Sir Billy Boston, first rugby league player to receive knighthood, dies aged 92 | Wigan Warriors

Sir Billy Boston, the Wigan Warriors legend who last year became the first rugby league player to be awarded a knighthood, has died at the age of 92.

The Welsh Rugby Union confirmed the news of Boston’s death on Tuesday, writing: “Sir Billy Boston, one of the best loved and most iconic figures in the history of Welsh sport, has passed away peacefully at the age of 92.

“The most famous son of Tiger Bay, he died overnight in hospital in his adopted home for the past 74 years, Wigan. His death came only four days after the funeral of his wife, Lady Joan, to whom he had been married for 70 years.”

Boston was one of the finest players in the sport’s history, scoring 478 tries in 488 appearances for Wigan during a glittering career in the 1950s and 1960s that saw him become one of the great stars of the game. Only one man, Brian Bevan, has more tries in rugby league’s history than Boston and his tally for Wigan is unlikely to ever be beaten.

Those achievements in the game saw him recognised first with an MBE in 1996, before he was awarded a knighthood for services to rugby league last summer. At the time of the award the then prime minister, Keir Starmer, described it as a “historic wrong” that the sport had waited so long for a knighthood.

Boston’s death comes less than a month after the passing of his wife, Lady Joan Boston. They were married for over 70 years. Wigan are expected to undertake a series of tributes at their Super League game against Wakefield Trinity on Friday evening.

Boston joined Wigan in 1953 for a fee of £3,000, following an unremarkable spell in rugby union in his native Wales. The move north effectively ended his union career, as players who switched codes at that time were effectively banned from playing again – but in league, he became a superstar.

He scored on his debut for Wigan in November 1953 and went on to score almost 500 tries for club and country, representing Great Britain on 32 occasions, scoring 25 tries and being a member of the squad that won the Rugby League World Cup for the first time in 1960.

Boston won the Challenge Cup on three occasions with Wigan as well as a solitary First Division title and after a brief spell with Blackpool Borough before retiring in 1970. He lived in Wigan for the rest of his life, underlining his deep connection to the town and its rugby league club.

Wigan named a stand at their Central Park ground after Boston before doing the same at their new home, the Brick Community Stadium, in 2009. He was a regular attendee of Warriors games for well over half a century after retiring, right up until very recently. The RFL, who named Boston in their inaugural Hall of Fame in 1988, are also expected to pay a significant tribute.