Roger Simpson (born 27 August 1967) 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 11 ...

footballer. His most common position was on the , but he played at most positions across the backs throughout his playing career. He started his career at

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 pre ...

in 1985, making over 250 appearances for the club before joining

Batley Bulldogs 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 ...

in 1996. He also received one cap 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 ...

in 1995.

Playing career

Bradford Northern

In August 1984, Simpson was signed by

from amateur club Moldgreen on his 17th birthday. He made his senior debut for the club against

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in September 1985. Simpson played in

's 12–12 draw with

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

in the

1987 Yorkshire Cup File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Final during the 1987–88 season 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 Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on Saturday 17 October 1987, and played on the in the 11–2 victory over Castleford in the replay at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 31 October 1987. He played at in the 20–14 victory over

in the

1989 Yorkshire Cup File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Final during the 1989–90 season at Headingley, Leeds on Sunday 5 November 1989. Simpson played at in Bradford Northern's 2–12 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1990–91 Regal Trophy Final during the 1990–91 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 12 January 1991. He played on the in the 15–8 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

in the 1992–93 Regal Trophy Final during the 1992–93 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 23 January 1993. Simpson became the groundsman at Odsal Stadium while playing for Bradford, a job which he continued after ending his playing career.

Batley Bulldogs

Simpson was signed by

in 1996, and made his debut for the club against

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

in March 1996. He scored the 100th try of his career in the 1998

Trans-Pennine Cup The Trans-Pennine Cup was a short-lived competition for professional British rugby league clubs in the RFL Second Division. The competition had no qualification rounds; only a final was played. The finalists were the highest placed team in the N ...

final in a 28–12 win against

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 ...

International honours

Simpson was selected in the

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 i ...

squad for the 1990 Lions tour of Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. He played in five non-Test matches for the team during the tour. Simpson won one

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 ...

for

in 1995 while at Bradford Northern, appearing as a substitute against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Personal life

Roger Simpson is the father of Jared Simpson, who played rugby league for

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

between 2015 and 2018.

References

External links

Photograph "1989/90 Team Photo - 1989/90 Team Photo - 26/08/1989" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Bradford Northern 1993/4 - The Bradford Northern squad for the 1993/4 season. - 01/01/1993" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Return to Odsal - Ex-players lead out the team on the return to Odsal after two seasons at Valley Parade - 09/03/2003" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Trevor kisses the turf - Trevor Foster kisses the turf on the return to Odsal after two seasons at Valley Parade - 09/03/2003" at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Roger 1967 births Living people Rugby league wingers English rugby league players Bradford Bulls players Batley Bulldogs players England national rugby league team players Place of birth missing (living people)