William Little (26 January 1911 – 17 December 2004) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for England 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

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, as a , i.e. number 7.

Background

Little was born in the small mining village of Great Clifton,

, and in his early days he played for the village's club, and he died aged 93 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.

Playing career

International honours

Little won caps for England while at Barrow in 1933 against Other Nationalities, and in 1934 against Australia, and France.

County honours

Little represented

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Little played , and scored a drop goal with his left-foot in

's 4-7 defeat by Salford in the

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1937–38 season at Wembley, London on 7 May 1938, and was a reserve in

's 0-10 defeat by Wigan in the 1950–51

Final at Wembley Stadium, London on 5 May 1951.

County Cup Final appearances

Little played in

's 4-8 defeat by Warrington in the

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

Lancashire

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1937–38 season at Central Park, Wigan on 23 October 1937.

Testimonial match

Little's testimonial matches at

were shared with

Bob Ayres Bob Ayres is an American entertainment industry executive, known among other things as the Founder of the former San Francisco comedy club The Other Café, and for his involvement in San Francisco Bay Area projects such aThe Other Cafe Comedy Club ...

Val Cumberbatch Valentine "Val" Cumberbatch (14 February 1911 – 23 January 1973) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for England and Lancashire, and at club level for Barrow ...

John Higgin John Higgin was a professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at club level for Barrow, as a , i.e. number three or four. Playing career Challenge Cup Final appearances John Higgin played right-, i.e. numb ...

and Dan McKeating, and took place against Swinton on 27 April 1946, and against Oldham on 27 January 1947.

Contemporaneous article extract

On 25 January 1947, Little was described in the programme of the Big Five Benefit as "the man who spelt the end to Halifax R.L. Cup hopes in 1938. Member of a famous Great Clifton football family. International and Cumberland County man."

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Back on the Wembley trail
*(archived by web.archive.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Billy 1911 births 2004 deaths Barrow Raiders players Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Cumbria Whitehaven R.L.F.C. coaches