Tommy Sale (rugby league)

Thomas Sale MBE (21 July 1918 – 3 January 2016) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played at club level for Leigh, Warrington and Widnes.[3][4]

Tommy Sale
Personal information
Full nameThomas Sale
Born21 July 1918[1]
Hindsford, Lancashire, England
Died3 January 2016(2016-01-03) (aged 97)
Wigan, Greater Manchester, England
Playing information
PositionStand-off, Scrum-half
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1938–48 Leigh 82 16 2 52
1945–46 →Warrington (guest) 7 1 0 3
1949–51 Widnes 34 13 1 41
Total 123 30 3 0 96
Source: [2]

Playing career

Leigh

Sale made his début in professional rugby league for home town club Leigh at the age of 20. He played nine games for the club before competitive rugby league was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War.[1] He resumed playing for the club after the war, and went on to make a total of 82 appearances for the club before losing his place in the first team in 1948.

Warrington

Following the end of the Second World War, Sale briefly played for Warrington as a guest player, making seven appearances between 1945 and 1946.

Widnes

Sale played, and was captain in Widnes' 0-19 defeat by Warrington in the 1949–50 Challenge Cup Final during the 1949–50 season at Wembley Stadium, London, in front of a crowd of 94,249.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Sale remained at Leigh in various roles. He was also coach of Liverpool City in the late 1950s.He was influential in the signing of player-coach Alex Murphy, who went on to lead the team to a Challenge Cup final win in 1971.[5]

Sale was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to rugby league.[6]

References
  1. Hadfield, Dave (28 January 2016). "Tommy Sale: Rugby league player most of whose life was devoted to the town of Leigh and its club". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  2. "They Played for Leigh". Leigh Centurions. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  3. Charlie Moore (3 January 2016). "Tributes pour in for Leigh Centurions rugby league legend Tommy Sale who died aged 97". Manchester Evening News.
  4. Mike Latham (3 January 2016). "Tommy Sale MBE". leighcenturions.com.
  5. "Leigh rugby league stalwart Tommy Sale dies, aged 97". BBC Sport. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  6. "No. 59808". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2011. p. 21.
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