BBC Radio Wales to pay tribute to Roy Francis

...with a new biography set to appear later this year, written by Tony Collins...

BBC Radio Wales will pay tribute this evening to a man who was a trailblazer not only for Rugby League, but for British sport.

Roy Francis was born in Cardiff before signing professional with Wigan as a 17-year-old in 1936, the start of a journey which would see him become Great Britain’s first black player in 1947, and then the first black coach in professional sport as he steered Hull FC and Leeds to several Wembley Finals – including Leeds’s victory over Wakefield Trinity in the famous 1968 Watersplash final – and even coached in Australia with the North Sydney Bears.

Tony Collins, the renowned sport and social historian, has been chronicling Roy’s life for a new biography which will appear later this year – and tells some of that story in a 30-minute documentary which will air at 630pm on Monday March 3 – “Roy Francis – Wales’ black leader in a white world”.

The biography – “Roy Francis: Rugby’s Forgotten Black Leader” – is out on June 5, two days before Challenge Cup Finals Day at Wembley – further details coming soon.