Gerard "Gerry" J. Helme (4 April 1923 – 19 December 1981) was an English 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 1940s and 1950s, 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. 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 ...

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 ...

, Combined Nationalities 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 ...

, as a , and coached at club level. Helme played almost all of his club career for Warrington, with whom he won three

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Finals and two

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Finals and became a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.

Background

Helme's birth was registered in

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 ...

, he was a pupil of St. Joseph’s school, Leigh, and he died aged 58.

Playing career

Helme made his début for

on Wednesday 29 August 1945. Helme played in

's 15-5 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the 1947-48

Final at Maine Road, Manchester. Helme played in

's 8-14 defeat by

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

1948–49 Lancashire Cup The 1948–49 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 14–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historicall ...

Final 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, Helme played in

's 19-0 victory over

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, ...

in the 1949–50 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 6 May 1950, in front of a crowd of 94,249. He played in

's 5-28 defeat by

in the 1950–51 Lancashire Cup Final at

on Saturday 4 November 1950. Helme represented Combined Nationalities in the 15-19 defeat by

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 ...

Stade de Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

on Sunday 3 January 1954. Helme played in the 4-4 draw with Halifax in the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at

on Saturday 24 April 1954, in front of a crowd of 81,841, and played in the 8-4 victory over Halifax in the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more. Helme became the first player to win 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 ...

twice, his first coming in the victory over Widnes in the 1949–50 Challenge Cup Final, and his second coming in the victory over Halifax in the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay. Helme 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 Warrington in 1948 against Wales, France, in 1949 against Wales, France, in 1953 against France, and won

s for

while at Warrington in 1948 against Australia (3 matches), in 1954 against Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup against France (2 matches), Australia, New Zealand. He also helped Great Britain to victory by scoring the match-winning try in the first ever World Cup Final in 1954. Helme played his last match for Warrington on Saturday 2 February 1957.

Post-playing

After retiring from playing, Gerry Helme had coaching roles with

and

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 1981 he died at the age of 58.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Gerry Helme at warringtonwolves.org
*(archived by archive.is
U.K. League hooker in DoubtWarrington's World Cup heroes - Gerry Helme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helme, Gerry 1923 births 1981 deaths Combined Nationalities rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Leigh Leopards coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Leigh, Greater Manchester Warrington Wolves players 20th-century English sportsmen