John Atkinson (rugby league)

John Atkinson (3 October 1946 – 23 December 2017)[6] was an English rugby union and World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s,[2] and coached in the 1980s.[7]

John Atkinson
Personal information
Born(1946-10-03)3 October 1946[1]
Leeds, England
Died23 December 2017(2017-12-23) (aged 71)
Playing information
Rugby union
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Roundhay RUFC
Rugby league
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1966–82 Leeds 512+6 340 0 0 1020
1982–83 Carlisle 19+1 4 0 0 13
Total 538 344 0 0 1033
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1968–78 England 12 7 0 0 21
1968–80 Great Britain 26 12 0 0 36
1968–78 Yorkshire 15 10 0 0 30
1968–74 GB tour games 23+1 24 0 0 72
1975 England tour games 3 4 0 0 12
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1983–85 Carlisle
Source: [2][3][4]

[5]

He played club level rugby union (RU) for Roundhay RUFC, representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain,[4] and England,[3] and at club level for Leeds and Carlisle, as a left wing, i.e. number 5.

Atkinson played in four Rugby League World Cups (1968, 1970, 1972 and 1975), scoring six tries in total.

Background

John Atkinson was born Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and he died aged 71.

Playing career

Championship Final appearances

John Atkinson, played left wing, and scored the match-winning try in Leeds' 16-14 victory over against Castleford in the Championship Final at Odsal, Bradford, on Saturday 24 May 1969, and he scored a try in the 9-5 victory over St. Helens in the 1972 Championship Final at Station Road, Swinton, on Saturday 20 May 1972.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

John Atkinson played left wing in Leeds' 11–10 victory over Wakefield Trinity in the 1968 Challenge Cup "Watersplash" Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1968, in front of a crowd of 87,100, played left wing in the 7–24 defeat by Leigh in the 1971 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514, played left wing in the 16–13 defeat by St. Helens in the 1972 Challenge Cup Final on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495, played left wing and scored a try in the 16–7 victory over Widnes in the 1977 Challenge Cup Final on Saturday 7 May 1977, in front of a crowd of 80,871, and played left wing, and scored a try, in the 14–12 victory over St. Helens in the 1978 Challenge Cup Final on Saturday 13 May 1978, in front of a crowd of 96,000.

County Cup Final appearances

John Atkinson played left wing and scored a try in Leeds' 22–11 victory over Castleford in the 1968 Yorkshire Cup Final at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Saturday 19 October 1968, played left wing,and scored a try in the 23–7 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1970 Yorkshire Cup Final at Odsal, Bradford on Saturday 21 November 1970, played left wing, and scored a try in the 36–9 victory over Dewsbury in the 1972 Yorkshire Cup Final at Odsal Stadium on Saturday 7 October 1972, played left wing in the 7–2 victory over Wakefield Trinity in the 1973 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 20 October 1973, played left wing in the 15-11 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1975 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley on Saturday 15 November 1975, played left wing in the 15–6 victory over Halifax in the 1979 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley on Saturday 27 October 1979, and played left wing, or according to Rothmans Yearbooks 1990-91 and 1991–92, Centre in the 8–7 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1980 Yorkshire Cup Final at Fartown, Huddersfield on Saturday 8 November 1980.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

John Atkinson played left wing in Leeds 9–5 victory over St. Helens in the 1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final at Headingley on Tuesday 15 December 1970.

Player's No.6 Trophy Final appearances

John Atkinson played left wing and scored two tries in Leeds' 12–7 victory over Salford in the 1972–73 Player's No.6 Trophy Final at Fartown on Saturday 24 March 1973.

Testimonial match

John Atkinson's testimonial match at Leeds took place in 1976.

Club career

John Atkinson began his playing career with Leeds in 1966 after signing from Roundhay Rugby Union Club, and finally left to become player-coach of Carlisle in 1983. He amassed a total of 401 tries during his career,[8] of which 340 were scored for Leeds.

Open Rugby inaugural World XIII

The Open Rugby inaugural World XIII was revealed in June 1978, it was; Graham Eadie, John Atkinson, Steve Rogers, Jean-Marc Bourret,[9] Green Vigo, Roger Millward, Steve Nash, Jim Mills, Keith Elwell, Steve Pitchford, Terry Randall, George Nicholls and Greg Pierce.

References
  1. Daly, Phil (13 April 2014). "Burrow set to take his place amongst the greats". Leeds Rhinos. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. RL Record Keepers' Club
  6. "Tributes to Leeds legend John Atkinson, 71". Yorkshire Post. 23 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. Fletcher, Raymond. Rothman's Rugby League Yearbook 1999. London: Headline. ISBN 978-0747275725.
  9. "Jean-Marc Bourret Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
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