William Douglas (2 July 1863 – 24 September 1943) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

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 ...

back who played club rugby for Canton RFC,

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

and international rugby for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Douglas was also a rugby referee, and officiated over four international matches.

Rugby career

Douglas played club rugby for Canton RFC and Cardiff RFC, and in the 1885–86 season he succeeded

Frank Hancock Francis Escott Hancock (7 February 1859 – 29 October 1943) was an English-born rugby union centre who played club rugby for Somerset and Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. Hancock is best known as being the sport's first fourth three-q ...

as the senior club captain. Douglas was first selected to play for the Welsh national team as part of the

1886 Home Nations Championship The 1886 Home Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 2 January and 13 March 1886. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The 1886 Championship ...

in the opening game against England. The team was captained by Newport's

Charlie Newman Charlie Henry Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newp ...

and Douglas was one of three Cardiff players gaining their first cap in the game. Although Wales lost the game, the margin was low and Douglas was re-selected for the very next Welsh international, this time to Scotland. Wales lost this game, but due to a dispute with Ireland failed to complete all the matches in the tournament. In the next year's tournament Douglas was selected for the first two games. The first was a drawn game against England at Llanelli, the country's best result to date against the English. His fourth and final game was the team's second game of the 1887 Championship, away to Scotland, which Wales again lost. Four years after the end of his international playing career, Douglas began his international refereeing career.Welsh international referee roll of honour
/ref> Douglas was chosen to referee the

1891 Home Nations Championship The 1891 Home Nations Championship was the ninth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 3 January and 7 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1891 Championship was won ...

match between Ireland and England at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

. His second match as referee was in

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

, in a match between England and Ireland played this time at the Rectory Field. His final two international games as a referee were both between England and Scotland, in 1896 and 1903. The 1903 match was of particular note, as it saw the only appearance of Scotland's

John Dallas John Dewar Dallas (11 June 1878 – 31 July 1942) was a Scottish international rugby union player. Dallas played international rugby for Scotland but is more notable as a rugby referee, and his officiating of the ''" Match of the Century"'', t ...

, who also scored a try in the game. Dallas would himself go on to referee at international level, in the infamous 1905 game between Wales and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 465. * 1886, 1887 * 1886, 1887

Bibliography

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Billy 1863 births 1943 deaths Canton RFC players Cardiff RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Barry Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Welsh rugby union referees