In Memoriam: Ken Gwilliam

A local lad who began his rugby league career with Blackbrook, Ken joined Salford in 1967 and was the youngest member of the team that lost to Castleford in the 1970 Challenge Cup Final. He played full-back that day but preferred to play in the halves.

He was signed by his hometown club for the start of the 1974-75 season, giving incoming coach Eric Ashton a virtual embarrassment of riches in the halves, with Ken vying for a first team spot with the likes of Jeff Heaton, Billy Benyon, and Dave Eckersley. His younger brother Alan was already a member of the senior squad. Ken made his debut in a fine 16-10 victory at Warrington on 23rd August 1974 at stand-off to Jeff Heaton, with brother Alan on the bench.

Yet first team starts proved relatively rare for Ken, initially, although Dave Eckersley’s departure to Widnes gave him a further opportunity. At the end of the 1975-76 season, Ken came off the bench in the Premiership final against Salford for Jeff Heaton and combined superbly with Geoff Pimblett to put Tony Karalius under the sticks for a brilliant try. It gave Saints their third trophy of the season – their best since 1966.

A real grafter who could dominate the scrum base, so important in those days, Ken had good hands and showed tremendous consistency of performance. He took over the scrum-half role from the departing Jeff Heaton in 1976-77 and showed his value to the team with 39 appearances and a back-to-back Premiership final success, against Warrington at the end of the campaign. Ken scored a try as Saints retained the trophy after a thrilling 32-22 victory. He backed this up with 37 starts in 1977-78 and 1978-79 and was a member of the team that lost narrowly to Leeds in the classic 1978 Challenge Cup final at Wembley, when Bill Francis was his stand-off. The Gwilliam-Francis combination was one of the most effective in the league at that time.

Ken’s last game in the Red Vee came against New Hunslet at Elland Road Greyhound Stadium on 4th November 1979, an 8-8 draw, when Steve Peters was his stand-off. It was time for pastures new, with future star Neil Holding waiting in the wings and he joined Oldham shortly after, whose player-coach was Bill Francis. He played for two seasons at Watersheddings, before a last hurrah with the Cardiff Blue Dragons [1981-84] where he joined former Saints Tony Karalius and George Nicholls. After a final season with Bridgend in 1984-85, Ken returned to his roots for a spell coaching at Blackbrook, where his expertise and experience proved to be invaluable.

“Ken was coming to the end of his time at Saints when I was breaking through,” remembers Neil Holding.

“He was a quiet, unassuming lad, really but hard as nails on the field. He had the guile of a typical scrum-half. I would compare him to Steve Peters in many ways, that type of hard-working, competitive player who was such an asset to the team.”

He made 151 appearances for the Saints overall, coming from the bench on 14 occasions. He also scored 25 tries and booted over a drop goal. Ken played his part in a marvellous era for St Helens rugby league and his contributions will never be forgotten.