ARISE, Sir Billy Boston – the first rugby league player to be knighted?
Well, not quite. The first rugby league player to be knighted, in part at least, for his achievements in the sport would probably be the more accurate way of putting it.
Because, in the dim and distant past, there was another rugby league player to have that honour bestowed upon them. Another Billy, in fact – and a former international to boot.
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Unless you are a particular student of the formative years of the Northern Union or the history of Halifax rugby league club, the chances are you have never heard of Billy Bulmer.
Yet in 1922 he became the first rugby league player to be awarded a knighthood, albeit for public services and his contribution to the textile industry rather than anything he did on the field.
Bulmer played for Halifax from 1901 to 1907, long before anyone had even imagined adding Blue Sox or Panthers as a nickname, and was part of their back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs of 1903 and 1904.
A forward, Bulmer was considered good enough to be selected in the second row for England against Other Nationalities in the first international rugby league match in April 1904, along with earning four caps for Yorkshire.
He had quite the life off the field too, establishing a successful textile business after earlier specialising in building cinemas and skating rinks having trained as a joiner, and serving on both the Textile Control Board and Wool Statistical Committee.
It was his work on the latter two which saw him knighted and he was reputedly a millionaire.
However, he left an estate of just £155 which would be valued at £9,442.31 in 2025 if adjusted for inflation, upon his death in 1936 at the age of just 54.
Why does any of this matter? Because the campaign that rugby league has never had a player knighted was built on a myth, something which becomes particularly egregious when grasping politicians jump on the bandwagon.
Given that we now live in a post-truth society, it should come as no surprise members of parliament, including Wigan MP and culture, media and sport secretary Lisa Nandy, and prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, were happy to propogate the myth for self-serving purposes.
That doesn’t make it right for anyone else to do so, though. Even if someone is on your side and supporting your cause, falsehoods – no matter how well-intentioned – need calling out.
Then there are those who are aware of Bulmer’s knighthood yet have tried to claim it doesn’t count because it was for public service.
But the facts are he was a rugby league player and he was knighted. The rest is just hair-splitting.
Neither does acknowledging Bulmer somehow invalidate Boston’s recognition.
Much like Kevin Sinfield, another who many have suggested should be honoured in a similar way, the Wigan and Wales icon represents both the very best of rugby league and, most importantly, humanity. That speaks louder than any gong ever could.
If you want to make the case that rugby league and its players have been done a disservice compared to other sports when it comes to this sort of recognition, particularly as it has been over 100 years between Bulmer and Boston being knighted, then that’s fine – but you can do it without indulging in myths.
There’s also the question of why so many in rugby league crave the approval and paternalistic acknowledgement of an establishment which spent the best part of a century attempting to destroy the sport?
But perhaps that’s one for another day.
ADDENDUM: Several hours after this story was published, Rugby League Record Keepers Club organiser Neil Ormston got in touch via social media to inform us he had uncovered, via our friend Phil Caplan, a third rugby league player to be knighted.
Glynn Hamilton West was a centre who signed for Leeds in 1897 and holds heritage number 56 for the eight-time Super League champions.
Hamilton West would later go on to play significant roles as a public servant overseeing munitions supplies during the First World War and received a knighthood in 1916 – six years before Bulmer was honoured.
As Ormston pointed out, how many more of these obscure players from the early years of the Northern Union with knighthoods are there who could have been forgotten about?
Ormston has also compiled a very important thread on why this all matters.