Roy Colin Powell (30 April 1965 – 27 December 1998) 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. 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 ...

, and at club level for St John Fisher (in

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 ...

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 populati ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

, as a , or .

Background

Roy Powell was born in

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England, and he died aged 33 in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England.

Playing career

Powell 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 Leeds in 1985 against France (sub), in 1988 against France (2 matches), Australia (sub), Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand, in 1989 against France (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1990 against Papua New Guinea (2 matches), New Zealand (2 matches) (sub), New Zealand, Australia, and Australia (sub), and in 1991 against France (sub). He was selected to go on the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...

. Powell played left- in

' 33–12 victory over

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 the ...

in the 1988 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1988–89 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

on Sunday 16 October 1988. Powell played left- in

' 14–15 defeat by St. Helens in the 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1987–88 season 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 ...

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 ...

on Saturday 9 January 1988, and played right- in Leeds' 8–15 defeat by

in the 1992–93 Regal Trophy Final during the 1992–93 season at

on Saturday 23 January 1993. Powell played in

's victory over

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 the 1998–99

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 during the 1998–99 season. He collapsed and died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 33, while on his way to take part in a training session for

on 27 December 1998.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugby.dnsupdate.co.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Crooks in trouble
*(archived by web.archive.org
When Britain defeated the AussiesPhotograph "Roy Powell on the burst - Roy Powell was a tireless and most enthusiastic player. A true gentleman of the game. He played 132 times for Northern from 1992 until he moved on to Featherstone in 1995. Roy tragically died two days after Christmas whilst training with Batley (''sic'') in 1998 aged 33 – 01/01/1993" at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Roy 1965 births 1998 deaths Batley Bulldogs players Black British sportsmen Bradford Bulls players English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers players Great Britain national rugby league team players Great Britain under-21 national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league players from Dewsbury Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Yorkshire rugby league team players