Nick Fozzard (born 22 July 1977) 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. 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
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, and at club level for the
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
,
Huddersfield Giants
The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...
,
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league.
Warringto ...
,
St Helens,
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 ...
,
Castleford Tigers
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...
, and 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 ...
for the
Dewsbury Rams
The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league.
History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athl ...
.
Career
Early career
Born in
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England, Fozzard signed for
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 1993 from amateur club Shaw Cross, and made his first team debut in April 1994 against St Helens. He was signed by
Huddersfield Giants
The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...
in May 1997. Fozzard missed almost two full seasons after suffering a broken arm in a match against
London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...
in March 2000, and then breaking his arm a second time 10 months later. He joined
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league.
Warringto ...
in 2002, before signing for
St Helens in 2004.
St Helens
Fozzard played for Saints in their 32–16 win against
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester.
The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...
in the
2004 Challenge Cup
The 2004 Challenge Cup, known as the Powergen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 103rd staging of the Challenge Cup, a European rugby league cup competition.
The competition began in November 2003, and ended with the final in May 200 ...
final.
In 2005, Fozzard was one of five uncapped players selected by
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 ...
for the
2005 Tri-Nations
The 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was played in Great Britain and Australasia. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand at Elland Road on Saturday 26 November. New Zealand won the match 24-0 and were crowned 2005 Tri-Nations champio ...
. He received his one and only cap for the team in the opening match of the tournament, a 26–42 defeat against
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 2006, Fozzard extended his contract with Saints until the end of 2008. Due to increased competition for places, he missed out on St Helens
2006 Challenge Cup
The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, Franc ...
final victory.
As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
in the
2007 World Club Challenge
The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appear ...
. Fozzard played as a in St. Helens' 18–14 victory. He also won his second Challenge Cup with the club, starting in the 30–8 win against
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...
in the
2007 Challenge Cup
The 2007 Carnegie Challenge Cup began in February 2007. The Challenge Cup is the most prestigious knock-out competition in the world of rugby league, featuring teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia.
In ...
final, and was selected in the 2007
Super League Dream Team
The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists and ...
at the end of the season.
Fozzard missed most of the 2008 season after suffering a serious knee injury. He returned in time for the end of the season, helping the team secure a fourth consecutive
League Leaders' Shield
The League Leaders' Shield is a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. This regular portion of the season precedes the playoffs for the eventual Super League Grand Final. The tro ...
.
He also played in the
2008 Super League Grand Final defeat by the
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
.
Later career
On 19 September 2008 Fozzard signed 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 ...
for the 2009 Super League campaign.
It was confirmed on 20 September 2009, that Fozzard would return to St. Helens after being released by Hull Kingston Rovers on the final year of his contract.
Following a poor start to the 2010 season, Fozzard was dropped by coach Mick Potter.
Fozzard joined
Castleford Tigers
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...
on a one-year deal on 16 September 2010. He retired in 2012 due to a serious shoulder injury.
References
External links
St Helens profileProfile at saints.org.ukNick Fozzard Memory Box Search at archive.castigersheritage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fozzard, Nick
1977 births
Living people
Castleford Tigers players
Dewsbury Rams players
English people of Italian descent
Sportspeople of Italian descent
English rugby league players
Great Britain national rugby league team players
Huddersfield Giants players
Hull Kingston Rovers players
Leeds Rhinos players
Rugby league props
Rugby league second-rows
Rugby league players from Wakefield
St Helens R.F.C. players
Warrington Wolves players
Yorkshire rugby league team players