Thomas Sale (21 July 1918 – 3 January 2016) was an English

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 1940s and 1950s. He played at club level for

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

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 ...

and

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

Playing career

Leigh

Sale made his début in professional

for home town club

at the age of 20. He played nine games for the club before competitive rugby league was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War. He resumed playing for the club after the war, and went on to make a total of 82 appearances for the club before losing his place in the first team in 1948.

Warrington

Following the end of the Second World War, Sale briefly played for

as a guest player, making seven appearances between 1945 and 1946.

Widnes

Sale played, and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

' 0-19 defeat by

in the

1949–50 Challenge Cup The 1949–50 Challenge Cup was the 49th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Warrington beat Widnes 19–0 in the final played at Wembley in fro ...

Final during the 1949–50 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 ...

, in front of a crowd of 94,249.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Sale remained at Leigh in various roles. He was also coach of Liverpool City in the late 1950s.He was influential in the signing of player-coach Alex Murphy, who went on to lead the team to a

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

final win in 1971. Sale was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2011 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
1918 births 2016 deaths English rugby league players Leigh Centurions captains Leigh Centurions players Members of the Order of the British Empire Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Wigan Warrington Wolves players Widnes Vikings captains Widnes Vikings players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub