Billy Boston
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Boston | |
| Date of birth | August 6, 1934 | |
| Place of birth | Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales | |
| Nickname(s) | Billy | |
| Club information | ||
| Position(s) | Wing, Centre | |
| Current club | Retired | |
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
1953-1968 |
Neath RFC Royal Corps of Signals Wigan RLFC Blackpool |
488 (1448) 11 (15) |
| Representative teams | ||
| Great Britain | ||
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
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Billy Boston MBE is a former Wales and Great Britain rugby league player. Boston is a member of the Rugby League Hall of Fame and was, along with Shaun Edwards the first to be voted into the Wigan RLFC Hall Of Fame. He was awarded an MBE in 1986.
He was born on the 6th of August 1934 in Tiger Bay, Cardiff and played rugby union for Neath.
Wigan were alerted to him when he was serving with the Royal Signals at Catterick and when he made his 'A' team debut a crowd of 8,000 assembled inside Central Park, Wigan. He made his first team debut against Barrow in November 1953 scoring a try.
For the next fifteen seasons he was a living legend and played his final game in 1968. With Boston on the right wing and Eric Ashton playing at right centre, Wigan had one of the best combinations in the history of the game. Both players scored doubles in wigan's 1959-60 Northern Rugby Football League Championship final victory. Boston had an incredible turn of speed and had the ultimate side step and was also able to hand off opponents with apparent ease.
Boston played 31 games for Great Britain and was the first player to score four tries in a game against New Zealand. He was the first non-white player to be selected to tour and added to his 478 tries for Wigan.
With BBC television coverage increasing in the late 1950s, armchair fans as well as terrace supporters were able to witness Billy Boston in action. He beat Johnny Ring's record of 368 tries and went on to score a record 478 for Wigan, a record that will probably never be broken. Boston also twice equalled the then Wigan club record of seven tries in game, only surpassed since by Martin Offiah and Shaun Edwards.
Boston scored a total of 571 tries in his career which he finished with Blackpool Borough. After retiring from the game he took over the running of The Griffin public house near Central Park until his retirement.
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