Barrow Rugby League legend Bill Burgess dies aged 85

Bill was a flying machine who scored 222 tries in 179 appearances before being transferred to Salford Red Devils.

He was one of a rare breed as he and his father Bill Snr both toured down under with Great Britain.

Barrow shocked the Rugby Union world in 1961 when Bill was snapped up from Fylde Rugby Union Club.

At the time Barrow were struggling as the great days of the fifties when they played in three Wembley cup finals were well behind them.

Tommy Smales came in from Wigan, and Brian Fallon from Leigh, but it was the capture of Burgess for a reported fee in the region of £6,000 that lifted the club's supporters.

Bill, in his early career, played at Furness Rugby Union Club before moving to the Fylde coast.

His dad Bill Snr was a director of Barrow, and must have been pleased to see his son sign for his hometown club.

Bill himself later became a director.

He made his debut in the 1961-62 season at Doncaster his other wing partner was South African Duncan Pikoli also making his debut.

He made his mark in the 31-7 win with a hat-trick of tries. He was such a wizard gliding down the wing, he ghosted past defenders as if they weren’t there.

He absolutely mesmerised them, and come the end of the season he had notched 29 tries.

He soon caught the eyes of the county selectors making 11 appearances (Lancashire in those days) and later the Great Britain selectors.

He made his full Great Britain debut in 1963 going on to gain 14 Caps (scoring eight tries).

His major honour was, like Bill Snr, to Tour Australia and New Zealand in 1966 and in five Test appearances he crossed for three tries.

He also played in a further 12 tour fixtures and added 11 tries.

One solitary appearance for England saw him score two tries.

However, not seeing eye to eye with some Barrow directors saw him placed on the transfer list at a then world record of £18,000.

There were no takers and with the help of the then Mayor, Cedrick Ward he came off the list.

On to Wembley in 1967 where Barrow under-performed and lost to Featherstone Rovers 17-12.

Tommy Smales mentioned earlier had now left Barrow and played a big part in the Rovers victory.

A year later Bill was once more placed on the transfer list at £6,000 moving to glamour club Salford Red Devils, who had an abundance of top quality League and Union players on board.

Two years after his first Wembley final, he was back with the Red Devils but once more met with defeat, this time losing out to Castleford.

The 1970/71 season was to be his swansong and after 50 games for Salford a shoulder injury brought the curtain down on the career of one of the top wingers in the game.

Barrow had some great wingers back in the day, Val Cumberbatch, Frank Castle and Jimmy Lewthwaite, but many observers suggested that Burgess was the best.

Bill was into Athletics big time and won many trophies at the Grammar School, he was also a member of Barrow athletic club.

Bill went on to become a lecturer at Howard Street College and many ex pupils have stated he was a great man.

He also was a top crown green bowler representing Roose Cons for several years.

Mike Watts said: “He started with the Washington then Barrow Park before playing at the Cons for over 20 years winning many local competitions.”

Mike Murray was a lifelong friend for almost 80 years and played in the 1967 Cup final at Wembley with Bill.

He said: “He was an incredible winger. I would shake my head just watching him turn defences inside out.

“We played for Lancashire together and won the County Championship.

“He had the technique to race clear of defenders, he had a marvellous Body swerve.”

Tommy Dawes added: “Bill was a fantastic player he was as good as you get, he was a match winner and more often than not would score brilliant tries that would ensure winning pay.

“He was a speed merchant and very deceptive.”

Bill is in the Barrow Raiders Hall of Fame.