Joe Lydon

Joe Lydon (born 26 November, 1963), was an English international rugby league player, who also coached the England national side at rugby union.

Playing career

Lydon played first schoolboy curtain-raiser to Challenge Cup final at Wembley in 1975. He signed professional forms with Widnes from Wigan St Patrick's, making his debut in 10-9 defeat by Leigh.

In 1983 he made the first of three appearances for the Great Britain Under-24 team against France in January and a month later makes his full Great Britain debut, scoring a try and three goals in 20-5 win over France in Carcassonne. In 1984 he won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in Widnes' Wembley win over Wigan and lifts Man of Steel, Division One Player and Young Player of the Year awards. In 1986 Lydon became rugby league's first £100,000 transfer when he joined Wigan, making his debut in a 44-6 win over Hull. In 1992 Lydon collected the last of his 30 GB caps as a substitute in 16-10 defeat by Australia in Brisbane. He would go on to make one further international appearance, coming on as a replacement for Ireland in their first ever international match, a 24-22 victory against USA in Washington DC in 1995. In 1994 he played the last of 262 games for Wigan as substitute in 30-6 home win over Featherstone.

During his career Lydon spent two English off-seasons playing for the Eastern Suburbs club in Sydney, Australia

After playing

Immediately retiring as a Wigan player, Lydon became the team manager of Wigan Warriors - a position he held until 1996. In 1997 Lydon was appointed the RFL's first-ever technical director, a post he held until resigning the post in 2000 when he was appointed manager of the England under-19 rugby union side. He was appointed England Sevens coach in October 2001. [ [http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.News_Detail/StoryID/667 Rugby Football Union - Joe Lydon Interview ] ] . In June 2004, he was appointed backs coach for the England rugby union team [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/06/06/srengl06.xml Lydon warms to task of getting England backs up and running - Rugby Union News - Telegraph ] ] . In May 2006, after being removed as England backs coach, Lydon turned down the opportunity to join the England RFU Academy [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/5020172.stm BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Internationals | Lydon turns down academy position ] ] .

In July 2007 he began working with Waterloo Rugby Union Club as performance consultant. In August 2007 he was invited to the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium as a guest of honour. cite web|url=http://www.quins.co.uk/newspage.ink?nid=37763&newstype=n&matchid=&storytype=RL|title=Joe Lydon - Wembley|publisher=Quins|date=2007-08-24|accessdate=2007-08-25]

On the 24th October 2007, Lydon returned to the Wigan Warriors Club as part of the takeover by Ian Lenagan and became Chief Executive of the Holding Company.

References

External links

* [http://www.scrum.com/features/lydon.asp Joe Lydon at scrum.com]
* [http://www.rl1908.com/Legends/Joe-Lydon.htm Joe Lydon at rl1908.com]