Paul John Loughlin (born 28 July 1966) is an English former

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 ...

who played for his hometown team St Helens, the

Bradford Bulls 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 ...

, the

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 ...

and the

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the RFL League 1 . The club has won the Rugby Football League Championship, Championship six times and three Challenge Cups ...

. Loughlin was born in St. Helens,

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 ...

, England. He made his first team début for St. Helens against

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 ...

aged 17 in 1984. He went on to score over 2,000 points for the club, and holds the club record for most points scored in a game - 2 tries and 16 goals for a total of 40 points in a 112–0 victory over

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

during September 1986. In 1995, he was transferred to the

as part of the record breaking deal to bring

Paul Newlove Paul Newlove (born 10 August 1971) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain and England international representative, he competed in the Super League competition, featur ...

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

. Loughlin was also a regular selection 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 ...

. He was selected to go on the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match (rugby league), Test match against Papua New Guinea national rugby le ...

. Loughlin played right- scored 2- tries and kicked 3 goals, and was

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 ...

in St. Helens' 15-14 victory over

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 ...

in the 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1987–88 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 9 January 1988. After his move to Bradford Bulls, he enjoyed several successful seasons with the Bradford Bulls. He played for the Bradford Bulls at in their

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 g ...

Final defeat by St. Helens. Loughlin then played a prominent role in the Bradford Bulls winning the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

title in 1997. After spending two further seasons in the Super League with the

, he ended his career with the

. Loughlin appeared in a total of five

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 ...

Finals, three times for St. Helens, and twice for the Bradford Bulls, and was a member of the losing side on each of these occasions. Loughlin is now head coach of amateur rugby league team Garswood Stags ARLFC who have gained promotion to Northwest Men's League Division 4.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Bull Masters - Paul LoughlinSaints Heritage Society profile
* ĎŔ�
Meninga saves the day

Garswood Stags ARLFC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughlin, Paul 1966 births Living people Bradford Bulls players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. players Swinton Lions players 20th-century English sportsmen