5 days Ago
St Helens-born Ken was hugely popular in town not simply from his playing days but from his time as landlord of the Derby Arms in Rainford. Gill cut his rugby league teeth on the playing fields of City Road, where he went on to skipper the St Helens Amateurs, Lancashire and Great Britain Amateurs. He turned professional with Salford in 1970, where he would play 271 times in two stints with a side dubbed The Quality Street Gang given the quality of the squad.
In his first stint for the Red Devils he was in two Championship winning teams – in 1974 and 1976, adding the 1974-75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy and 1972 Lancashire Cup to his medal collection. He departed for Widnes in the 1977-78 season where he added a third League Division 1 title in his one year there. He had a short spell at Barrow before returning to The Willows in 1979-80.
A gifted stand off, and master of the delayed pass, Gill earned international caps in the mid-1970s touring Australia and New Zealand with Great Britain in 1974. He also played for Great Britain in the 1977 World Cup, and in the final against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground he came off the bench to score a try in a tight 13-12 defeat by the hosts. To add to his seven Great Britain caps, Gill also featured 12 times for England, including nine appearances in the 1975 World Championship which was staged across both hemispheres.
Gill scored a hat-trick in the 1975 World Championship clash against New Zealand at Odsal. He also earned seven Lancashire caps. His former clubs and former teammates have sent their condolences since the weekend to this hugely popular and gifted player.
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