with seven other Wigan stars – he led his side to a sensational 20-2 Championship Final win over
Huddersfield at
Maine Road.
Mountford played at
Wembley Stadium on two occasions, the first being in 1948, when they beat the current title holders
Bradford Northern 8-3 in a nail biting final. The second visit, in 1951, Mountford led the team to a 10-0 victory over Barrow in a rain-soaked Wembley final. He also became the first overseas player to receive the
Lance Todd Trophy.
Challenge Cup Final appearances
Cecil Mountford played in
Wigan's 8-3 victory over
Bradford Northern in the
1947–48 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 ...
Final during the
1947–48 season at
Wembley Stadium,
London on Saturday 1 May 1948, in front of a crowd of 91,465.
County Cup Final appearances
Cecil Mountford played in
Wigan's 9-3 victory over
Belle Vue Rangers
Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Mancheste ...
in the
1946–47 Lancashire County Cup 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 in the 14-8 victory over
Warrington in the
1948–49 Lancashire County Cup Final during the
1948–49 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 13 November 1948,
played in the 20-7 victory over
Leigh in the
1949–50 Lancashire County Cup Final during the
1949–50 season at
Wilderspool Stadium,
Warrington on Saturday 29 October 1949,
and played in the 28-5 victory over
Warrington in the
1950–51 Lancashire County Cup Final during the
1950–51 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 4 November 1950.
International career
Internationally he missed out on playing for
New Zealand, but he did represent
Other Nationalities in two European Championships, in a team labeled "The Rest", in 1950, watched by a crowd of 25,000 fans. He requested, and was granted, permission from Wigan to join the 1947-8 New Zealand tour of Great Britain but the Management decided that injuries were not bad enough to bring him in.
[Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' ] Instead, during the Kiwis tour Cecil played for Wigan against the Kiwis, which included his brother Ken.
Mountford was appointed head coach of the New Zealand team in 1979, leading the Kiwis on their
1980 tour of Great Britain and France and the
1982 tour of Australia and Papua New Guinea. New Zealand won 6 games, lost 8 and drew 1 under Mountford's coaching. He was replaced in 1983 by
Graham Lowe.
Coaching at Warrington
In 1951 Mountford qualified as a first grade coach, being offered a 10-year contract at
Warrington, despite Wigan initially refusing to release him as a player. Mountford made his first appearance for Warrington in October 1952 initially as a player coach.
Championship final appearances
Cecil Mountford was the
coach in
Warrington's 8-7 victory over
Halifax the
Championship Final during the
1953–54 season at
Maine Road,
Manchester on Saturday 8 May 1954, in front of a crowd of 36,519.
Challenge Cup Final appearances
Cecil Mountford was the
coach in
Warrington's 8-4 victory over
Halifax in the
1953–54 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 ...
Final
replay
Replay may refer to:
* Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology
* Game replay, a recording of a game session.
* Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film
* Replay Professional, ...
during the
1953–54 season at
Odsal Stadium
Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...
,
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more.
At the time, this was a world record attendance for a rugby match of either code.
After completing his tenure as a coach, he returned to New Zealand in May 1961, before heading back to England as Manager of
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 was ...
in 1972, which was short-lived when he resigned in June 1973. Mountford returned to New Zealand in 1974, initially providing coaching courses before being signed as the manager-coach of the
New Zealand national rugby league team from 1979 to 1982.
Honours
In the
1987 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...
, Mountford was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to rugby league and in 1990 he was inducted into the
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. In 2000 he was inducted as one of the
NZRL
The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...
Legends of League.
Genealogical information
Cecil Mountford's marriage to Agnes E. (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Battersby) was registered during first ¼ 1948 in
Wigan district.
They had children; Carolyn E. Mountford
birth registeredduring third ¼ in
Wigan district), and Christopher L. K. Mountford
birth registeredduring first ¼ in
Runcorn district).
References
Further reading
*
External links
Statistics at wigan.rlfans.comGreymouth Star obituaryDominion Post obituary*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountford, Cecil
1919 births
2009 deaths
Blackball players
Blackpool Borough coaches
Lance Todd Trophy winners
New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire
New Zealand national rugby league team coaches
New Zealand rugby league coaches
New Zealand rugby league players
Other Nationalities rugby league team players
Rugby league five-eighths
Warrington Wolves coaches
Warrington Wolves players
West Coast rugby league team players
Wigan Warriors captains
Wigan Warriors players
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