George Wilson (1940s rugby player)

George Wilson, also known by the nickname of "Happy", was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union for South of Scotland, and at club level for Kelso RFC, as a wing, and representative level rugby league for Great Britain and Other Nationalities, and at club level Workington Town, as a wing.

George Wilson
Personal information
BornScotland
Playing information
Rugby union
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
≤1947–48 Kelso RFC
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1947 South of Scotland 3 0 0 0 0
Rugby league
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1948–50 Huddersfield
1950–55 Workington Town 129
1955 Salford
Total 0 129 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1949 Other Nationalities 1 1 0 0 3
1951 Great Britain 3 5 0 0 15
Source: [1][2]

Playing career

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Club career

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Wilson was signed by English rugby league club Huddersfield in October 1948.[3] In February 1950, after losing his place in the first team, Wilson was transfer listed at his own request,[4] and was signed by Workington Town for a fee of £2,750.[5]

Wilson played left wing and scored a try in Workington Town's 18–10 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1951–52 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093.

He joined Salford in 1955.[6]

International honours

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In rugby union, Wilson represented South of Scotland while at Kelso RFC. In rugby league, he played for Other Nationalities in 1949 while at Huddersfield, and won caps for Great Britain while at Workington in 1951, playing in all three Tests against the touring New Zealand team.[1] Wilson scored three tries in the first test.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Player Summary: George Wilson". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Scottish Winger for Fartown". Huddersfield Examiner. No. 26489. 9 October 1948. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Wilson on Fartown transfer list". The Yorkshire Observer. No. 26869. 23 February 1950. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Big Fee For R.L. Winger". Hull Daily Mail. No. 20053. 28 February 1950. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Trickett, John (21 January 1955). "Cracknell cries off, so experiment must wait". Manchester Evening News. No. 26710. p. 16 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Rugby league: Britain wins test". The Press. Vol. LXXXVII, no. 26546. 8 October 1951. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
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