Bill Sayer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

William "Bill" 'Sos' Sayer (born April→June 1934 in Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

— died 16 August 1989 in Wigan

Wigan

) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

former professional rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

footballer of the 1960s and '70s who at representative level played for Great Britain

Great Britain national rugby league team

The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

, and at club level for Wigan Highfield

Liverpool City (rugby league)

Liverpool City was a semi-professional rugby league club from the city of Liverpool in England.-The first Liverpool City - 1906-1907:A professional club first emerged in Liverpool, called Liverpool City in 1906, playing at the Stanley Athletics Ground. They hold an unwanted record in the...

, Wigan

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

and St. Helens, playing at , i.e. number 9, during the era of contested scrums.

International honours

Bill Sayer won 7-caps for Great Britain

Great Britain national rugby league team

while at Wigan in 1961 against New Zealand, in 1962 against France, Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, and in 1963 against Australia.

Career at Wigan

One of the finest hookers in the game, Bill Sayer enjoyed two long careers, one with Wigan and one with St Helens. He joined Wigan from Wigan Highfield in 1954 after being invited to play in three trial games - He was signed after just two. As well as showing early promise at Rugby League, Sayer was a useful Boxer and Soccer player. During his time in the RAF, when he served as a cook, Sayer also played Rugby Union. he made his Wigan debut at Halifax on 4 December 1954 but had to wait until the latter part of 1956-7 for a regular place when he replaced Mather in the number nine shirt. For the next seven years, until changed by Colin Clarke, the shirt was virtually his own property. A member of the 1958 Challenge Cup Wining-team. Sayer returned to Wembley a year later and his confrontation with Hull's Tommy Harris was much awaited. Each set of fans hailed there hooker as the best in the business. Sayer proved the best on the day as he won possession two-to-one, just as he had done at Wembley 12 months earlier. He scored a try in the Championship win over Wakefield in 1960 but two more Wembley appearances resulted in loser medals. A Lancashire County player, he won the first of his seven Great Britain caps against New Zealand at Leeds in September 1961. The following year he went on the Australian tour.

Career at St. Helens

In 1965 he started his second career with St Helens. He added to his club honours by collecting two Championship, two Lancashire Cup and a third Challenge Cup-winners medal. The latter was particularly sweet for Sayer as it was in the 1966 win over Wigan. His last honour, 12 years after his first, was in the 1970 Championship over Leeds.

External links

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