William Newman Ramsey (27 September 1943 – 7 July 2020) 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 as a or in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s. 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 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and Commonwealth XIII, and at club level for

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 ...

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 ...

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

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 ...

and

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s, and coached at club level for

. During his Leeds career Ramsey appeared in 17 major Finals, including five 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, scored a rare

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

in the 1969

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, toured twice in 1966 and 1974, and won seven winners medals with Leeds.

Background

Ramsey's was born in Leeds.

Playing career

Hunslet

Ramsey played left- in

's 16–20 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 1965 Challenge Cup Final at

, London, on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016. Ramsey represented Commonwealth XIII in 1965 against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre, London on Wednesday 18 August 1965, Ramsey 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Hunslet in 1965 against New Zealand (2 matches), in 1966 against France, Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), Ramsey played left- in Hunslet's 8–17 defeat by

in the 1965 Yorkshire Cup Final

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 Headingle ...

on Saturday 16 October 1965.

Leeds

Ramsey was transferred from Hunslet to Leeds in 1967 for £10,000, he made his début, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

for Leeds against

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a 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 city centre, north-west of Bi ...

on Friday 8 December 1967.

International honours

Bill Ramsey won

s for

while at Leeds in 1974 against New Zealand.

Championship final appearances

Bill Ramsey played, and scored a

in Leeds' 16–14 victory over

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in the

Final during the 1968–69 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

on Saturday 24 May 1969. During Bill Ramsey's time at Leeds there was a 9–5 victory over St. Helens in the Championship Final during the 1971–72 season.

County League appearances

Bill Ramsey played in Leeds' victories in the Yorkshire League during the 1967–68 season, 1968–69 season and 1969–70 season.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Bill Ramsey played left- in Leeds' 11–10 victory over

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 1968 Challenge Cup Finale (the "Watersplash" final) at Wembley Stadium] on Saturday 11 May 1968, played in the 7–24 defeat by Leigh Centurions, Leigh in the 1971 Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514, and played right- in the 13–16 defeat by St. Helens in the

1972 Challenge Cup Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) 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 con ...

Final at Wembley on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495.

County Cup Final appearances

Bill Ramsey played left- (replaced by interchange/ substitute

Merv Hicks Mervyn "Merv" John Hicks (born 1943) is a Welsh former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played rugby union club football in Wales for the Cross Keys RFC, rugby league club football in ...

) in Leeds' 22–11 victory over Castleford in the

1968 Yorkshire Cup The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

Final at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

on Saturday 19 October 1968, played left- and scored a try in the 23–7 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

in the 1970 Yorkshire Cup Final at

on Saturday 21 November 1970, played right- in the 36–9 victory over

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

in the 1972 Yorkshire Cup Final at Odsal on Saturday 7 October 1972, and was an interchange/ substitute in the 7–2 victory over

in the 1973 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley on Saturday 20 October 1973.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

Bill Ramsey played right- in Leeds' 9–5 victory over St. Helens in the 1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at Headingley on Tuesday 15 December 1970.

Bradford Northern

Ramsey signed for Bradford Northern on 27 January 1974, he stayed at the club until 8 September that year.

Hull

Ramsey spent the

1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season The 1975–76 Rugby Football League season was the 81st season of rugby league football. The Championship was won by Salford and the Challenge Cup winners were St. Helens who beat Widnes 20-5 in the final. The Rugby League Premiership Trophy winn ...

with

Hull F.C. 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 were ...

Players No.6 Trophy Final appearances

Ramsey played left- in Hull's 13–19 defeat by

in the 1975–76 Player's No.6 Trophy Final at Headingley on Saturday 24 January 1976.

Widnes

Ramsey played left- in Widnes' 13–16 defeat by Leeds in the 1977 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 7 May 1977.

County Cup Final appearances

Ramsey played left- in Widnes' 16–11 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

in the 1976 Lancashire Cup Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Saturday 30 October 1976.

Players No.6 Trophy Final appearances

Ramsey played left- in Widnes' 4–9 defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the 1977–78 Player's No.6 Trophy Final at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, 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 a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 January 1978.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing Ramsey returned to Hunslet as coach in 1978 and coached the team to promotion to the First Division in 1979.

Personal life

Ramsey married Marlene Chilton and they had two sons.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
On This Day – 8 DecemberStatistics at rugby.widnes.tvRugby Cup Final 1968
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Bill 1943 births 2020 deaths Bradford Bulls players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Hunslet F.C. (1883) players Hunslet R.L.F.C. coaches Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Widnes Vikings players Yorkshire rugby league team players