William Burgess (1939 – 11 June 2024) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and at club level for Furness RUFC

and Fylde, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

, and at club level for Barrow and

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, as a .

Background

Burgess' birth was registered in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

district,

, England. He is the son of the rugby league footballer

Bill Burgess Thomas William Burgess (15 June 1872 – 2 July 1950) was the second person to successfully complete a swim of the English Channel after Matthew Webb, following sixteen attempts. Burgess was British but spent most of his life in France, and wo ...

Playing career

International honours

Burgess won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

(RL) while at Barrow in 1962 against France, in 1969 against Wales, and France, and won

s for

(RL) while at Barrow in 1962 against France, in 1963 against Australia, in 1965 against New Zealand (2 matches), in 1966 against France, Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1967 against France, and Australia, in 1968 against France, and while at Salford in 1969 against France.

County honours

Burgess won a

for

(RU) while at Fylde, and won

s for

(RL) while at Barrow.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Burgess played in Barrow's 12–17 defeat by

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

1966–67 Challenge Cup The 1966–67 Challenge Cup was the 66th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final In the Challenge Cup final Featherstone Rovers faced Barrow Raid ...

Final during the 1966–67 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, London on Saturday 13 May 1967, and played in

's 6–11 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in the

1968–69 Challenge Cup The 1968–69 Challenge Cup was the 68th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Castleford Tigers, Castleford and Salford Red Devils, Salford at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley in fro ...

Final during the 1968–69 season at

, London on Saturday 17 May 1969.

Career records

Burgess is third in Barrow's all time try scorers list with 179-tries.

Honoured at Barrow Raiders

Burgess is a Barrow Raiders Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Hall of Fame at barrowrlfc.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Barrow RL’s great Britons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Bill 1939 births 2024 deaths Barrow Raiders players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Fylde Rugby Club players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire County RFU players Lancashire rugby league team players Rugby league players from Barrow-in-Furness Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Barrow-in-Furness Salford Red Devils players 20th-century English sportsmen