William J. Lynch (2 Sep 1882 – 24 Apr 1963), also listed as Billie Lynch, was a professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for England and Yorkshire, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity, as a or .

Playing career

International honours

Billy Lynch won a cap for England while at Wakefield Trinity in 1910 against Wales.

County honours

Billy Lynch won cap(s) for Yorkshire while at Wakefield Trinity.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Billy Lynch played at in Wakefield Trinity's 17-0 victory over Hull F.C. in the

1909 Challenge Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Final during the 1908–09 season at Headingley, Leeds on Tuesday 20 April 1909, in front of a crowd of 23,587.Hoole, Les (2004). ''Wakefield Trinity RLFC - FIFTY GREAT GAMES''. Breedon Books. and played at in the 0-6 defeat by Hull F.C. in the

1914 Challenge Cup This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

Final during the 1913–14 season at Thrum Hall, Halifax, in front of a crowd of 19,000.

County Cup Final appearances

Billy Lynch played at in Wakefield Trinity's 8-2 victory over Huddersfield in the

1910 Yorkshire Cup Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Final during the 1910–11 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 3 December 1910.

Notable tour matches

Billy Lynch played at , and scored the try in Wakefield Trinity's 5-5 draw with New Zealand in the tour match at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Wednesday 23 October 1907, and played in the 20-13 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the first ever such tour for the newly-formed Australia national rugby league team (or 'The Kangaroos'). The tour was to England and Wales and coincided with the first Wallabies Rugby Union tour of ...

match at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Saturday 19 December 1908.

Club career

Billy Lynch made his début for Wakefield Trinity during September 1907, he appears to have scored no drop-goals (or field-goals as they are currently known in Australasia), but prior to the 1974–75 season all goals, whether; conversions,

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, or

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 ki ...

s, scored 2-points, consequently prior to this date drop-goals were often not explicitly documented, therefore '0' drop-goals may indicate drop-goals not recorded, rather than no drop-goals scored. In addition, prior to the 1949–50 season, the archaic field-goal was also still a valid means of scoring points.

Testimonial match

Billy Lynch's Testimonial match at Wakefield Trinity was joint testimonial for;

Arthur Burton Arthur Burton ( – death unknown) was a professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for Yorkshire, and at club level for Lofthouse Albion ARLFC (in Lofthouse, Leeds) (two ...

, Arthur Kenealy "Nealy" Crosland, William "Billy" Lynch, and Thomas "Tommy" Poynton, and took place against Yorkshire at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Wednesday 27 April 1922.

Outside of rugby league

Billy Lynch was the landlord of the Windmill Inn, Doncaster Road,

Foulby Foulby is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Nostell, between Crofton and Ackworth Moor Top, on the A638 east-south east of the city of Wakefield. The village falls within the Ackworth, North Elmsall and Up ...

, and on 22 March 1916 he arranged a rugby league match for the benefit of Leonard Hewitt
birth registered
fourth ¼ 1883 in Hemsworth district
death registered
first ¼ 1917 (aged 33) in Hemsworth district) who had been incapacitated while in training with His Majesty's forces. The teams were

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed by Billy Batten, and Billy Lynch.

References

External links

Search for "Billy Lynch" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Billie Lynch" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Leonard Hewitt" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, William England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Place of birth missing Place of death missing Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Wakefield Trinity players Year of birth missing Year of death missing Yorkshire rugby league team players