Liam James Botham (born 26 August 1977) is a former English sportsman who played both codes of

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

. He is the son of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

cricketer Ian Botham, the Baron Botham.

Career

Cricket

Botham was born in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and initially followed in his father's footsteps, playing county cricket for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. He played three matches in the 1996 season. He took the wicket of former England captain

Mike Gatting Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...

on his County Championship debut. After retiring from rugby, there were signs that Botham might return to playing competitive cricket; in 2006, he played in an England XI victory against Lancashire in a testimonial match for

Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...

at Old Trafford.

Rugby union

Botham left cricket in 1997 after one senior season and signed for

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 ...

club

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

, where he played as a wing or fullback. He later moved to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. While at Newcastle the club won the 2001

Tetley Bitter Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, in the final of which he was a replacement, and reached the final of the European Shield. Botham made his début for the England under-21 team in 1997 against France, and then played in the SANZAR tournament in South Africa in 1998. He was called up to the senior

squad by Clive Woodward for their 2000 tour of South Africa. He played in tour matches against the Leopards and Griqualand West but never won a senior international cap.

Rugby league

After becoming disillusioned with rugby union, he switched sports again in 2003 to rugby league. He initially joined 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 ...

and had a short spell playing for their academy team. He then signed a dual-code contract with Super League club

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 ...

, who felt that signing the inexperienced Botham was less of a risk as he also played for their partner rugby union club Leeds Tykes. In 2004, Botham also played for London Broncos on loan, and in 2005 signed for

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 ...

, feeling he could not get a regular place in the Rhinos team. In his three seasons in rugby league, usually as a , he played 28 senior games, scoring 7 tries and 6 goals. In 2005, Botham announced his retirement aged 27 after a neck injury.

Post-playing career

Since retiring, Botham has run a sports travel company, established in 2016.

Personal life

Botham married Sarah-Jayne, with whom he has three children. Their son James plays rugby union for Cardiff Blues and made his full international debut for

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 ...

in 2020. The couple later divorced and Botham married Lisa Harrison in 2013. She gave birth to their son Benji in July 2015.Lisa Harrison and Liam Botham bowled over by birth of baby son
Belfast Telegraph

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botham, Liam 1977 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Cricketers from Doncaster Cumberland cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 English cricketers English rugby league players English rugby union players Hampshire cricketers Leeds Rhinos players Leeds Tykes players London Broncos players Newcastle Falcons players People educated at Rossall School Rugby league players from Doncaster Rugby union players from Doncaster Sons of life peers Wigan Warriors players