William "Bill" Holliday (born 4 July 1939) is a 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 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, 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 in the 1980s. 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

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 is th ...

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 Challeng ...

, Swinton 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 , and coached at club level for Swinton (jointly with

Mike Peers Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

Background

Bill Holliday was born in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, England.

Playing career

Whitehaven

Holliday started his career with

. In January 1965, he was transfer listed for a fee of £8,000 due to the club's financial difficulties, and was subsequently signed by

. He is a Whitehaven Hall of Fame inductee.

Hull Kingston Rovers

Holliday played at in

' 25–12 victory over

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 ...

in the 1966 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1966–67 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 ...

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 ...

on Saturday 15 October 1966, played left- in

' 8-7 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the 1967 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1967–68 season at

on Saturday 14 October 1967.

Swinton

Holliday signed for Swinton in September 1968 for a fee of £6,000. He played at in Swinton's 11–2 victory over

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 ...

in the

1969 Lancashire Cup This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Final during the 1969–70 season at

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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 1 November 1969, and appeared as a substitute (replacing Rod Smith) in the club's 11–25 defeat by

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

1972 Lancashire Cup Year 197 (Roman numerals, CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ...

Final during the 1972–73 season at

on Saturday 21 October 1972.

Rochdale Hornets

In November 1972, Holliday was transferred to

for a fee of £1,000. He played at and scored two

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s in Rochdale Hornets' 16–27 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 1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at

on Saturday 9 February 1974. Holliday had secured the quarter-final victory for Rochdale over Leeds with a drop goal from just inside the attacking half to give Hornets a 7 points to 5 lead.

International honours

Bill Holliday 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 Whitehaven in 1964 against France, in 1965 against France, New Zealand (3 matches), while at Hull Kingston Rovers in 1966 against France, France (sub), and in 1967 against Australia (3 matches). Bill Holliday captained Great Britain in 1967 against Australia (3 matches).

Personal life

Bill Holliday is the father of the rugby league footballer;

Les Holliday Leslie "Les" W. Holliday (born 8 August 1962) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Cumbria, and at club le ...

, and the rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s for Swinton and

; Mike Holliday.

References

External links

Search for "William Holliday" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.ukSearch for "Bill Holliday" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holliday, William 1939 births Living people English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league players from Whitehaven Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Swinton Lions coaches Swinton Lions players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players