Colin Dixon

Colin J. Dixon

Personal information
Full name	Colin J. Dixon
Nickname	Dicko
Born	3 December 1943(1943-12-03) Butetown, Cardiff, Wales
Died	21 June 1993(1993-06-21) (aged 49) Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
Playing information
Rugby union
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
<1961–1961	Cardiff IAC
Rugby league
Position	Centre, Second-row, Loose forward/Lock
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
30 August 1961–14 December 1968	Halifax	245	73	0	0	219
1968–1980	Salford	418	91	1	0	275
1980–1981	Hull Kingston Rovers	25
	Total	688	164	1	0	494
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1963–1981	Wales	16	2	0	0	6
1961–1981	Great Britain	14
Coaching information
Club
Years	Team	Gms	W	D	L	W%
03/1977–01/1978	Salford
Source: rugbyleagueproject.org englandrl.co.uk

Colin J. Dixon (3 December 1943 in Butetown – 21 June 1993(1993-06-21) (aged 49) in Halifax, West Yorkshire) was a Welsh rugby union and professional Rugby League World Cup winning footballer who at club level has played rugby union (RU) for Cardiff International Athletic Club, and at representative level has played rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, and Wales, and at club level for Halifax, Salford, and Hull Kingston Rovers, playing at Centre, Second-row, or Loose forward/Lock, i.e. number 3 or 4, 11 or 12, or 13.^[1]

Rugby career

Dixon, like Gus Risman and Billy Boston, was a product of South Church Street School in Cardiff's Butetown. Playing in the Cardiff RFC Youth team, he was already showing something of his future potential but was overlooked by Wales (RU) Youth. As a seventeen year old he signed for Halifax^[2] in 1961.

Initially he played as a Centre, providing many tries for his Wing John "Johnny" Freeman, by coincidence also a former pupil of South Church Street School, but it was not until he moved to the back row of the pack in 1963 that he revealed his tremendous power.

In 1964 he was a key player in the first Halifax side to win the championship since 1907. As captain in the 1967 and 1968 seasons he led the side by example and was rewarded with his first Great Britain cap in 1968. Transferred a few weeks later to Salford for a record £15,000 (based on average earnings, this would be approximately £366,000 in 2007),^[3] he played in the Challenge Cup Final of 1969 losing to Castleford. Had Salford won he would almost certainly have been awarded the Lance Todd Trophy. That same season he was the League's highest scoring forward with 20 tries.

He played 418 times for Salford with 738 appearances in all first class games. Perhaps the highlight of his successful club career was winning the League Championship with Salford in 1973-74 and again in 1975-76. He played his last game for Salford in 1980, but played a final season in the Premiership winning Hull Kingston Rovers team of 1980-81.

As an international he won 15 caps for Wales and 14 for Great Britain. He played in the Great Britain 1972 World Cup winning side and toured Australasia in 1974, playing in all three Tests against Australia (1 win, 2 losses) and all three in New Zealand (2 wins, 1 loss).

Honoured at Halifax

Colin Dixon is a Halifax Hall Of Fame Inductee.^[4]

References

1. ^ Graham Williams, Peter Lush, David Farrar (November 2009). "The British Rugby League Records Book [Page-108…114]". London League Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-1-903659-49-6
2. ^ Ray French (10 May 2010). "Welsh convert XIII". news.bbc.co.uk (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/8651235.stm. Retrieved 12 October 2010. 
3. ^ "Measuring Worth - Relative Value of UK Pounds". Measuring Worth. 2003-04-23. http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/. Retrieved 2008-10-03. 
4. ^ "Halifax Hall of Fame". halifaxrlfc.co.uk. 2008-12-31. http://www.halifaxrlfc.co.uk/page.php?id=213. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 

External links

• Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
• Wakefield's spirit is intact
• Good test for new Salford recruits
• Colin Dixon at eraofthebiff.com
• Colin Dixon at rlhalloffame.org.uk
• 'Colin Dixon with the fans after Wembley 1969' photo at flickr.com
• 'Wales 1975 Team - Seven of these players played for Salford at some stage' photo at flickr.com
• 'Chairman John Wilkinson with former greats at a dinner in 1987' photo at flickr.com
• Waite makes his Australia debut
• Colin Dixon's obituary
• Photograph 'Bill Ramsey forces his way over' at rugbyleagueheritageproject.com
• Photograph 'Colin Dixon gets the ball away' at rugbyleagueheritageproject.com

Persondata
Name	Dixon, Colin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 December 1943
Place of birth	Butetown, Cardiff
Date of death	21 June 1993
Place of death	Halifax, West Yorkshire