William John Boston, MBE (born 6 August 1934) is a Welsh 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 as a or . Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, Wales, Boston started his career as a

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 ...

player before joining

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 ...

in 1953. He spent the next 15 years at Wigan, where he scored a club-record 478 tries in his 488 appearances for the club. He finished his career at

Blackpool Borough Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and was ...

before retiring in 1970. He also represented

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 ...

in 31 Test matches, and was part of the team that won the

1960 Rugby League World Cup The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the tournament and the first Rugby League World Cup to be held in Great Britain. The same format as used in 1957 was used, with a group stage leading to a final table. The 1960 World Cup ...

. Regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever players, Boston scored a total of 571 tries in his career, making him the second-highest try scorer in rugby league history. He is an original inductee of the

British Rugby League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

Welsh Sports Hall of Fame The Welsh Sports Hall of Fame (WSHOF) is a charitable organisation created to commemorate the sporting achievements and preserve the artefacts of Welsh athletes. It was established in 1980 from the memorabilia collection of Welsh radio commentato ...

and Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame, and was appointed

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

1996 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supple ...

"for services to the community in Wigan, Greater Manchester."

Early life

Born on 6 August 1934 at Angelina Street,

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

, Boston was the sixth of eleven children born to John Boston (a merchant seaman from

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

) and Nellie who came from Cardiff's Irish community.

Rugby Union

Boston began his

career with the newly formed Rugby in Cardiff#CIACS, Cardiff Internationals Athletic Club. CIACS (pronounced "kayaks") represented Grangetown,

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of ...

, Butetown and the Docks areas of the city, and the team's makeup reflected the multinational nature of those communities. Boston also represented the Cardiff Schoolboys team in the late 1940s and went on to represent Wales in both the boys clubs' internationals and at Youth level. The young Boston was an integral part of the CIACs "invincible" season of 1951–52, where the team won all of their 32 games. Boston was already attracting attention and was given opportunities at two famous Welsh clubs, representing

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with onl ...

in 1950 and

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...

in 1952. However, Boston repeatedly stated his wishes to represent

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly afte ...

, telling one journalist that he cried after signing for

as he knew his dreams of playing rugby union for Cardiff and Wales were over. The lack of an offer from Cardiff remains a contentious issue. As Cardiff passed on other black and mixed race players from CIACs and the docks area (like

Johnny Freeman John "Johnny" Freeman (second ¼ 1934 – 22 June 2017) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Cardiff International Athletic Club, as a c ...

and

Colin Dixon Colin J. Dixon (3 December 1943 – 21 June 1993) was a Welsh rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s. He played club level rugby union (RU) foCardiff International Athletic Club and representa ...

, who both had successful rugby league careers), it has been suggested that the club had an issue with racism.

Rugby League career

Boston was called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

at Catterick,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, and was scouted by a number of Rugby League clubs. On 13 March 1953

chairman Joe Taylor and vice-chairman Billy Gore travelled to Boston's home in Cardiff and offered him £1,000 to sign for them. Although that was very large offer, Boston's mother rejected it on his behalf. A second offer of £1,500 was made in cash, and the money was spread out on the table in five pound notes to show the family how much money it was. Boston later stated that he still didn't want to sign the contract and his mother told him "Don't worry son, I'll get rid of them for you. I'll ask them for so much that they'll go home." Boston's mother told the delegation that Billy would only sign for £3,000, double the increased offer. Within a minute the delegation agreed to the terms. Boston stated that he still did not want to sign, but his mother had given their word, and Boston signed the contract. Boston made his 'A' team début a crowd of 8,000 assembled inside Central Park, Wigan. He made his first team début against Barrow in November 1953 scoring a try. Billy Boston played in Wigan's 8–13 defeat by

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

in the 1957–58 Lancashire Cup Final during the at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Roa ...

on Saturday 19 October 1957. For the next fifteen seasons he was a living legend and played his final game in 1968. With Boston on the and

Eric Ashton Eric Ashton MBE (24 January 1935 – 20 March 2008) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played his whole top flight football c ...

playing at right-, Wigan had one of the best combinations in the history of the game. Both players scored two tries in Wigan's

1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season The 1959–60 Rugby Football League season was the 65th season of rugby league football played in England. The championship, which involved thirty teams, started in August 1959 and culminated in a finals play-off series in May 1960 which resulte ...

Championship final victory. Boston had an astonishing turn of speed for a big man and had the ultimate side step and was also able to hand off opponents with apparent ease. Boston also played 31 games for

, and was the first player to score four tries in a game against New Zealand. He was the first non-white player to be selected to tour Australia and New Zealand in 1954, on which he set a new record of 36 tries in 18 games. Boston also played in the 1962 tour, scoring a further 22 tries. Billy Boston also represented

while at Wigan between 1952 and 1956 against France (1 non-

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

). With

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

coverage increasing in the late-1950s, armchair fans as well as terrace supporters were able to witness Billy Boston in action. He beat

Johnny Ring John Ring (13 November 1900 – 10 November 1984) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wa ...

's record of 368 tries and went on to score a record 478 for Wigan], a record that will probably never be broken. Boston also twice equalled the then Wigan club record of seven tries in a game, only surpassed since by

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted i ...

and

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...

. Billy Boston played left- in Wigan's 13–9 victory over Workington Town in the

1957–58 Challenge Cup The 1957–58 Challenge Cup was the 57th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Workington Town at Wembley Stadium in London. The final was played on Saturday 10 May 1958, w ...

Final 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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

on Saturday 10 May 1958, in front of a crowd of 66,109 played and scored two- tries in the 30–13 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 wer ...

in the

1958–59 Challenge Cup The 1958–59 Challenge Cup was the 58th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium in London. The final was played on Saturday 9 May 1959, where W ...

Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 9 May 1959, in front of a crowd of 79,811, and played in the 20–16 victory over

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamenta ...

in the 1964–65 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016. Billy Boston played , i.e. number 2, and scored a try in Wigan's 16–13 victory over

in the 1957–58 Lancashire Cup Final at

on Saturday 29 October 1966. Billy Boston represented

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

(RL) while at Wigan, he played right- in the 2–19 defeat by St. Helens 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 Wednesday 27 January 1965, to mark the switching-on of new

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

s. Towards the end of his career, Boston played for

, making his final appearance in 1970. He scored a total of 571 tries in his career, making him the second highest all-time try scorer in the history of the game after

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who became the only player ever to have been induc ...

. Boston became one of fewer than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1,000-points in their rugby league career.

After retirement

After finishing his playing career, he took over the running of the Griffin Hotel pub near Central Park until his retirement. The Billy Boston Stand at Central Park was named in his honour. Similarly, the East Stand at the

DW Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

was officially renamed after Billy Boston in 2009. In December 2020 Boston was named as one of three Welsh rugby league players to be honoured with a new statue in

, the other two being

Gus Risman Augustus "Gus" John Ferdinand Risman (21 March 1911 – 17 October 1994) was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s through to the 1950s, and Coach (sport), coached in the 1940s through to the 1970s. A devastating ...

and

Clive Sullivan Clive Anthony Sullivan MBE (9 April 1943 – 8 October 1985) was a Welsh rugby league footballer. A Great Britain and Wales international winger, he played for both Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers in his career, and also for Oldham ( Herit ...

References

External links

Billy Boston Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
Billy Boston at Ponty.net
*(archived by web.archive.org
Billy Boston at rugbyleaguehistory.co.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Billy Boston at wales.rleague.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston, Billy 1934 births Living people 20th-century British Army personnel Army rugby union players Black British sportspeople British people of Irish descent Sierra Leone Creole people Blackpool Borough players Footballers who switched code Great Britain national rugby league team players Members of the Order of the British Empire Neath RFC players Other Nationalities rugby league team players People from Butetown Pontypridd RFC players Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Cardiff Welsh people of Sierra Leonean descent British sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players