Roy Francis was the first black athlete to play for Great Britain in 1947. He was one of Wales’ great rugby league players. Even more significantly, he was the godfather of modern coaching, taking Hull to the Championship in 1956. It’s high time his achievements were recognised, so this week’s episode looks at the campaign to rename the Grand Final Player of the Match award as the ‘Roy Francis Trophy’, and tells the contrasting stories of Roy Francis and Harry Sunderland, after whom the trophy is currently named.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.