Charles Douglas Laughton (born 13 May 1944) is an English former 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 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, 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 * Co ...

ed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. 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 ...

(

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 ...

), winning 15 caps in all, winning a further cap for

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 ...

, and

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

, and at club level for St. Helens,

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 ...

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form t ...

, and the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

, as a , or , and coached at club level for Widnes (three spells) and

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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 thi ...

Playing career

Laughton was born in

, England, and he played for St. Paul's the Lowerhouse junior team. He then signed as a professional for St. Helens at the age of 18. Laughton made 79 appearances for St. Helens before his transfer to Wigan on 16 May 1967 for £4,000."THE NATIONAL ARCHIVE OF RUGBY LEAGUE VIDEO INTERVIEWS Doug Laughton"
Retrieved on 11 Jan 2018 From there he went to

, before signing for

. Laughton made his first appearance in a Challenge Cup Final in 1970 when Wigan played Castleford. During his Wigan career he was chosen to tour Australia/New Zealand with the Great Britain team coached by Hull Legend Johnny Whiteley. He signed for his home town team Widnes on 6 March 1973 for £6,000. He led Widnes to victory over the Australian tourists in 1978. In 1979, he captained

team on a tour of Australia. In 1979, while playing for Widnes, Laughton won the

Man of Steel Award A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chrom ...

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Laughton played in Widnes' 14–7 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, 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 populati ...

in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

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 a ...

Final during the 1974–75 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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

on Saturday 10 May 1975, in front of a crowd of 85,998, played in the 5–20 defeat by St. Helens in the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

Final during the 1975–76 season at

on Saturday 8 May 1976, in front of a crowd of 89,982, played in the 7–16 defeat by

in the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

Final during the 1976–77 season at

on Saturday 7 May 1977, in front of a crowd of 80,871, and played in the 12–3 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Final during the 1978–79 season at

on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of 94,218.

County Cup Final appearances

Doug Laughton played in St. Helens' 12–4 victory over Swinton in the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

County Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Saturday 24 October 1964, played in

's 15–8 victory over

in the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

County Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, 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 a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 August 1971, played in

' 6–2 victory over

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

County Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at

on Saturday 2 November 1974, played in the 16–11 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 a ...

in the

County Cup Final during the 1976–77 season at

on Saturday 30 October 1976, and played and scored 2- tries in the 15–13 victory over

in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

County Cup Final during the 1978–79 season at

on Saturday 7 October 1978.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

Doug Laughton played in St. Helens' 0-4 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centr ...

in the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy The BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC 2 Television Trophy) was a competition for Great Britain, British rugby league clubs held between 1965 and 1980. It was designed specifically for television, and the then director of BBC Two, BBC2 ...

Final during the 1965–66 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 14 December 1965, played in

's 7-4 victory over St. Helens in the

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

Final during the 1968–69 season at

on Tuesday 17 December 1968, played in the 6-11 defeat by

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, Sta ...

in the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Final during the 1969–70 season at

on Tuesday 16 December 1969, played in

' 7-15 defeat by Bramley in the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Final during the 1973–74 season at Naughton Park,

on Tuesday 18 December 1973, and played , and was the

' 13-7 victory St. Helens in the

Final during the 1978–79 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 12 December 1978.

Player's No.6 Trophy Final appearances

Doug Laughton played in

' 2-3 defeat by

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 pr ...

in the 1974–75 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1974–75 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 le ...

on Saturday 25 January 1975, and played in the 4-9 defeat by

in the 1977–78 Players No.6 Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 January 1978.

Coaching career

Laughton coached

and

. Doug Laughton took over the job of team coach when Frank Myler retired from the position in 1978. Immediately, he gained from the Widnes players the same respect for his coaching that he still enjoyed for his playing ability."Virtual Rugby League Hall of Fame. Doug Laughton"
Retrieved on 11 Jan 2018 His first acquisition when he became coach was Mick Burke. He had three coaching spells at Widnes between 1978 and 1996. During the

1989–90 Rugby Football League season The 1989–90 Rugby Football League season was the 95th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1989 until May, 1990 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut ...

, he coached defending champions Widnes to their

1989 World Club Challenge The 1989 World Club Challenge (also known as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the third ever and first official World Club Challenge match. 1989's NSWRL season premiers, the Canberra Raiders travell ...

victory against the visiting

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

. He arrived at Leeds in 1991, and took the club to two successive

Finals, but was beaten by

on both occasions. He surprisingly resigned at the end of the 1994–95 season. Laughton recruited the likes of

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was induct ...

, Jonathan Davies,

Alan Tait Alan Victor Tait (born 2 November 1964) is a former Scottish dual-code rugby footballer, and now coach. He is a Defence Coach at the Super 6 side Southern Knights. He was previously head coach at Newcastle Falcons and a former rugby union an ...

, and John Devereux as his Widnes side conquered England and the world in 1989."Widnes legend Doug Laughton reveals the moment he turned to Rugby Union"
Retrieved on 11 Jan 2018 During his first season as coach, the club gained four major trophies. More recently, they have been the only team to win three successive Premiership titles, and have become World Club Champions. Dougie left Leeds after an unexpected allergic reaction. Whilst out for dinner he had his pocket, inexplicably, filled with peas. Previously undiagnosed,Dougie was allergic to green vegetables, he lost the use of his cone picking up hand and had to seek counselling. A sad end to a great coaching career.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Doug Laughton was the

12-3 victory over

in the

Final during the 1978–79 season at

on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of 94,218, was the

in the 18-9 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challenge ...

in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

Final during the 1980–81 season at

on Saturday 2 May 1981, in front of a crowd of 92,496, was the

in the 14-14 draw with

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

Final during the 1981–82 season at

on Saturday 1 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 92,147, and was the

in the 9-18 defeat by

in the

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 1981–82 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Premier League club Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the ...

on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171.

Honours

* 1979

Books

* Doug Laughton (2003).''A Dream Come True: A Rugby League Life''. Publisher:London League Publications Ltd; First edition (31 Oct. 2003)

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Doug Laughton at rlhalloffame.org.ukDoug Laughton at rugby.widnes.tvSaints Heritage Society profileStatistics at rugby.widnes.tv"CHRISTMAS BOOKS: Laughton's colourful ramble gives taste of brutal" by Dave Hadfield, ''The Independent'' (London), 17 Dec 2003
*(archived by web.archive.org
Kangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laughton, Doug 1944 births Living people Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team coaches Leeds Rhinos coaches Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Widnes Rugby league second-rows St Helens R.F.C. players Widnes Vikings coaches Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors captains Wigan Warriors players