Billy McGinty (rugby league)

Billy McGinty (born 6 December 1964) is a Scottish rugby union coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s.^[4] He played in the forwards for Wigan during the period in the 1990s when they dominated the sport, and later for Workington Town.^[2]

Billy McGinty

Personal information
Born	(1964-12-06) 6 December 1964 (age 59) Glasgow, Scotland
Playing information
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1982–91 Warrington 102+33 20 0 0 80 1991–94 Wigan 66+9 9 0 0 36 1994–96 Workington 29+10 6 0 0 24 Total 249 35 0 0 140 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1992 Great Britain 4 0 0 0 0 1987–89 Lancashire 1+1 0 0 0 0 1992 GB tour games 5 1 0 0 4
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2003 Workington Town 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1998 Scotland 2 0 0 2 0 2001–03 Scotland 3 2 0 1 67
Source: ^[1]^[2]^[3]

Background

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, McGinty grew up in North West England, and attended Wade Deacon High School in Widnes. He played both codes of rugby when growing up, playing rugby union at school, and rugby league for local amateur club, Widnes Tigers.^[5]

Playing career

Warrington

McGinty was signed by Warrington in 1982. He appeared as a substitute in the club's 38–10 win against Halifax in the 1985–86 Premiership final at Elland Road, Leeds.^[6]

McGinty was also a substitute in Warrington's 14–36 defeat by Wigan in the 1989–90 Challenge Cup Final during the 1989–90 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 28 April 1990, in front of a crowd of 77,729.^[7]

Billy McGinty played right-second-row and was man of the match in Warrington's 12–2 victory over Bradford Northern in the 1990–91 Regal Trophy Final during the 1990–91 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 12 January 1991.

Wigan

In August 1991, McGinty was signed by Wigan for a fee of £60,000.^[8]

During the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season, McGinty played for defending champions Wigan as a second-row in their 1991 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting Penrith Panthers. He was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played as a second-row in Great Britain's victory over Australia in Melbourne.

During the 1992–93 Rugby Football League season McGinty played as a second-row for defending RFL champions Wigan in the 1992 World Club Challenge against the visiting Brisbane Broncos.

McGinty played right-second-row in Wigan's 5–4 victory over St. Helens in the 1992–93 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1992–93 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Sunday 18 October 1992.^[9]

McGinty played right-second-row in Wigan's 15–8 victory over Bradford Northern in the 1992–93 Regal Trophy Final during the 1992–93 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 23 January 1993.^[10]

After the 1993–94 Rugby Football League season McGinty travelled with defending champions Wigan to Brisbane for the 1994 World Club Challenge. Due to injuries to Andy Platt and Kelvin Skerrett, he played as a prop in the 20–14 victory against Brisbane Broncos. The match was his last for Wigan, as he had already agreed to join Workington Town for a fee of £15,000.^[11][12]

Coaching career

Rugby league

In 1998, McGinty was in charge of Scotland before being replaced by Shaun McRae a year later.^[3][12] He became head coach again after McRae stepped down in 2001.^[13]

In May 2003, he was appointed as head coach at Workington Town.^[14] A few months later, he joined Huddersfield Giants as an assistant coach to Jon Sharp,^[15] but resigned a few months later to spend more time with his family.^[16]

Rugby union

In 2004, McGinty joined the coaching staff at Worcester Warriors.^[17] In 2009, he was appointed as the club's backs and defence coach.^[18]

In 2011 McGinty was appointed defence coach of Edinburgh Rugby under head coach Michael Bradley.^[19]

In 2017, he was appointed by Tewkesbury as their new head coach.^[20]

School coaching

In 2013, McGinty joined Royal Grammar School Worcester's rugby coaching set-up.

References

1. Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1993-94 by Raymond Fletcher and David Howes page 312
2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "Worcester Warriors coach Billy McGinty signs new deal". news.bbc.co.uk. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
5. "Head coach Billy McGinty says there's 'lots of potential' at Tewkesbury Rugby Club". The Local Answer. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
6. "Warrington Wolves beat Halifax in Premiership Trophy Final". Warrington Guardian. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
7. "1989-1990 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
8. "Goodway out after second broken arm in a year". The Guardian. London. 30 August 1991. p. 15. ProQuest 187243660.
9. . wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
10. . wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
11. Plummor, David (1 June 1994). "Wigan give McGinty hit-man role". The Guardian. London. p. 15. ProQuest 187546115.
12. Hadfield, Dave (31 July 1999). "Rugby League: McGinty goes back to his roots". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
13. "McGinty takes charge of Scotland". BBC Sport. 19 February 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
14. "Billy's Back". Evening Chronicle. 25 May 2003. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
15. "McGinty gets Giants' post". YorkshireLive. 14 October 2003. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
16. "McGinty puts his family first as he quits Giants". YorkshireLive. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
17. "McGinty set for Sixways return". Worcester News. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
18. "McGinty settling in to new role". BBC Sport. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
19. "Billy McGinty appointed new defence coach at Edinburgh". BBC Sport. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
20. "Former Great Britain international is new head coach at Tewkesbury". Gloucestershire Live. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

External links

• Profile at wigan-warriors.com