https://www.rugbyleaguerecords.com/ Gerard "Gerry" J. Helme (4 April 1923 – 19 December 1981) 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed. 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 ...

, Combined Nationalities and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

, as a , and coached at club level. Helme played almost all of his club career for Warrington, with whom he won three

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 ...

Finals and two

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 ...

Finals and became a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.

Background

Helme's birth was registered in

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

, he was a pupil of St. Joseph’s school, Leigh, and he died aged 58.

Playing career

Helme made his début for

on Wednesday 29 August 1945. Helme played in

's 15-5 victory over

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 ...

in the 1947-48

Final at Maine Road, Manchester. Helme played in

's 8-14 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

1948–49 Lancashire Cup 1948–49 was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 14–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of L ...

Final at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 13 November 1948, Helme played in

's 19-0 victory over

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 ...

in the

1949–50 Challenge Cup The 1949–50 Challenge Cup was the 49th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Warrington beat Widnes 19–0 in the final played at Wembley in fro ...

Final 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 6 May 1950, in front of a crowd of 94,249. He played in

's 5-28 defeat by

in the 1950–51 Lancashire Cup Final at

on Saturday 4 November 1950. Helme represented Combined Nationalities in the 15-19 defeat by

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 ...

Stade de Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

on Sunday 3 January 1954. Helme played in the 4-4 draw with Halifax in the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at

on Saturday 24 April 1954, in front of a crowd of 81,841, and played in the 8-4 victory over Halifax in the 1953–54

Final replay 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 Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more. Helme became the first player to win the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

twice, his first coming in the victory over Widnes in the

Final, and his second coming in the victory over Haliax in the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay. Helme 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 Warrington in 1948 against Wales, France, in 1949 against Wales, France, in 1953 against France, and won

s for

while at Warrington in 1948 against Australia (3 matches), in 1954 against Australia (3 matches), New Zealand (2 matches), in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup against France (2 matches), Australia, New Zealand. He also helped Great Britain to victory by scoring the match-winning try in the first ever World Cup Final in 1954. Helme played his last match for Warrington on Saturday 2 February 1957 ( Heritage № 457).

Post-playing

After retiring from playing, Gerry Helme had coaching roles with

and

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

. In 1981 he died at the age of 58.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Gerry Helme at warringtonwolves.org
*(archived by archive.is
U.K. League hooker in DoubtWarrington's World Cup heroes - Gerry Helme
1923 births 1981 deaths Combined Nationalities rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Leigh Centurions coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Leigh, Greater Manchester Warrington Wolves players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub