FUNDRAISERS behind the project to erect a statue of pioneering former Rugby League player and coach Roy Francis in his hometown in South Wales were guests at Friday’s Super League clash between two of his former clubs Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC.
Their visit came ahead of the forthcoming launch back at AMT Headingley of a new book telling the story of the game’s first black Great Britain international, who played as a prolific try-scoring winger for Wigan, Barrow, Warrington, Hull FC and, during the Second World War, Dewsbury.
Francis, who represented Wales before his Lions debut in 1947, was also the first black professional coach of a top-tier team in any sport in this country, taking charge of Hull FC in 1950, initially combining the role with playing.
He led the Black and Whites to league titles in 1956 and 1958 and Challenge Cup finals in 1959 and 1960, and won that competition with Leeds in 1968, when Wakefield were beaten in the famous ‘Watersplash’ final at Wembley.
Francis was born in January 1919 in Brynmawr, the market town at the head of the Valleys where his statue was unveiled in October 2023, playing for the local rugby union team before joining Wigan as a 17-year-old in November 1936.
Having retired in 1977, he died aged 70 in April 1989, with his life story told in the new book ‘Roy Francis: Rugby’s Forgotten Black Leader’ by Tony Collins, emeritus professor of history at De Montfort University in Leicester and a research fellow at the Institute of Sports Humanities.
The Headingley launch takes place next month.
