William "Bill" D. Drake (20 February 1931 – 8 October 2012) was 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 in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, and at club level for

Heworth A.R.L.F.C. Heworth ARLFC is an amateur rugby league football club based in Heworth, York. The first team plays in the NCL Division One. In 1986, the club was one of ten founder members of the BARLA National Amateur League (now known as the National Confer ...

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

as a

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

, and later a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Background

Bill Drake was born in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

, and was the younger (by 10-minutes)

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother of fellow rugby league footballer; Jim Drake, exactly four years to the day after the death of his twin brother Jim Drake, Bill Drake died aged 81 in

York Hospital York Hospital is a National Health Service teaching hospital in York, England. It is managed by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an NHS foundation trust which also runs several other hospitals in North Yorkshire ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England.

Playing career

Drake won 10-

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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

from 1953, and played in

's 10-9 victory over Halifax 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 system ...

Final during the 1955–56 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 12 May 1956. He played at in

's 13-30 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

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

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 9 May 1959. Drake missed the 1959–60 Challenge Cup Final during the 1959–60 season though injury, being replaced by Mike Smith who became the first player to ever make a first team début in a Challenge Cup Final. Drake won a

for

while at Hull in 1962 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and won a

for

while at Hull in 1962 also against France. Drake was transferred from Hull to Leeds in 1963 for £1,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £56,890 in 2013). Drake played at in

' 2-18 defeat by

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

in the 1964–65 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Rugby League Club from 1878 to 1992. T ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district 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 confluence into ...

on Saturday 31 October 1964.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Stats → Past Players → D at hullfc.com (statistics for player surnames beginning with 'C' and 'D' swapped)
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at hullfc.com
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
Bill Drake – A Supporter's Appreciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Bill 1931 births 2012 deaths Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English twins Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league players from Workington Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers York Wasps players