Sydney Hynes (31 July 1944 – 11 December 2024) was an English 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 and 1970s and

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 ...

ed rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s. He played club level rugby union for the sports club of the Leeds branch of

National and Local Government Officers' Association The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government White-collar workers, "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, ...

(NALGO), as well as rugby league 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 Leeds RLFC. Hynes played at and coached at club level for Leeds.

Background

Hynes was born in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

(in south

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 ...

), and was educated at Bewerley Street School. As of December 2016, Hynes lived in Willagee, Western Australia. On 11 December 2024, it was announced that Hynes had died early that day from a short illness, in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He was 80.

Playing career

Club career

Hynes played at in

' 11–10 victory over

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 ...

in the 1968 Challenge Cup ''"Watersplash"'' Final during the 1967–68 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 ...

on Saturday 11 May 1968, in front of a crowd of 87,100, played at 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 the 7–24 defeat by

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

in the 1971 Challenge Cup Final during the 1970–71 at

on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514, and became the first player to be

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 ...

in a Challenge Cup Final after a headbutt on Leigh's Alex Murphy, and played at (replaced by substitute

John Langley John Russell Langley (June 1, 1943 – June 26, 2021) was an American television and film director, writer, and producer who was best known as the creator and executive producer of the television show '' Cops'', which premiered on Fox in March ...

) in the 13–16 defeat by St. Helens in the 1972 Challenge Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495. Hynes played at in

' 22-11 victory over

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 1968 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1968–69 season at Belle Vue,

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 ...

on Saturday 19 October 1968, played at scored 4-

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

s, 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 ...

winning the White Rose Trophy in the 23-7 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

1970 Yorkshire Cup Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

Final during the 1970–71 season 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 ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Saturday 21 November 1970, played at and scored a

in the 36-9 victory over

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, ...

in the 1972 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1972–73 season at

on Saturday 7 October 1972, played at and scored a

in the 7-2 victory over

in the 1973 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1973–74 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 20 October 1973, played , and was the

in the 15-11 victory over

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 ...

in the 1975 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1975–76 season at

on Saturday 15 November 1975, played at and was the

in the 16-12 victory over

in the 1976 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1976–77 season at

on Saturday 16 October 1976. Hynes played at and scored a try, and a

' 9-5 victory over St. Helens in the 1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1970–71 season at

on Tuesday 15 December 1970. Hynes played at in

' 12-7 victory over

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, ...

in the 1972–73 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1972–73 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 24 March 1973. Hynes'

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place in 1974. His final game for the club took place in November 1976 in a

Player's No.6 Trophy The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league, rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but a ...

match against

International honours

Syd Hynes 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 Leeds in 1969 against Wales and France, in 1970 against Wales, and France, and won

s for

while at Leeds in 1970 against Australia (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), New Zealand (sub), in the 1970 Rugby League World Cup against Australia, France, New Zealand and Australia, in 1971 against France, and in 1973 against Australia (3 matches).

Coaching career

Hynes was the

' 16-7 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 1977 Challenge Cup Final during the 1976–77 season at

on Saturday 7 May 1977, in front of a crowd of 80,871, and was the

in the 14-12 victory over St. Helens in the 1978 Challenge Cup Final during the 1977–78 season at

on Saturday 13 May 1978, in front of a crowd of 96,000. Hynes was the

' 15-6 victory over

in the 1979 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1979–80 season at

on Saturday 27 October 1979. Before stepping down in April 1981, Leeds had won all seven cup finals they had played in while Hynes was coach.

References

External links

Photograph "Syd Hynes Looks For A Pass - Leeds' Syd Hynes looks to send Alan Smith away as Peter Small covers for Bradford. - 22/10/1972" at rlhp.co.uk

Rugby Cup Final 1968 at britishpathe.com

Syd Hynes lifestory
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hynes, Syd 1944 births 2024 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos captains Leeds Rhinos coaches Leeds Rhinos players People from Hunslet Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby union players from Leeds Yorkshire rugby league team players 20th-century English sportsmen