George M. John Thorley (30 May 1927 – 12 July 2005) born in

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

, was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

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winning 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 and 1960s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, and at club level

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Indigo Premiership for Season 2024/25. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a whi ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) 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 ...

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and Other Nationalities, and at club level for Halifax and

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

, as a , he died in Wheatley, Halifax.

Playing career

Club career

Thorley played his last game for

against Halifax at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, Halifax. Thorley played at in Halifax's 4–4 draw with

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 ...

in the

1953–54 Challenge Cup The 1954 Challenge Cup was the 53rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. It featured clubs from the 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season and is particularly notable for its final, which had to be re ...

Final during the 1953–54 season at

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on Saturday 24 April 1954, in front of a crowd of 81,841, and played at in the 4-8 defeat by

in the

Final replay during the 1953–54 season 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 ...

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on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more.

International honours

John Thorley played twice for Other Nationalities in 1955 while at Halifax, and won three

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 Halifax between 1953 and 1959. Thorley won five

s for

, playing at in all four of Great Britain's

1954 Rugby League World Cup The 1954 Rugby League World Cup was rugby league's first World Cup and was held between 30 October and 13 November and hosted by France and was won by Great Britain who beat France in the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris. As it was the fi ...

matches, including Great Britain's 16–12 victory over

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 ...

in the

Final at

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

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on 13 November 1954. Thorley also represented Great Britain while at Halifax in 1956 against France.Edgar, Harry (2007). ''Rugby League Journal Annual 2008'' Page-110. Rugby League Journal Publishing.

Honoured at Halifax

John Thorley is a Halifax Hall Of Fame Inductee.

Outside of rugby

After retiring from playing, John Thorley became a keen supporter of Halifax, he also took up golf and was a member of Halifax West End Golf Clu

for more than 30 years, was involved in the Welsh Rugby League Past Players organisation, was deputy

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' mem ...

at Halifax Parish Church, and spent a lot of time holidaying with his wife in the south of France.

References

External links

Statistics at neathrugby.co.ukCardiff RFC Season Review 1951 - 1952
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorley, John 1927 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Dewsbury Rams players Footballers who switched code Glamorgan County RFC players Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax Panthers players Neath RFC players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league players from Mountain Ash, Wales Rugby league props Rugby union players from Mountain Ash, Wales Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players