Melville De Lloyd (2 April 1917 – May 1985) 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 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 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Resolven RFC Resolven Rugby Football Club are a Wales, Welsh rugby union club based in Resolven in Wales and are a feeder club for the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys. History Rugby was supposedly introduced to Resolven by two visiting engineers; Charlie Th ...

and

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

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 ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

, as a .

Background

De Lloyd was born in

Resolven Resolven () is a small village and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the Vale of Neath. Location The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, north east of the town of Neath, next to the A465 ''Heads o ...

, Wales, and he died aged 68 in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, Kent.

Playing career

International honours

De Lloyd won a

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 ...

for

(RL) while at Warrington in 1945.

Club career

De Lloyd began his rugby union career playing alongside his brothers at

, aged 17 he then played alongside

Bill Clement William H. Clement (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster. Clement played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and was n ...

for

, he was spotted by Eddie Waring, and was recommended to rugby league club

, he made his début for Warrington on Saturday 26 September 1936, he played in

's 8-4 victory over Barrow in the 1937 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1936–37 season 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 Saturday 23 October 1937. 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 ...

he appeared as a

guest A guest is person who is given hospitality. Guest or The Guest may refer to: * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, guest actor, guest ...

player for Wakefield Trinity making his début for during March 1941, playing 9-matches up to May 1941, he also he appeared as a guest player for

, during a game against Hull F.C. on Saturday 3 January 1942 he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

after disputing a decision by the referee, Mr L. Dolby, alleged that De Lloyd had later "struck him". On Wednesday 7 January 1942, the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

disciplinary committee suspended De Lloyd indefinitely (sine die). The suspension was lifted 10-months later in October 1942, he resumed playing having missed 14-games, he scored 1- try, 3- conversions, and 3-

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

s for a total of 15-points in the 21-0 victory over

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 ...

in the first leg of the 1943 Yorkshire Cup semi-final during the 1943–44 season at Lawkholme Lane on Saturday 13 November 1943, during his time at Keighley they appeared in two Yorkshire Cup finals, the only Yorkshire Cup finals that Keighley have appeared in, the 7-10 aggregate defeat (2-5 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 ...

on Saturday 27 November 1943, and 5-5 at Lawkholme Lane on Saturday 4 December 1943) to

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 1943 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1943–44 season, and the 3-17 defeat by

in the 1951 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1951–52 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 ...

on Saturday 27 October 1951, after the war he resumed playing for Warrington, playing his last game for them on Saturday 11 October 1947, he then signed for

in 1947, eventually retiring from playing in 1952. He appears to have scored no drop-goals (or field-goals as they are currently known in Australasia) for

, nor

, but prior to the 1974–75 season all goals, whether;

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

s, penalties, or drop-goals, scored 2-points, consequently prior to this date drop-goals were often not explicitly documented, therefore '0' drop-goals may indicate drop-goals not recorded, rather than no drop-goals scored. In addition, prior to the 1949–50 season, the archaic field-goal was also still a valid means of scoring points.

Genealogical information

De Lloyd's marriage to Thelma (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Smith) was registered during first ¼ 1940 in

district, and his marriage to Mary Fagan was registered during fourth ¼ 1948 in Newton district, he is buried alongside his second wife in St. David's Cemetery, Resolven.

References

External links

Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen History Society: Mel de LloydStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Lloyd, Mel 1917 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Keighley Cougars players Llanelli RFC players Resolven RFC players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Resolven Rugby union players from Resolven Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players