Lancelot Beaumont "Lance" Todd (26 May 1883 – 14 November 1942) was a New Zealand-born

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 and manager of the early 20th century. As a player, he represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1907 and 1908 and played in England for the Wigan and Dewsbury clubs. He later became the manager at Salford and led the club to three League Championships and one

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 ...

victory.

Early life

Todd attended Kings College which at that time was based in

Remuera Remuera is an affluent suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian era, Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, before later relocating to

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

. After leaving school Todd became a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

by trade. His father was John Todd who was a well known sporting identity in the

area, particularly in horse racing. At the time of his death in October, 1920 he was the vice president of the Otahuhu Trotting Club.

Rugby in New Zealand

Originally he played

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 ...

in the

area, with his senior debut being for the Suburbs club. They were a side made up of players who lived outside a 10-mile radius of the city centre and struggled to practice for obvious reasons. They did often train in Otahuhu however. Todd joined the City club in 1905 and then moved to the Parnell club in 1906. He first made the

side in 1905, making his debut against Hawke's Bay on 12 August where he scored a try and kicked 2 conversions in their win. In 1906 despite joining the Parnell club he went on the 4 match City tour of Sydney where he played in 3 matches against Sydney University, Glebe, and South Sydney. Later in the year he played in a match for City Oddfellows (Manchester Unity town Oddfellows) against Goldfield Oddfellows. Todd was a member of the Franklin Lodge along with his brothers. He did not make the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

but this was due to the tremendous talent in front of him and he was still regarded as being a special player in the Auckland scene.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. He made his debut for Auckland in 1905, playing in 4 matches. Despite playing in several trial matches he did not play for Auckland again in 1906 or 1907, but did play in an inter-union match in 1906 and 3 Auckland B games over the 1906-07 period. New Zealand Rugby League Team of 1907-08 to Tour England

New Zealand Rugby League Team of 1907-08 to Tour England

He was picked for the professional All Blacks 1907–1908 rugby tour of Great Britain and Australia and subsequently, like all members of the tour, received a life ban from the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

. Todd had been involved in organising the tour and served on the Management Committee. During the tour he excelled at the game of

, playing in four Test matches, and scoring eight tries in all games. He was one of five players who opted to stay in Great Britain at the tour's end.

Rugby League in England

He was signed 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 ...

after

the tour The Tour may refer to: *The Tour de France cycling race *The Tour (album), ''The Tour'' (album), a 1998 live album by Mary J. Blige *''The Olivia Tremor Control/Black Swan Network'', an album also known as The Tour EP *The Tour (Kiss and Mötley Cr� ...

for £400 and the captaincy, and he became an outstanding centre, making 186 appearances for the club. He was later joined by fellow tourist Massa Johnston and All Black Charlie Seeling. Lance Todd played at in

's 10–9 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 1908 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1908–09 season at

Wheater's Field Wheater's Field was a stadium, rugby ground in Broughton, Salford, Broughton, County Borough of Salford, Salford, England. It was home to the Broughton Rangers rugby league club of the Rugby Football League, Northern Union. On 19 October 1907, ...

, Broughton, on Saturday 19 December 1908, and played at and scored a try in the 21–5 victory over

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 ...

in the 1912 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1912–13 season at

Weaste Weaste () is an inner-city suburb of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is bordered by the town of Eccles, Greater Manchester, Eccles to the West and Seedley to the East. In 2014 Weaste and Seedley (ward), Weaste and Seedley ward had a pop ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, on Wednesday 11 December 1912. At the end of the

1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season The 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 14th season of rugby league football in the United Kingdom. The governing body, the Northern Union (NU) decided to admit four extra clubs, all from Wales; Aberdare, Barry, Mid-Rhondd ...

Todd played at centre in Wigan's victory over

in the

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 ...

Final. He was also a member of the first Wigan Rugby League

Final line-up, which they lost to

Broughton 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, Manchester ...

in 1911. The

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

was recognised by England's

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

as New Zealand's governing body for the game of rugby league, with Lance Todd to act as their delegate in England. In 1909 he refereed Auckland's first ever official match with

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

on 9 August at Victoria Park. Five weeks later he refereed the return match at the Recreation Ground in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

. During November 1910, he played twice for

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 ...

, when his aggregate of two tries and two goals helped seal the county title. In 1914, he transferred, unexpectedly, to

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, ...

for a fee of £450 – a huge fee at the time, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £139,900 in 2013). He left Dewsbury during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to serve with the

ANZACs ANZAC, ''Anzacs'' (named for members of the all volunteer army formations) is a 1985 Australian five-part television miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion ( ...

Later life

In 1928 he became the team manager at

, achieving legendary status. Salford were close to folding when he joined but his management turned them into a formidable and successful team. During the 1930s Salford won three League Championships, five Lancashire League Championships, four Lancashire Cups, and was the

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 ...

's 7–4 victory over Barrow in the 1938 Challenge Cup Final during the 1937–38 season 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 ...

, in front of a crowd of 51,243.. He stayed at Salford until August 1940 when club directors decided not to renew his contract whilst the country was at war with Germany. In 1933, as well his work at Salford, he became the Rugby League commentator for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. "Mr Lance B. Todd presents running commentary on....." the rugby league game of the day was very common in the Radio listings during the 1930s.

Personal life and death

Lance Todd married Amy B. Samuels on 7 May 1911 at the Wigan Parish Church. Her father was Charles Samuels who was deceased prior to the wedding. Charles and had been licensee of the Crofters Arms Hotel, and had been a well known rugby player and a famous sprinter when younger. They had a daughter, Patricia Elaine Todd in 1922 who died in 2004. Later in his life he managed the Silver Grid in King Street and the Ship Hotel in Millgate prior to his appointment as manager of Salford. Todd died in a motor accident on 14 November 1942. An inquest into his death determined a verdict of "accidental death". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Todd was serving as a commandant to the Salford section of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

but it would be on a return home from duty in

that the accident happened. A car he was driving swerved to avoid a collision with a tram, but crashed into a lamppost. Todd died along with his colleague Colonel Frank Sewell in the front passenger seat. Two passengers in the rear seats of the car survived. Todd is buried in Wigan (Ince) cemetery.

Legacy

His work as a manager and as a radio commentator resulted in 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 ...

being named after him. This trophy is awarded to the man of the match in the

Final. In 2007 Todd was inducted as one of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

's inaugural "Legends of League".

References

External links

Lance Todd
on the Wigan RL Fansite.
Lance Todd
at ''wiganwarriors.com''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Lance 1883 births 1942 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby union players British Army personnel of World War II British Home Guard officers Dewsbury Rams players Lancashire rugby league team players New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand publicans New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league commentators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Road incident deaths in England Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby union players from Auckland Salford Red Devils coaches Wigan Warriors players