Thomas McKinney (31 December 1926 – 10 November 1999) was a Northern Irish

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 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Jed-Forest RFC Jed-Forest Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team who are based at Riverside Park in Jedburgh. The team was founded in 1885 and currently play in National League 1 (rugby) and the Border League. Jed-Forest Sevens The club organises the Je ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) 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 ...

, Other Nationalities, British Empire XIII, Rugby League XIII and Combined Nationalities, and at club level for

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, ...

(two spells),

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 ...

and St Helens, as a or .

Background

Tom McKinney was born in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

, Northern Ireland.

Playing career

International honours

Tom McKinney represented Combined Nationalities, and scored a try in the 15–19 defeat by France at

Stade de Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

on Sunday 3 January 1954, won 7(8?)-caps for Other Nationalities (RL), represented British Empire XIII (RL) while at Salford in 1952 against New Zealand, represented Rugby League XIII while at Salford in 1954 against France, and 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 Salford in 1951 against New Zealand, in 1952 against France (non-

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

), Australia (2 matches), in 1953 against France (non-

), in 1954 against France (non-

), Australia (3 matches), New Zealand, while at Warrington in 1955 against New Zealand (2 matches), France (non-

), New Zealand, in 1956 against France (non-

), while at St. Helens in the 1957 Rugby League World Cup against New Zealand. In the 1954

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

n Tour he was brought out of the scrum by Darcy Lawler

Australia's most controversial referee at the time, and accused of biting. A flabbergasted McKinney just opened his mouth to reveal his toothless gums.

Championship Final appearances

Tom McKinney played in

's 7–3 victory over

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 ...

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 ...

Final during the 1954–55 season at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

on Saturday 14 May 1955.

County Cup Final appearances

Tom McKinney played in St. Helens 2–12 defeat by

in the 1958–59 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1958–59 season at

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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 25 October 1958, and played in the 4–5 defeat by

in the 1959–60 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1959–60 season at

on Saturday 31 October 1959.

Club career

Raised in Scotland, Tom McKinney played

for

, in November 1949 he changed to the

code and transferred to

, in January 1955 he transferred to

, on Tuesday 22 January 1957 he transferred to St. Helens for £2000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £101,200 in 2013), winning a

medal during the 1958–59 season, after Friday 25 December 1959 he transferred to

Honoured by Rugby League Ireland

On Thursday 25 March 2004 six footballers were inducted into

Rugby League Ireland Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council ...

's inaugural Hall of Fame at the Rugby League Heritage Centre in

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 ...

, they were; John "Jack" Daly (

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 ...

), Robert "Bob" Kelly (

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 ...

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 ...

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

), Seamus McCallion ( Halifax/

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 ...

/ Bramley), Thomas "Tom" McKinney, (

/ St. Helens), Terry O'Connor (

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 ...

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

), Patrick "Paddy" Reid (

/ Halifax).

References

External links

*(archived by archive.is
U.K. League Hooker in Doubt
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Thomas 1926 births 1999 deaths 20th-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland British Empire rugby league team players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Great Britain national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Irish rugby union players Jed-Forest RFC players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from County Antrim Rugby league props Rugby League XIII players Rugby union players from County Antrim Salford Red Devils players Sportspeople from Ballymena St Helens R.F.C. players Warrington Wolves players