Roy Francis was the first black athlete to play for Great Britain in 1947, and was one of Wales' greatest rugby league players. But even more significantly, he was the godfather of modern coaching, starting at Hull in 1949 where he transformed an average team into a powerhouse of the game, coaching them to three consecutive Championship finals, winning in 1956 and 1958, and two Wembley finals. In 1963 he moved to Leeds where he built a team famed for its fast, free-flowing rugby.
It's high time his achievements were recognised, so this week's podcast looks at the campaign to rename the Grand Final Player of the Match award as the 'Roy Francis Trophy', and tells the contrasting stories of Roy Francis and Harry Sunderland, after whom the trophy is currently named.
For more on Roy, take a look at Squidge Rugby’s YouTube video ‘So Who Was Roy Francis?’ and ‘Celebrating Roy Francis’ by Hull FC historian Bill Dalton.The Australian Dictionary of Biography entry on Harry Sunderland by Brisbane rugby league historian Edmund Scott can be accessed here. Robert Gate’s obituary to Roy, in which Robert explains Roy’s view of Harry Sunderland, is in issue 11 of Code 13 (June 1989), pp. 4-5.
Roy Francis on the Hull FC bench in 1953. L to R: Johnny Whiteley, Norman Hockley, Bill Riches, Roy Francis, Albert Tripp, Mick Scott and Bob Coverdale