Gary Wilkinson is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

coach who was head coach of the

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

and subsequently in temporary charge of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. Wilkinson had a career as a player in the amateur leagues in Hull before moving into coaching where he proved he could develop young players and produce winning teams. After a successful spell as

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

’s Academy boss he took over the first team in 2002, winning the

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...

and reaching the quarter finals of the promotion play-offs. He fell victim to changing fortunes in the Hull Kingston Rovers’ boardroom and moved on to

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 ...

as under-21s coach and had a brief spell on the backroom staff at

. In 2004 he was appointed coach of the successful GB Students’ squad. In 2006 he was head coach of the

. Wilkinson was a part-time coach at the Eagles, on weekdays he runs a pest control business in Hull. When he was appointed at the start of the 2006 season he immediately helped the Eagles by bringing in players from the Hull area and from the student game. The team took time to gel but eventually finished second in National League Two after an eleven-game unbeaten run, qualifying for the play-offs. They then beat

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 ...

and Swinton to gain promotion to National League One. He resigned as the Eagles' head coach on 15 October 2006, citing personal reasons. In April 2007 Wilkinson made a dramatic return to rugby league coaching when he took temporary charge of

following the suspension of their coach Keiran Dempsey and his assistant. His first game in charge was against the Sheffield Eagles at the

Don Valley Stadium Don Valley Stadium was a sports stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The venue, which was completed in September 1990, hosted the 1991 World Student Games. It was designed by Sheffield City Council's Design & Building Services and nam ...

and Wilkinson's team recorded a victory by 24 points to 20. In May 2007 Doncaster entered into a CVA to avoid potential liquidation and Wilkinson was told not to continue as coach.

External links

Hull KR historyDoncaster RLFC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Gary Living people Doncaster R.L.F.C. coaches English rugby league coaches Hull Kingston Rovers coaches Sheffield Eagles coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Rugby articles needing expert attention