William E. Williams (28 March 1925 – 27 December 2007) was a Welsh

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 its m ...

, 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1940s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales XV and Monmouthshire County RFC, and at club level for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

, as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, i.e. number 11 or 14, and club level rugby league (RL) for Swinton, as a , i.e. number 2 or 5.

Background

Billy Williams was born in

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area. ...

Cwmtillery Cwmtillery () (population 2011. 4800) is a ward of Abertillery. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it is part of the administrative area of the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, Wales. Etymology The name of the ward me ...

, Wales, and he died aged 82 in

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Billy Williams represented Wales XV (RU) while at Newport RFC in the 'Victory International' non- Test match(es) between December 1945 and April 1946.

County honours

Billy Williams represented Monmouthshire County RFC (RU) against New Zealand in 1945.

Personal life

Bill Williams' marriage to Muriel (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hiley) (birth registered February 1926 in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

district – died August 2004) was registered during third ¼ 1948 in

District, they were married until her death in August 2004. They had one daughter Rebecca J. Williams (birth registered second ¼ in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

district), and four grandchildren (Rhiannon, James, Liz and Kate). After retiring from playing rugby Bill Williams became a

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

Physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher, and school rugby union coach at

Loughborough Grammar School , religion = Christian , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dr Daniel Koch , r_head_label = Chaplain , r_head = Revd E J York , chair_label = Chairman ...

from 1950 to 1962, and later in

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at St. Lawrence College,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

Note

The page on the walesonline.co.uk website entitled 'Welsh stars still had a rugby ball in wartime' states that Billy Williams had already changed code to rugby league at the time of the 'Victory International' matches. However, the blackandambers.co.uk website indicates that he was still a rugby union footballer for Newport RFC at the time. Billy Williams was definitely active playing for Wales and the Victory Internationals during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as well as working in the coal mines as one of the

Bevin Boys Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in coal mines between December 1943 and March 1948, to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of World War II. The programme was named after Erne ...

References

External links

Search for "Williams" at rugbyleagueproject.orgTwo Newport players awarded posthumous Wales caps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Billy 1925 births 2007 deaths Bevin Boys Footballers who switched code Monmouthshire County RFC players Newport RFC players Rugby league players from Abertillery Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Abertillery Rugby union wings Swinton Lions players Wales international rugby union players Welsh miners Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players