Former Wigan Warrior, St Helens and Wales international Bill Francis dies, aged 76

Wigan centre Bill Francis evades a tackle against Keighley in a league match at Central Park on Saturday 23rd of October 1971

Impressing for hometown club Featherstone at under-17s level, Francis caught the attention of Wigan as a youngster and was signed for a then club record fee for a junior of £1,500.

He made his Wigan debut five days later against Liverpool City, in a Western Division Championship game at Central Park, earning heritage number 629.

At the age of 16, he became one of the youngest players to don the cherry and white shirt, where he played a total of 400 games, scoring 159 tries and kicking 43 goals for a total of 563 points.

Capable of playing along the back-line, he won five major honours with Wigan: the 1968 BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy against arch-rivals St Helens, two Lancashire Cups in 1971 and 1973 defeating Widnes and Salford respectively, a Lancashire League Title (1969-70) and a League Leaders Trophy (1970-71).

He was capped four times for Great Britain, twice in 1967 and then 10 years later in the 1977 Rugby League World Cup, and also led Wales as captain on the international stage.

Francis represented Wales 19 times between 1974-75 and 1979-80 – qualifying through his Welsh grandfather.

As well as playing for Yorkshire eight times, he also made 73 appearances for St Helens, having been signed from Wigan for £8,000 in October 1977.

He crossed for 22 tries, before departing for Oldham where he would go on to coach for a brief spell.