Rugby league legend is still an unsung hero in his native land

THERE are Welsh rugby icons whose names trip easily off the tongue when roll calls of the greats are compiled. We don’t even bother with surnames as we reel off Jack, Bleddyn, Barry, Gareth, Phil, JPR, Merve, Jonathan and Shane quicker than a dart to the line from George.

But what about Billy? Boston that is. In rugby league’s English heartland, this Welshman’s Christian name would suffice, springing immediately to mind in any conversation on legends of the game.

In his adopted hometown of Wigan, 83-year-old Billy would be known to the youngest fans taking their seat in the DW Stadium’s Boston Stand.

If further evidence were needed of how cherished Billy is in that part of the world, last year a statue was unveiled in Wigan’s Believe Square after a campaign to immortalise his contribution to the area’s sporting heritage raised £90,000.

They’ve got one in Wembley too. Billy is captured in bronze alongside fellow league legends Alex Murphy, Martin Offiah, Gus Riseman and Eric Ashton in a statue created to celebrate the 13-man code’s 120th birthday.

In Cardiff – the city of his birth – it is a different story. Billy will be celebrated at a tribute dinner tomorrow by the Welsh Charitables RFC. Yet although there are now 300 people attending the event at the Mercure Holland House Hotel, organisers admit it was initially a hard sell.

At one point – with just two tables purchased – they were worried it might not even go ahead. Thankfully, a relentless social media campaign with the line: “Honoured in Wembley and Wigan – don’t forget him here in Wales” eventually did the trick.

Billy, who is now sadly battling the onset of dementia, should never be forgotten. Those who witnessed the league convert’s talent remembered him for ever.

“Billy Boston is the most perfect rugby player I have ever seen,” was the verdict of England’s Joe Egan while the late commentator Eddie Waring purred: “He had that magnetic quality that had the crowd on its toes whenever he received the ball. He was a crowd-puller without any doubt.”

Yet in his native land, Billy Boston is not the household name he should be. If the blockbusting wing from Tiger Bay had been born in a different era, he might have been as cherished in South Wales as he is in north west England.

This question of “what if...” was left in my mind a few years ago after reading Robert Gate’s authorised biography, Billy Boston – Rugby League Footballer. Gate charts Billy’s league career in meticulous detail, tracing his journey through six Challenge Cup Finals, 478 tries for Wigan, two Lions tours and 31 caps and 24 tries for Great Britain.

From a Welsh perspective, however, Gate’s account of Billy’s early days in Cardiff and his youthful experience of the union code is fascinating – particularly given the cultural context of the city’s cosmopolitan Docklands.

From the moment he entered the world – the sixth of 11 children born to a seaman from Sierra Leone and an Irish-Welsh mother – Billy seemed destined for physical greatness.

“I weighed 15 pounds when I was born, I was a whopper,” he says. “I always had pace and that was a blessing.”

He enjoyed a childhood saturated in sport and at Butetown’s South Church Street School, his rugby team-mates included future British and Empire heavyweight boxing champion Joe Erskine. Under the tutelage of his rugby-mad teacher Bernard Sullivan, he sidelined football and cricket to concentrate on the oval ball and by 15 was a star member of a triumphant Cardiff Boys side.

Before he was 17, Billy was playing in the first team for the Cardiff International Athletic Club. Formed in 1946, by the young men of the Tiger Bay area – including many returning from the forces – this racially diverse side was known for its attractive playing style.

The powerful wing was getting noticed. The late Western Mail rugby writer John Billot traced the rapid ascent of a player still to celebrate his 18th birthday: “This has undoubtedly been Billy Boston’s best season,” wrote Billot. “Every year he shows advancement and 1951-2 has been a winter of great accomplishment…he rose to the ranks of the Welsh Youth XV and gave a splendid performance in France.”

But Billy’s dreams of a senior Welsh cap would never be realised, nor were his union ambitions at club level fulfilled. Although he played several games for Neath and Pontypridd, he craved the attention of his home city’s prestigious club.

“I was disappointed that Cardiff never showed any interest in me and I think that was because of my colour,” he says. “They certainly wouldn’t let me into their clubhouse after I turned professional. I don’t think I would ever have been picked for Wales at union.”

Robert Gate also believes an undercurrent of racial prejudice in the Wales of the early 1950s robbed the union game of a potential icon.

“Bearing in mind Billy’s proven qualities, it is hard to believe that he would never have won a Welsh cap, or indeed a shed full of them,” he writes.

“That may, however, be just wishful thinking. The unpalatable fact remains that Wales, unlike England, did not cap any black player until the 1980s. After Billy other black players who forewent the opportunity of trying to win Welsh caps included Johnny Freeman, Colin Dixon, Frank Wilson, Mike Elliott and Clive Sullivan. It is surely stretching credulity to its limits to suggest that none of those were good enough to warrant capping.”

Union’s loss was league’s gain. In August 1953, Billy signed for Wigan. Such was the frenzy of excitement up north about the youngster from Wales, more than 8,000 spectators turned up to watch his reserve team debut. His dazzling progress ensured he was swiftly capped for Great Britain against France and selected for their Australia tour while still a teenager.

Although he went on to base his life and career in Wigan, Billy has not forgotten where his sporting journey began. Inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in its inaugural ceremony in 1990, he has regularly attended the event ever since.

A man of great humility, the accolade of being celebrated in his own country is particularly precious to him and the Welsh Charitables RFC should be congratulated for the efforts they have made to ensure the league icon will be honoured in suitable style at a special night in Cardiff.

Yet what might have been if Billy Boston’s talents had been celebrated in his own country all those years ago? As he said himself: “I would have given all the league glory away just to once pull on the red shirt of Wales.”