Seamus McCallion (born 10 April 1964) is an Irish 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 in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at club level for Halifax,

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 ...

and Bramley, as a .

Playing career

Early career

McCallion started his career with

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 ...

-based amateur club Moldgreen, and was selected for the 1983

BARLA The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

Young Lions tour of New Zealand. After playing a few games on trial at

Kent Invicta Kent Invicta is a defunct rugby league team that were based in Maidstone, Kent and later Southend in Essex. History Kent Invicta RLFC and Southend Invicta RLFC ''Kent Invicta RLFC'' was formed by a local businessman, Paul Faires, and Jim Thompso ...

during the 1983–84 season, he was signed by Halifax in March 1984.

Halifax

McCallion played in all 37-matches in Halifax's victory 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 ...

during the 1985–86 season, scoring 7-tries in 30 League matches and 2 in Cup competitions. McCallion played , and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in Halifax's 19-18 victory over St. Helens in the

1987 Challenge 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 1986–87 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 2 May 1987, and played in the 12-32 defeat by Wigan in the

1988 Challenge Cup File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Final during the 1987–88 season at

on Saturday 30 April 1988. McCallion played in Halifax' 12-24 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 1989–90 Regal Trophy Final during the 1989–90 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 Headingle ...

on Saturday 13 January 1990. In 1992, McCallion was sold to

as part of an exchange deal, but never made an appearance for the first team.

International honours

Seamus McCallion 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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

while Unattached, and at Bramley in 1995 and 1996 gaining 3-caps.

Post-playing career

In 2003, McCallion was appointed as head coach of

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: *Gateshead Thunder (1999) Gateshead Thunder was a professional rugby league club founded in 1999 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, which competed in the 1999 Super League but then merged with Hull Sharks af ...

. He was replaced by Dean Thomas a year later. In November 2022, he was appointed as Head Physio at Hull.

Personal life

McCallion's daughter, Orla, plays

for

Leeds Rhinos Women Leeds Rhinos Women are a rugby league team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team is part of the Leeds Rhinos club and plays in the Women's Super League. They were the RFL Women's Super League champions in 2019 and 2022, and from 20 ...

Honoured by Rugby League Ireland

On 25 March 2004 six footballers were inducted into

Rugby League Ireland Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council and ...

's inaugural Hall of Fame at the

Rugby League Heritage Centre The Rugby League Heritage Centre was formerly located in the basement of the George Hotel, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was the first rugby league heritage museum and was significantly influenced by Sky Sports presenter and former Gr ...

, they were; John "Jack" Daly (

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 ...

), Robert "Bob" Kelly (

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

Wakefield Trinity 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 ...

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 ...

), Seamus McCallion ( Halifax/

/ Bramley), Thomas "Tom" McKinney, (

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 ...

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 ...

/ St. Helens), Terry O'Connor (

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 ...

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

), Patrick "Paddy" Reid (

/ Halifax).

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Crooks in trouble
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCallion, Seamus 1964 births Living people Bramley R.L.F.C. players Irish expatriate rugby league players in England Halifax R.L.F.C. players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish expatriate rugby league players Irish rugby league coaches Irish rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players Lindley Swifts players Newcastle Thunder coaches Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from County Antrim Kent Invicta players