Nathaniel Joseph McAvoy (born 31 December 1976) is an English former 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 as a or . He spent most of his club career with

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

(1994–98 and 2004–05) and

Bradford Bulls 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 predom ...

(1998–2002 and 2007), but also had short spells with

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

and

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

. At international level, he was capped four times for

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 ...

between 1996 and 1999. He also played

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 ...

for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in 2003–04. As of 2011, he is a qualified PE teacher and teaches in

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 ...

Playing career

Salford

Born and brought up in

Weaste Weaste () is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2014, Weaste and Seedley ward had a population of 12,616. History Historically in Lancashire, it is an industrial area, with many industrial estates. The A57 (Ec ...

, Salford, McAvoy's first professional contract was given to him by

. He joined Salford in 1994 from Eccles ARL, where he played alongside

Adrian Morley Adrian Paul Morley is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward from the 1990s through the 2010s. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain and England national rugby league team, Engl ...

, Ian Watson and

Carlo Napolitano Carlo Napolitano is an Italian rugby league coach and former player. He is the former head coach of Italy, having taken charge of the national side in 2004, and being succeeded by Trent Barrett in 2014. Career He coached Italy during the 2013 Rug ...

. He made 118 appearances for the Salford City Reds, scoring 75 tries during his five-year stint at the club.

Bradford Bulls

Super League giants

signed McAvoy in July 1998 for a fee of £140,000. McAvoy played for

from the interchange bench in the

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Traffo ...

which was lost to St. Helens. During his time at Bradford he lifted the Rugby League

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 ...

, and the Grand Final in which he scored a spectacular try against bitter rivals

in 2000 which is remembered fondly by fans.

Rugby union

Nathan left Bradford and decided it was time for a new challenge and changed codes to play

for

during the 2003–04 season. His rugby union career was frustrating with an early injury causing loss of form and only made a handful of appearances before joining Salford again mid-2004.

Later career

He joined Leeds Rhinos in January 2006 and he made his début in the Tetleys Festive Challenge at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

against

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

, and scored a try in a 46 – 18 win It was announced on 28 April 2006 that Nathan had joined Wigan Warriors on a months loan. A day later it was announced that Leeds Rhinos had released Nathan from his contract. Nathan was awarded with a 1-year contract at the

JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

this season after successfully helping the Wigan club survive relegation last season. It was announced 2 February 2007 that Nathan was not offered a contract with Wigan and will be returning to Bradford for the 2007 season taking the squad number 2. In August 2007 it was announced that Nathan would be released at the end of 2007. In December 2007, it was announced that Nathan had signed a part-time contract to play with

( Heritage № 1293) for the 2008 season.

Representative career

In 1994, McAvoy played 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 ...

under-21s against

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 ...

. McAvoy 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 Salford in 1996 against Wales, and while at Bradford Bulls in 1999 against France, and France (sub). During his time at Salford, McAvoy was given the captaincy of the Great Britain Academy squad when they toured in New Zealand. He was also selected in the

squad for the 1996 European Championship, and he made his début against Wales before being named in the squad for the 2000 World Cup.

Post-playing career

In the 2008 season, McAvoy suffered a shattered kneecap and broken neck. Although he fully recovered he subsequently decided to retire from professional sport and complete his studies at Salford University where he gained a 2:1 in Sport Science & Management in 2009 (dissertation – Salary Caps in Sport). He then went on to train as a teacher and in 2010 became a PE teacher at Manchester Academy. Nathan currently resides on the RFL disciplinary board.

References

External links

Nathan McAvoy Player ProfileMcAvoy returns for second spell at Bradford
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAvoy, Nathan 1976 births Living people Alumni of the University of Salford Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Schoolteachers from Greater Manchester Great Britain under-21 national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Greater Manchester Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Stockport Salford Red Devils players Saracens F.C. players Sportspeople from Stockport Wigan Warriors players