Donald James "Danny" Wilson (4 November 1955) is a Welsh 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 in the 1970s and 1980s. A

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

international , he played his club rugby for

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 ...

, Barrow, Swinton, Runcorn Highfield and Springfield Borough.

Career

Born in Wales to a Welsh mother and a

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 ...

an father, Wilson played

for Cardiff RFC as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

before moving north to play as a professional in

. Wilson once scored five

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 ...

s in a match for Swinton. Wilson won five caps for

while at Swinton, in 1981–82 and 1984.

Family

Wilson is the father of former footballer and Wales manager Ryan Giggs, who was christened Ryan Joseph Wilson but as a teenager changed his surname to that of his mother. Giggs is said to have inherited his balance and athleticism from his father.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Swinton Lions > Club > A Barking 8ief HistoryStatistics at rugby.widnes.tvWidnes v Warrington – Sunday 20 March 1977
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Danny 1955 births Living people Blackpool Borough players British people of Sierra Leone Creole descent People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Footballers who switched code Liverpool City (rugby league) players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Cwmbran Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Cwmbran Swinton Lions players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh people of Sierra Leonean descent British sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Widnes Vikings players