International RL Blog

Lance Todd was one of the star players for the famous All Golds tour team in 1907/08. At the end of the tour he signed for Wigan and later became a very successful manager for Salford. He was also a BBC commentator and the annual Challenge Cup Final Man of the Match Trophy is named after him. He was killed while serving with the Home Guard in 1942 and is buried in Ince Cemetery.

Lance Todd was a star player for the All Golds and he signed for Wigan at the end of the tour. He later became a successful manager of Salford

I was looking forward to reading about the career of one of the leading British Rugby League players of his generation but the subtitle of the book should've provided a warning. "Booze, Brawls, Sex and Scandal -  The Autobiography of the Wild Man of  Rugby  League" It's undemanding but interesting enough, Sean does his best to provide minor league celebrity gossip and in the process feed his vanity and live up to his self description. He seems to think that everybody is interested in tittle tattle about his sex life and booze inspired juvenile pranks. Sorry Sean, we're not. I would be surprised if some his family, friends and equally famous colleagues are not embarrassed to have their antics recorded for posterity. I suspect that Sean himself might regret some of the information divulged in the not too distant future Sean does write in detail about his distinguished Rugby League career including the notorious betting scandal and the famous "wide to West"...