Leonard Casey (born 28 January 1950), also known by the nickname of "Cast Iron Casey", is 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 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. 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 ...

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 ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

(two spells),

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 ...

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

and

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

, as a or , and coached at club level for

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, Beverley A.R.L.F.C. and the

Scarborough Pirates Scarborough Pirates RLFC were a rugby league club based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. They played their home games at Scarborough F.C.'s McCain Stadium. History In December 1990, Scarborough announced a ...

Background

Casey was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. He ran the May Cottage

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Wind ...

until .

Playing career

Hull

Casey started his professional career with

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

joining the club from Beverley Juniors in 1970.

Hull Kingston Rovers

In September 1975, Casey was signed by

for a fee of £6,000. Casey played in

' 26–11 victory over St. Helens in the 1977 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at

Craven Park Craven Park may refer to: * Craven Park (Barrow), home of Barrow (rugby league) * Craven Park, Hull, current home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Old Craven Park, former home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Craven Park (London), a ...

on Tuesday 13 December 1977. Casey won 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 ...

in the 1978-79 season as part of

squad.

Bradford Northern

In December 1978, Casey was sold to

in exchange for Paul Harkin. Casey played in Bradford Northern' 24–2 defeat by

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 the 1978–79 Premiership Final during the 1978–79 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 27 May 1979. Casey played in Bradford Northern's 6–0 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

1979–80 John Player Trophy This was the ninth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons. Bradford Northern won the trophy, beating Widnes 6–0 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance ...

Final during the 1979–80 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Saturday 5 January 1980, Casey was awarded the

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 ...

. Casey won the

in the 1979-80 season as part of the

squad.

Return to Hull KR

In January 1980, Casey was re-signed by

for a record transfer fee of £38,000. Casey played in

' 10–5 victory over

in the

1979–80 Challenge Cup The 1979–80 Challenge Cup, for sponsorship reasons known as the 1979–80 State Express Challenge Cup was the 79th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was the first Hull Cup final derby, with ...

Final during the 1979–80 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 on Saturday 3 May 1980, in front of a crowd of 95,000. During the 1980–81 season, Casey played and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in Hull Kingston Rovers' 7–8 defeat by

in the

1980–81 Yorkshire Cup The 1980–81 Yorkshire Cup was the seventy-third occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds winning the trophy by beating Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 8-7 The match was played at Fartown Ground, Huddersfield ...

Final at

on Saturday 8 November 1980, played , and was

in the 9–18 defeat by

in the

1980–81 Challenge Cup The 1980–81 Challenge Cup was the 80th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Three Fives Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, the final was contested by Widnes and Hull Kingston Rovers at Wemble ...

Final at

, London on Saturday 2 May 1981, and played and was

and

, winning the

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy was awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final and its predecessors, the RFL First Division Final and the Premiership Final, between 1965 and 2023. Named after Harry Sunderland, who w ...

, in Hull Kingston Rovers' 11–7 victory over

in the 1980–81 Premiership Final at

on Saturday 16 May 1981. He played in

' 4–12 defeat by

in the 1981–82 John Player Trophy Final during the 1981–82 season at

on Saturday 23 January 1982. Casey was

squad that won the 1983-84 season

, but his season was soured by incidents towards of the end of the season. He was sent off twice in matches during April 1984, and was banned for six months for pushing a

touch judge A touch judge is an official who monitors the touch-line in a rugby union or rugby league game and raises a flag if the ball (or player carrying it) goes into touch. Touch judges also stand behind the posts to confirm that a goal has been scored fol ...

after his dismissal against Hull. The suspension also cost him a place on the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour. Casey was a non-playing substitute in

' 12–0 victory over

in the 1984–85 John Player Trophy Final during the 1984–85 season at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a Association football, football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the MKM Stadium, KC Stadium (now the MKM Stadium). In later years, ...

on Saturday 26 January 1985. He made his final appearance for the club in February 1985 in a league game against Halifax.

Representative honours

Casey 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 Hull Kingston Rovers in 1978 against France, and Wales, in 1980 against Wales, in 1981 against France, and Wales, and won

s for

while at Hull Kingston Rovers in the

1977 Rugby League World Cup The 1977 Rugby League World Cup was the eighth World Cup held for men’s national rugby league teams and hosted in Australia and New Zealand and ran between 29 May and 25 June. Australia were Champions after beating Great Britain in the Final ...

against France (sub), New Zealand (sub), and Australia, in 1978 against Australia, while at Bradford Northern in 1979 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (3 matches), while at Hull Kingston Rovers in 1980 against New Zealand (3 matches, 1 as captain), in 1983 against France (2 matches, both as captain). Len Casey also represented Yorkshire against Cumbria in 1978 & 1982.

Coaching career

Len Casey was the coach of

from 1986 to 1988. He was the coach in

's 24–31 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, 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 t ...

in the 1986–87 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1986–87 season at

on Saturday 11 October 1986.

Honours

Club * Rugby League

Winner - 1978/79, 1979/80, 1983/84 * Rugby League

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 ...

Winner - 1979/80 * John Player Trophy Winner - 1979/80, 1984/85 * Rugby League Premiership Winner - 1980/81 *

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC2 Television Trophy) was an annual knockout competition for British rugby league clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs with floodlig ...

Trophy Winner - 1977/78 Individual * John Player Trophy Man of The Match 1979/80 *

Winner - 1980/81

References

External links

* (archived by web.archive.org
Hull Kingston Rovers ~ CaptainsPhotograph 'Len Casey touches down' at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph 'Len Casey scores in semi' at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph 'Len Casey slips out a good pass' at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph '1980 Great Britain v New Zealand' at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Len 1950 births Living people Bradford Bulls 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 Hull F.C. coaches Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers captains Hull Kingston Rovers players People from Bowness-on-Windermere Rugby league players from Kingston upon Hull Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Scarborough Pirates coaches Wakefield Trinity coaches Wakefield Trinity players Yorkshire rugby league team players 20th-century English sportsmen