| Full name | William Arthur Williams | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 29 December 1905 | ||
| Place of birth | Crumlin, Wales | ||
| Date of death | 4 November 1973 (aged 67) | ||
| Place of death | Manchester, England | ||
| Occupation(s) | collier licensee |
||
| Rugby league career | |||
| Position | Prop | ||
| Professional clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1927 - 1938 | Salford | 425 | 42 |
| National teams | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1930-1933 1930-1932 |
Wales Great Britain |
3 2 |
(0) (0) |
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Flanker | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| ? ?-1927 |
Cross Keys RFC Crumlin RFC |
||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1927 | Wales | 4 | (0) |
William "Billy" Arthur Williams (born 29 December 1905 in Crumlin — died 4 November 1973 in Manchester)[1] was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s and 1930s who at club level played for Crumlin and Cross Keys as an amateur under the union code and for Salford when he switched to professional rugby league. As a union player he favoured the role as a flanker while under league he played as a Prop, i.e. number 8 or 10, during the era of contested scrums. Williams played for three different international teams, Wales rugby union, Wales rugby league and Great Britain rugby league.[2]
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Williams first came to note as a rugby player when he represented rugby union team Cross Keys. By the time he was selected for international duty, he was playing for unfashionable lower league team Crumlin. The fact that Williams was, and still is, the only player to be selected for international duty directly from the club is an indicator to the talent he showed as a flanker. Williams played in four union internationals, all of them part of the 1927 Five Nations Championship. His first encounter was against England played away at Twickenham. The game ended with a 9-11 loss, and despite the result Williams was reselected for the next three games. Wales ended the Championship with just one win, a home match against France. It is unknown if Williams would have been selected the next season as in 1927 he switched to professional league club Salford. By switching to a professional club, Williams was not only banned from playing union again for life, but also had his union international cap withheld.
Williams played his first league game for Salford on 15 October 1927, and won three Championship and one Challenge Cup winners medals with the club over his career. On 15 January 1930, Williams was selected for the Great Britain team, to face a touring Australia side.[3] Just three days layer he won his first Wales league cap, in a match against the same touring Australians at Wembley. He won two more caps for Wales, a 1932 encounter with England and a 1933 match against Australia. In-between his Welsh caps, Williams also toured Australia with Great Britain in 1932. He played in 15 games of the tour and one Test against Australia.
Williams died in Manchester in 1973; in 1975 his Wales rugby union cap was awarded to him posthumously under an 'amnesty'.
Billy Williams was one of the players who successfully toured in France with Salford in 1934, during which the Salford team earned the name "Les Diables Rouges", the seventeen players were; Joseph "Joe" Bradbury, Robert "Bob" Brown, Aubrey Casewell, Patrick "Paddy" Dalton, Hubert "Bert" Day, Clifford "Cliff" Evans, John "Jack" Feetham, George Harris, Barney Hudson, Emlyn Jenkins, Alf Middleton, Samuel "Sammy" Miller, Harold Osbaldestin, Leslie "Les" Pearson, Gus Risman, William "Billy" Watkins, and Billy Williams.