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Bill Francis

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
01-10-1947
N/A
14 -10-1977
Wigan
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
16-10-1977 v Hull
Bradford Northern
1979- Oldham
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1977-1978
73 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
22
0
0
66

Biography of Bill Francis



HERITAGE NO : 925
Bill Francis by Dave Dooley:

Featherstone-born, yet qualified for Wales by descent, Bill Francis shot to international fame in the late 1960s and early 70s as a utility back with Wigan. Renowned for his deceptive pace, deft passing skills and magical sidestep, he joined rivals St.Helens for an 8,000 pound fee early in the 1977/78 season after 13 years at Central Park Under his steadying influence at stand-off, Saints played some brilliant football and reached the 1978 Challenge Cup Final in his first season. Although Francis scored a memorable try, he had to settle for a loser`s medal when Leeds staged a late rally to lift the trophy.

In his first season at Knowsley Road Bill scored nine tries 36 matches including a brace against Bramley in the record 71 points to 7 home victory. Indeed, he made a tryscoring debut in the 52 points to 14 home demolition of Hull. In that particular game Peter Glynn, playing centre three-quarter, benefited from Bill`s excellent service as he raced in for five tries. In Bill`s second and final season, he notched a brace of tries against Rochdale Hornets in the infamous Lancashire Cup First Round second replay as the Saints finally disposed of the recalcitrant bunch of stingers. On the 30th of April 1979 Bill played his last match for the club and collected two tries in the 31 points to 15 home league victory.

Bill left Knowsley Road for Salford and finished his career with Oldham. A former Yorkshire County player, Bill`s international honours include 4 Great Britain appearances and 19 for Wales. He went to Australia with the Welsh International Championship Squad in 1975 and the 1977 British World Cup Squad. He is a member of Saints Past Players Association.

The following obituary of Bill was written by Alex Service

Farewell Bill Francis
Those who watched Saints in the late 1970s will be saddened to hear of the passing of Bill Francis, on 17th February, at the age of 76, whose silky skills from stand-off were a feature of the team’s attacking prowess for two seasons. He signed for St Helens from local rivals Wigan for an £8,000 fee, where he made his senior debut at the tender age of 16.

He made his St Helens bow against Hull FC at Knowsley Road on 16th October 1977 [Saints Heritage #925] and scored a try as Saints overwhelmed their opponents to the tune of 52-14, with Bill feeding the threequarter line with some telling passes, scoring a try himself for good measure. He was a vastly experienced campaigner, of course, playing over 400 times for Wigan and at representative level with Yorkshire, Wales and Great Britain.

William Lloyd Francis was born in Featherstone and qualified for Wales courtesy of his Welsh grandfather. He came to prominence playing with the Featherstone Under 17s team in the early 1960s against opponents such as another future international ‘great’ Roger Millward, from Castleford. He had gained a reputation as a fine utility player at Central Park but was earmarked for the number 6 jersey in the red vee.

Saints were an ageing side when Bill joined, with a ‘Dad’s Army’ tag from the 1976 Challenge Cup final against Widnes that stayed with them. Yet they responded to Bill’s arrival with some superb attacking rugby. Although they just fell short of winning major honours, they were leading points scorers in the First Division with 678 [in 3rd place behind Widnes and Bradford Northern] and played a part in one of the greatest Challenge Cup finals, at the end of the 1977-78 campaign.

On 13th May 1978 Leeds and St Helens locked horns in front of over 95,000 fans at Wembley. Saints took the advantage early on with a converted try by hooker Graham Liptrot from Harry Pinner’s towering kick after just 4 minutes. They increased their lead from a scrum 5 metres from the Leeds line in the 13th minute and it was scored in classic style by Bill Francis, who took a pass from Ken Gwilliam and swerved through the Leeds defence to score under the posts. Sadly, two converted tries were not enough, as Leeds came back in the second half to win the match 14-12 but it was a microcosm of Bill’s superb rugby skills on show that afternoon that sticks in the memory.

At the end of the 1977-78 season, there was another memorable moment for Bill, when he was Captain of Wales [and joint coach with former Saint John Mantle] when they played against England at Knowsley Road. Other Saints’ players wearing the scarlet jerseys that day were Roy Mathias, Eddie Cunningham and Mel James. Geoff Pimblett and Mel James were in the England side that won rather convincingly in the late spring sunshine.

Bill made 73 appearances in the red vee, scoring 22 tries and it was quite simply a pleasure to watch such a master of his craft at work. As an attacking player, with ball in hand, he had the lot: swerve, sidestep, deft passing skills and deceptive pace. Such a pity major honours eluded him as a Saint,[he also played in two losing Floodlit trophy finals] although he remains a key member of one of the most entertaining teams in the club’s history. They were so good to watch.

Bill’s last game for the Saints was on 30th April 1979 in a 31-15 success against a powerful Bradford Northern side at Knowsley Road and signed off with a brace of tries. His scrum-half that day was Neil Holding, a teenage prodigy, who also went over for a 3 pointer. “Bill looked after me when I first signed for the club,” remembers Neil. “He gave me a lot of confidence and self-belief in my own ability. He was a true professional and will be sadly missed.”

Bill went on to join Salford and then Oldham, where he coached at the Watersheddings for a spell. He was also a member of the St Helens RFC Players Association.

PLAYER HONOURS

SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1977~789 0 0 36
1978~79 13 0 0 37
TOTALS:22 0 0 73
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1978~790002
TOTALS:0002

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
16th Oct 1977 1
W
 6 Hull L H 52 14 1 VIEW
23rd Oct 1977 2
W
 6 Swinton JP1 A 28 11 1 VIEW
30th Oct 1977 3
W
 6 Featherstone Rovers L A 12 5 VIEW
6th Nov 1977 4
L
 6 Featherstone Rovers JP2 A 10 17 VIEW
13th Nov 1977 5
W
 6 Leeds L H 19 10 VIEW
20th Nov 1977 6
W
 6 Bramley L A 36 11 VIEW
27th Nov 1977 7
W
 6 Salford L H 13 12 VIEW
4th Dec 1977 8
L
 6 Workington Town L A 3 16 VIEW
6th Dec 1977 9
W
 6 Salford FTSF H 7 4 VIEW
10th Dec 1977 10
W
 6 Featherstone Rovers L H 20 19 VIEW
13th Dec 1977 11
L
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers FTF A 11 26 VIEW
18th Dec 1977 12
L
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 9 21 1 VIEW
26th Dec 1977 13
W
 6 Wigan L A 24 13 VIEW
27th Dec 1977 14
W
 4 Workington Town L H 11 0 VIEW
31st Dec 1977 15
W
 6 Widnes L H 16 3 VIEW
8th Jan 1978 16
W
 6 Dewsbury L H 23 7 VIEW
22nd Jan 1978 17
W
 6 New Hunslet L H 39 7 VIEW
29th Jan 1978 18
W
 6 Hull L A 18 12 VIEW
5th Feb 1978 19
W
 6 Warrington L H 17 6 1 VIEW
24th Feb 1978 20
W
 6 Huyton CC1 H 36 8 VIEW
1st Mar 1978 21
W
 6 Castleford L A 29 12 VIEW
5th Mar 1978 22
W
 6 Bramley L H 71 7 2 VIEW
12th Mar 1978 23
W
 6 Oldham CC2 A 26 11 VIEW
19th Mar 1978 24
W
 6 Huddersfield CC3 H 31 5 VIEW
21st Mar 1978 25
W
 6 Salford L A 24 11 1 VIEW
24th Mar 1978 26
L
 6 Wigan L H 17 22 VIEW
27th Mar 1978 27
L
 6 Widnes L A 5 33 VIEW
30th Mar 1978 28
W
 6 Bradford Northern L H 28 13 VIEW
2nd Apr 1978 29
W
 6 Wakefield Trinity L H 36 5 VIEW
8th Apr 1978 30
W
 6 Warrington CCSF N 12 8 VIEW
12th Apr 1978 31
D
 4 Bradford Northern L A 9 9 VIEW
22nd Apr 1978 32
W
 6 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 23 13 VIEW
30th Apr 1978 33
W
 6 Salford PT1 H 29 11 VIEW
3rd May 1978 34
W
 6 Bradford Northern PTSF(1) H 14 10 1 VIEW
7th May 1978 35
L
 6 Bradford Northern PTSF(2) A 12 19 VIEW
13th May 1978 36
L
 6 Leeds CCF N 12 14 1 VIEW
4th Aug 1978 --
D
 6 Widnes* Fr Testimonial H 31 31 VIEW
13th Aug 1978 --
W
 6 Oldham* Fr Charity H 44 20 VIEW
20th Aug 1978 37
D
 6 Rochdale Hornets LC1 H 14 14 VIEW
23rd Aug 1978 38
D
 6 Rochdale Hornets LC1 (rep) A 8 8 VIEW
25th Aug 1978 39
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets LC1 (2nd rep) N 28 9 2 VIEW
27th Aug 1978 40
L
 6 Leigh LC2 A 4 21 VIEW
3rd Sep 1978 41
W
 3 Huddersfield L A 18 11 VIEW
6th Sep 1978 42
W
 4 Barrow L H 21 7 1 VIEW
10th Sep 1978 43
W
 6 Wakefield Trinity L H 20 15 1 VIEW
12th Sep 1978 44
W
 6 Warrington FTP H 13 9 VIEW
17th Sep 1978 45
D
 6 Barrow L A 16 16 VIEW
23rd Sep 1978 46
W
 6 Leeds JP1 H 16 11 VIEW
1st Oct 1978 47
W
 6 Castleford L H 48 14 VIEW
8th Oct 1978 48
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L H 33 5 VIEW
17th Oct 1978 49
W
 6 Salford FT1 A 17 15 1 VIEW
29th Oct 1978 50
W
 4 Featherstone Rovers L A 22 11 1 VIEW
3rd Nov 1978 51
W
 6 Leigh L H 27 20 1 VIEW
7th Nov 1978 52
W
 4 Castleford FT2 H 47 5 3 VIEW
12th Nov 1978 53
L
 4 Australia Tour H 4 26 VIEW
19th Nov 1978 54
L
 4 Rochdale Hornets L A 3 7 VIEW
26th Nov 1978 55
L
 6 Huddersfield L H 15 16 VIEW
28th Nov 1978 56
W
 4 Hull FTSF A 13 5 VIEW
2nd Dec 1978 57
L
 6 Widnes JP2 A 10 11 VIEW
10th Dec 1978 58
W
 6 Salford L A 16 13 VIEW
12th Dec 1978 59
L
 6 Widnes FTF H 7 13 VIEW
26th Dec 1978 60
W
 6 Wigan L H 18 11 VIEW
13th Jan 1979 61
L
 6 Leeds L A 11 26 VIEW
11th Feb 1979 62
W
 6 Doncaster CC1 H 34 9 1 VIEW
20th Feb 1979 63
W
 6 Workington Town L H 10 6 VIEW
4th Mar 1979 64
W
 4 Rochdale Hornets CC2 A 11 10 VIEW
7th Mar 1979 65
W
 6 Warrington L A 15 8 VIEW
10th Mar 1979 66
W
 6 Castleford CC3 A 10 6 VIEW
18th Mar 1979 67
L
 6 Leeds L H 15 20 VIEW
1st Apr 1979 68
L
 6 Wakefield Trinity L A 3 23 VIEW
7th Apr 1979 69
L
 3 Wakefield Trinity CCSF N 7 9 VIEW
13th Apr 1979 70
L
 6 Wigan L A 5 7 VIEW
16th Apr 1979 71
L
 1 Widnes L H 16 18 VIEW
29th Apr 1979 72
W
 6 Bradford Northern L A 13 12 VIEW
30th Apr 1979 73
W
 6 Bradford Northern L H 31 15 2 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 50 | LOSSES : 20 | DRAWS : 5

GALLERY





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