Rugby Mourns the Death of Legend Billy Boston
The rugby world is mourning the death of Billy Boston, one of the most beloved and iconic figures in the history of rugby and Welsh sports in general. His passing comes just four days after the funeral of his wife, Lady Joan, to whom he had been married for 70 years.
Last summer, Sir Billy became the first player in rugby league history to be knighted, at the age of 91, in a spectacular ceremony that allowed the legend to meet King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
A founding member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame, the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame, the Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame, and the Wales Rugby League Hall of Fame, Sir Billy was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1996 “for services to the Wigan community.”
His legacy is cast in bronze: he is one of the five rugby league legends depicted in the statue at Wembley Stadium, has a statue dedicated to him in Wigan, and two years ago was immortalized in the Cardiff monument honoring the “Cardiff Codebreakers,” alongside Gus Risman and Clive Sullivan. Since 2009, one of the stands at Wigan Stadium has borne his name.
