Billy Boston

Billy Boston
MBE
Personal information
Full nameWilliam John Boston
Born (1934-08-06) 6 August 1934 (age 90)[1]
Butetown, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales
Playing information
Rugby union
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
CIACs
1950 Neath
1952 Pontypridd 1 1 0 0 5
Total 1 1 0 0 5
Rugby league
PositionWing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1953–68 Wigan 488 478 7 0 1448
1969–70 Blackpool Boro 11 5 0 0 15
Total 499 483 7 0 1463
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1954–62 Great Britain 31 24 0 0 72
1955 Welsh XIII 1 0 0 0 3
1955 Other Nationalities 2 5 0 0 15
1956 English XIII 1 1 0 0 3
1954-62 GB tour games 27 53 0 0 159
1957 British XIII 1 4 0 0 12
1954 GB v France 1 1 0 0 3
Source: [2][3]

William John Boston, MBE (born 6 August 1934) is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played as a wing or centre. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. He spent the next 15 years at Wigan, where he scored a club-record 478 tries in his 488 appearances for the club. He finished his career at Blackpool Borough before retiring in 1970. He also represented Great Britain in 31 Test matches, and was part of the team that won the 1960 Rugby League World Cup.[3]

Regarded as one of the sport's greatest ever players, Boston scored a total of 571 tries in his career, making him the second-highest try scorer in rugby league history. He is an original inductee of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame, Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame, and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours "for services to the community in Wigan, Greater Manchester."[4]

  1. ^ "Birth details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. ^ eraofthebiff.com
  3. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "No. 54427". The London Gazette. 14 June 1996. p. 15.