Anthony Blackwood (born 13 September 1982) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played for the

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

in Championship 1. He has previously represented

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and played as a or .

Background

Blackwood was born in

Barrow-In-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England.

Playing career

Formerly a back-row player, Blackwood signed for

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in 2007 from Halifax. He is a former

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

academy captain.

International honours

Blackwood made his Wales début against Scotland in 2005, winning caps for

while at Halifax, and Celtic Crusaders 2005...present 7(6?)-caps 3-tries 12-points. A regular and one of the most committed Welsh internationals, Anthony joined the Crusaders from Halifax at the start of last season following an impressive record with the Yorkshire-side. He continued to impress at the Crusaders in both the 2007 and 2008 season scoring 14 tries in year one followed by 11 in 2008

References

1982 births Living people Barrow Raiders players British expatriates in France Crusaders Rugby League players English people of Welsh descent English rugby league players Expatriate rugby league players in France Halifax R.L.F.C. players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league players from Barrow-in-Furness Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers South Wales Scorpions players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players {{Wales-rugbyleague-bio-stub