Thomas Harry Royal (1914 – ) was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, and 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 in the 1930s, 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 rugby league in the 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Welsh Schoolboys, and

Glamorgan County RFC Glamorgan County RFC is a Welsh rugby union club that manages an invitational team, known as Glamorgan that originally played rugby at county level. The team is made up of amateur players from sports clubs in the Glamorgan region and historically ...

, and at club level for

Blaengarw RFC Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley (Cwm Garw) of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. In the English language Blaengarw means the rugged 'front' or 'head' of the valley. The population of Blaengarw ward ...

(in

Blaengarw Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley (Cwm Garw) of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. In the English language Blaengarw means the rugged 'front' or 'head' of the valley. The population of Blaengarw ward ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

), and

Bridgend RFC Bridgend Ravens ( cy, Cigfrain Pen-y-bont) (formerly Bridgend RFC) are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a feeder club to the Ospreys regional team ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and at club level for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

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 ...

(

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 ...

), and

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

(

), as a , i.e. number 7, and coached club level rugby league (RL) for

Background

Harry Royal's birth was registered in

, Wales. He was the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

of the Craven Heifer Hotel

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

lic house (now a residential building), Victoria Road (now renamed), Springfield,

, he opened a boys' sports club in the upper-room of the Craven Heifer Hotel, funded by a

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

pennies A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

that were donated in Springfield area of Dewsbury, and he died aged 81.

Playing career

International honours

Harry Royal had a trial for

(RU) while at

in the second Welsh trial at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

during December 1936, and 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

(RL) while at

; he played in the 9-12 defeat by France in the 1948–49 European Rugby League Championship match at St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground,

on Saturday 23 October 1948, in front of a crowd of 12,032, and played in the 5-12 defeat by Australia in the

1948–49 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1948–49 Kangaroo tour was the seventh Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played thirty-seven matches, including the Ashes series (rugby league), Ashes series of three Ru ...

match at St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground,

on Saturday 20 November 1948, in front of a crowd of 9,224.

Championship final appearances

Harry Royal played in

's 14-25 aggregate 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

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 during the 1943–44 season; Tom Walsh played in the 9-13 first-leg defeat 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 13 May 1944, but Royal played in the 5-12 second-leg defeat at

Crown Flatt Crown Flatt, currently known as the Tetley's Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league stadium in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of the Dewsbury Rams, who play in the Championship. The ground occupies the site of th ...

on Saturday 20 May 1944, and played in the 4-13 defeat by

in the

Final during the 1946–47 season at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on Saturday 21 June 1947.

Club career

Harry Royal was transferred from

, becoming

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

on Wednesday 2 November 1949, he played his first match for Batley against

in the

match during the 1949–50 season at Mount Pleasant,

on Saturday 12 November 1949, but this match was abandoned with Batley losing 0-4, this match was later replayed on Tuesday 4 April 1950, so this original fixture does not count toward official records. Therefore, his official début for Batley was the 23-5 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 ...

Post Office Road Post Office Road (currently known as the Millennium Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a rugby league ground in Featherstone, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of rugby league club Featherstone Rovers. The ground's curr ...

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

on Saturday 19 November 1949, and he played his last match for Batley in the 3-5 defeat by

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 ...

during the 1950–51 season at the

Watersheddings Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...

on Saturday 4 November 1950.

Coaching career

Club career

Harry Royal was the coach of

from November 1949 to November 1950, Batley finished the 1949–50 season in 25th position out of 29-teams, with 10-victories, and 26-defeats, for 20-points, they reached the second-round of the

1949–50 Yorkshire Cup 1949–50 was the forty-second occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Huddersfield by the score of 11-4. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The at ...

, losing 5-12 to eventual losing semi-finalists

on Thursday 29 September 1949, and they reached the second-round of 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 ...

, losing 4-12 to eventual losing finalists

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 ...

at Mount Pleasant,

on Thursday 2 March 1950.

Genealogical information

Harry Royal's marriage to Martha (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Green) was registered in

district during third ¼ 1951. They had children; Steven Royal (birth registered in Dewsbury district during first quarter ), and Joy Royal (birth registered in Dewsbury district during first quarter ).

References

External links

Search for "Harry Royal" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Harry 1914 births 1990s deaths Batley Bulldogs captains Batley Bulldogs coaches Batley Bulldogs players Dewsbury Rams captains Dewsbury Rams players Place of death missing Publicans Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Bridgend Rugby union players from Bridgend Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league coaches Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Year of death missing