Paul Broughton (31 March 1931 – 3 December 2022) was an Australian

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, coach and club chief executive. He was the Chairman of the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. He also served on the board of the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. He has been described by some as an Australian

football identity.

Playing career

Broughton was graded at St. George in 1952, and captained the team to the Third Grade premiership in 1953. He played in Sydney's First Grade

NSWRFL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

for St. George in the 1954 season before playing with

Corrimal Corrimal is a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall ne ...

as captain/coach. He played 44 grade games for St. George in all grades (1952-1954). Broughton returned to the Sydney Premiership in 1957 with Balmain but was injured in the first match of the season and forced into retirement.

Coaching career

Post-playing Broughton coached the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

in third grade and reserve grade (three premierships 1962-1964) and went on to become the club's chairman of selectors in 1968. He later worked for the NSWRFL before a season coaching Brisbane's

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

club in 1974. The following season Broughton returned to Sydney with the Balmain club, whom he coached from 1975 to 1976, then Newtown from 1977 to the fifth game of 1978, after which a major internal upheaval caused him, along with reserve grade coach

Dave Bolton David R. Bolton (27 April 1937 – 21 January 2021) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, who later became a coach in Australia's NSWRFL premiership. An international representative for G ...

, to be dismissed in favour of St. George legend (and ex-Jet)

Johnny Raper John William Raper (12 April 1939 – 9 February 2022) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Nicknamed "Chook", he was a lock-forward who earned a then-record of 33 Test caps in the Australia national team between ...

and Bob Carnegie. After coaching Broughton worked as

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

development officer. Following the removal of the

Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...

from the newly established

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

at the end of the 1998 season, Broughton worked towards the foundation of the Titans, and has been described as "the Godfather of Gold Coast rugby league". The Titans annual award for best and fairest player is named the Paul Broughton Medal in his honour.

Personal life and death

Broughton received the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to rubgy league, and to the community." He died in December 2022, at the age of 91.

References

1931 births 2022 deaths Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers coaches Balmain Tigers players Newtown Jets coaches Place of birth missing Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks St. George Dragons players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1930s-stub