Stephen Hampson (born 14 August 1961) is a former

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 it ...

and 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 who played as a in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed rugby league in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Vulcan RUFC (1978–83) in Newton-le-Willows, and representative level rugby league (RL) 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 i ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, they ...

, Halifax,

Salford Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been the ...

and the

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 r ...

Playing career

Club career

Hampson played at fullback for defending champions Wigan in their

1987 World Club Challenge The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Ch ...

victory against the visiting

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. He also played in their

1991 World Club Challenge The 1991 World Club Challenge (marketed as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship from the brewer) was contested by 1990–91 RFL Championship winners, Wigan and 1991 NSWRL season premiers, the Penrith Panthers. The match was pl ...

victory against the visiting

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

. He spent almost ten years as a player for the club between 1983 and 1993. During his Wigan career, he made 296 starts (plus 8 subs bench appearances), scoring 55 tries, 48 conversions and 3 drop goals, a total of 319 points. Wigan reached the Challenge Cup Final eight times while Hampson was at the club, but he missed the first three Challenge Cup Finals (in 1984, 1985 and 1988) due to injury. Hampson played as an interchange/ substitute, i.e. number 14, (replacing Gary Henley-Smith) in

's 34-8 victory over

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 1985 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1985–86 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

, St. Helens, on Sunday 13 October 1985, played in the 28-16 victory over

in the 1987 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1987–88 season at

, St. Helens, on Sunday 11 October 1987, played in the 22-17 victory over

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 ...

in the

1988 Lancashire 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 1988–89 season at

, St. Helens on Sunday 23 October 1988, and played (replaced by interchange/ substitute Neil Cowie) in the 5-4 victory over St. Helens in the 1992 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1992–93 season at

, St. Helens on Sunday 18 October 1992. Hampson played in

's 11-8 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in the 1985–86 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1985–86 season at Elland Road,

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 11 January 1986, played in the 18-4 victory over

in the 1986–87 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1986–87 season at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

on Saturday 10 January 1987, played in the 12-6 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1988–89 season at

on Saturday 7 January 1989, and played , and scored a

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

in the 15-8 victory over

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 the 1992–93 Regal Trophy Final during the 1992–93 season at Elland Road,

on Saturday 23 January 1993. In 1989, he played alongside fellow import

Andy Gregory Andrew Gregory (born 10 August 1961) is an English former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain international representative , he is an inductee of the Wigan Hall of Fame. He was the first player to win five Challenge Cup Fina ...

for the

in the

NSWRL 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 ...

. Although the club finished bottom of the league table, they reached the final of the 1989 Panasonic Cup. Hampson played and scored a try in the final, but the match ended in a 20–22 defeat against

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

. After being released by Wigan in 1993, he went to play for Halifax,

and

Representative career

Hampson 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 ...

, but was forced to withdraw after breaking his arm a few weeks before the tour departed. He was also selected for the

1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team, nicknamed the 'Lions', of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and July 1992. The tour was the last of ...

. He was capped 12 times for

between 1987 and 1992.

Coaching career

Hampson was coach of Lancashire Lynx between 1999 and 2000. He has worked as a fitness conditioner for Sale Sharks, Lancashire CCC, and in

at international level with

. As part of the 2010 Wigan Warriors coaching staff re-structure Hampson became the Assistant Under 18's Coach.

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at wigan-warriors.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
When Britain defeated the Aussies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampson, Steve 1961 births Living people Blackpool Panthers coaches Chorley Lynx coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Illawarra Steelers players Place of birth missing (living people) Rugby league fullbacks Salford Red Devils players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players