Tommy Sale (rugby league) facts for kids
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Personal information
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| Full name | Thomas Sale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 July 1918 Hindsford, Lancashire, England |
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| Died | 3 January 2016 (aged 97) Wigan, Greater Manchester, England |
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Playing information
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| Position | Stand-off, Scrum-half | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Thomas Sale MBE (born July 21, 1918 – died January 3, 2016) was an English rugby league player. He played during the 1940s and 1950s. Tommy played for three different clubs: Leigh, Warrington, and Widnes.
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Tommy Sale's Rugby Journey
Tommy Sale started his professional rugby league career at a young age. He was 20 years old when he first played for his hometown team, Leigh.
Playing for Leigh
Tommy played nine games for Leigh before World War II stopped sports. After the war, he continued playing for the club. He played a total of 82 games for Leigh. In 1948, he lost his regular spot on the team.
Time with Warrington
After World War II ended, Tommy Sale also played for Warrington. He was a "guest player" for a short time. This meant he played for them temporarily. He played seven games for Warrington between 1945 and 1946.
Captain at Widnes
Tommy Sale later joined Widnes. He was even the team's captain. In the 1949–50 season, Widnes played against Warrington in the Challenge Cup Final. This big game was held at Wembley Stadium in London. A huge crowd of 94,249 people watched the match. Widnes lost the game 0-19.
Life After Playing Rugby
After he stopped playing, Tommy Sale stayed involved with the Leigh club. He took on different jobs there. He also coached another team, Liverpool City, in the late 1950s.
Tommy was very important in getting a player-coach named Alex Murphy to join Leigh. Alex Murphy later led the team to win the Challenge Cup in 1971.
In 2011, Tommy Sale received a special award. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). This honor was given to him for all his great work and contributions to rugby league.
