Keiron Cunningham (born 28 October 1976) is a 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 ...

coach and former player. A

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 i ...

and

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 representative , he played his entire professional career at St Helens, making nearly 500 appearances for the club between 1994 and 2010 and winning numerous trophies. He has been frequently cited as being among the best players in the Super League history and is widely regarded to be one of St Helens' greatest players of all time. The youngest of ten siblings, two of his brothers, Eddie Cunningham and

Tommy Cunningham Thomas Cunningham (born 22 June 1964, Drumchapel, Glasgow) is a Scottish musician, best known as the drummer for Wet Wet Wet. Biography Cunningham's father, Tom Sr., bought his son his first drum kit in 1977, "down the Social Club for £15 ...

, also played for St Helens. Keiron Cunningham was born five months after his brother Eddie won a Rugby League Challenge Cup winner's medal for St Helens against

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 ...

. Following his retirement as a player, Cunningham remained at St Helens as an assistant coach, and was head coach of the club between 2015 and 2017. He is currently head of rugby at Leigh Centurions.

Playing career

In 1993, on his 17th birthday, Cunningham signed for his hometown club St Helens from Wigan St Judes. He made his début in the 1994–95 Rugby Football League season, and soon established himself as a world class hooker, renowned for his dynamic running from dummy half and ability to poach tries from short distances. He represented both

and

in international matches, qualifying for Wales because of a Welsh grandfather. Keiron Cunningham played , and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in St. Helens' 16-25 defeat by

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 t ...

in the 1995–96 Regal Trophy Final during the 1995–96 at

Alfred McAlpine Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

on Saturday 13 January 1996. Cunningham played for St Helens at hooker in the

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 game ...

Final, scoring a try in the second half of the match and helping his team to a 40-32 victory over the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

. At the end of 1996's

Super League I The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played ...

, Cunningham was named at hooker in the 1996

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

. Cunningham played for St Helens at in their 1999 Super League Grand Final victory over the

. Also in 1999 he was the only British player voted into the World XIII. Keiron Cunningham Saints

Cunningham played for St Helens at in their 2000 Super League Grand Final victory against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

. As Super League V champions, St Helens played against 2000 NRL Premiers, the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

in the

2001 World Club Challenge The 2001 World Club Challenge was contested between Super League V champions, St. Helens and 2000 NRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos made the trip to England to play St Helens before the start of the 2001 NRL and Super Leagu ...

. Cunningham played at in Saints' victory. Cunningham played for St. Helens at in their

2002 Super League Grand Final The 2002 Super League Grand Final was the Fifth official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League VII. Held on Saturday 19 October 2002 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens and Brad ...

victory against the

. Over the course of his career, Cunningham rejected offers from the Welsh Rugby Union, England Rugby Union, and from various Australian rugby league clubs, instead choosing to remain with his hometown team. In 2006 Cunningham was named as captain of St. Helens following the persistent injuries and subsequent retirement of

Paul Sculthorpe Paul Sculthorpe MBE (born 22 September 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for England and Great Britain at international level, as well as representing ...

. Cunningham played for St. Helens at in their 2006 Challenge Cup Final victory against the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

. St Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against

Hull FC 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 ...

, and Cunningham played at , scoring a

in Saints' 26-4 victory. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the

in the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appeara ...

. Cunningham played from the interchange bench in Saints' 18-14 victory. He played in the

2009 Super League Grand Final The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defen ...

defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

at Old Trafford. Keiron Cunningham

In 2010, Cunningham announced that he would be retiring from rugby league following the culmination of 2010's Super League XV. 2010 also marked the last year at St Helens'

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 ...

ground before moving to a new stadium. It was, in fact, Kieron Cunningham who scored the last try ever at the prestigious ground in his penultimate match. However, despite a memorable 2010 play-offs for Cunningham, there was to be no fairytale ending as his last game ended in defeat against arch rivals the

in the 2010 Super League Grand Final. He finished his career with 496 appearances for St Helens, scoring 175 tries. During his career he won five Super League Championships, seven Challenge Cup Winners Medals and two World Club Challenge Winners medals, was named in the

on six occasions, and in July 2007 Rugby League World magazine ranked him as the greatest player of the Super League era. Following a supporters' poll featuring the likes of Tom van Vollenhoven and Alex Murphy, Cunningham was chosen to be cast as a bronze statue outside of

Langtree Park Totally Wicked Stadium is a rugby league stadium in the Peasley Cross area of St. Helens. Known as Langtree Park until 2017, it has a capacity of over 18,000 and is the home ground of St Helens R.F.C. The stadium was granted full planning perm ...

. The statue was unveiled on Chalon Way opposite the Glass House pub in March 2010 and was relocated to the stadium following its completion in October 2011.

Coaching career

Cunningham statue, Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens

Following his retirement as a player, Cunningham took up an assistant coaching role in the strength and conditioning department at St Helens. After the sacking of

Royce Simmons Royce Michael Simmons (born 2 May 1960) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A one-club man, he played as a for the Penrith Panthers in the NSWRL from 1980 to 1991, winning a premiership in his final season. ...

in 2012 he was appointed assistant head coach of St Helens, working alongside temporary head coach Mike Rush. On Monday 20 October 2014, Cunningham was appointed as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of St Helens. He appointed former Saints teammate Sean Long to assist him for his role.Sean Long returns to St Helens as Keiron Cunningham’s assistant coach, Sport
The Guardian (17 November 2014). Retrieved on 2016-01-31. On 10 April 2017 it was announced on the BBC North West Today lunchtime bulletin that Cunningham had been sacked after 24 years associated with the club.

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)
*(archived by web.archive.org
St Helens profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at saints.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Kieron 1976 births Living people English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. coaches St Helens R.F.C. players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team players