Straight Talking
DAVID BAINES, Member of Parliament for St Helens North and the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group, pays tribute to Rugby League’s first Knight of the Realm, Sir Billy Boston
ARISE, Sir Billy! After 130 years, our game finally has its first knight and I know the whole Rugby League community could not be prouder of Sir Billy Boston.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Billy and his wonderful family at Buckingham Palace, where I could thank him personally on behalf of all fans past and present.
The knighthood for Sir Billy Boston marked not just a personal triumph for a remarkable man, but the end of what I can only describe as a scandal — a sporting injustice that has persisted for far too long, that no Rugby League player had been knighted for services to the sport, its communities and our country.
As Chair of the Rugby League All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) since last summer, this was one of the first things we decided we would campaign on. And with the strong support and encouragement of the RFL we have worked both publicly and privately to understand how the process works and to get into the ears of the people who make the decisions.
I raised it in the Commons Chamber in February as the new season began, and I received vocal support from the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.