Frank Myler (4 December 1938 – 27 March 2020) was 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 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. A

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 ...

national representative or , he played at club level for

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

and St. Helens, and also captained and coached

Playing career

Myler played left- and scored a try in

' 13–5 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

in the 1963–64 Challenge Cup Final 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 9 May 1964, in front of a crowd of 84,488. Myler played left- in St. Helens' 30–2 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in the 1968–69 Lancashire Cup Final 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 ...

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 ...

on Friday 25 October 1968. Myler played at left- in St. Helens' 4–7 defeat by

in the 1968 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at Central Park,

on Tuesday 17 December 1968. In the 1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season's Championship Final Myler was voted

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy in St. Helens 24–12 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. In 1970, he captained the Lions squad. Following a heavy defeat in the first Test the Lions under Myler did not lose another game on the whole tour. Myler remains the last British captain to lift the Ashes trophy in Australia. He played in the 4–7 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, Staffor ...

in the 1970–71 Lancashire Cup Final at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970. Myler left St. Helens in 1971 to take up the position of

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

with the

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 ...

from May 1971 until October 1974.

Coaching career

After three seasons at Rochdale where he took the team to the Players No 6 trophy final, although they lost 27–16 to

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 ...

, Myler succeeded Vince Karalius as Widnes coach in May 1975. In May 1978 he was succeeded as Widnes coach by Doug Laughton. After periods coaching at Oldham and Swinton Myler was appointed Great Britain coach in 1983 but after some early successes the team lost all six test matches to Australia and New Zealand during the 1984 Great Brian Lions tour and despite a win over Papua New Guinea in the last test of the tour Myler was not reappointed as coach. Thereafter, he returned to club coaching with Oldham and a second spell at Widnes. Myler coached

for one fixture beating

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

60-13 on 28 May 1978. Myler was one of the original thirteen former Widnes players inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1992. Myler died on 27 March 2020 after a long illness, aged 81.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rugby.widnes.tv
*(archived by web.archive.org
Hall of Fame at rugby.widnes.tvHall of Fame at rugby.widnes.tv
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
Kiwis open British tours…Search for "Frank Myler" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myler, Frank 1938 births 2020 deaths England national rugby league team coaches 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 coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Rugby league players from Widnes Rochdale Hornets coaches Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths St Helens R.F.C. players Swinton Lions coaches Widnes Vikings coaches Widnes Vikings players 20th-century English sportsmen