Joe Lydon (rugby)

Joseph Paul Lydon (born 26 November 1963) is an English former professional rugby league footballer and rugby union coach. He played during the 1980s and 1990s as a, or for Widnes, Wigan and Eastern Suburbs. He also represented Lancashire, and won 30 caps for Great Britain.

He has coached representative level rugby union for England under-19's, and England Sevens and was a backs coach for the senior national team between 2004 and 2006. Since 2008, he has been appointed to several player development roles by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).

Early life
Born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, Lydon attended St John Rigby College. He played both rugby union and rugby league during his childhood. He played junior rugby league for Wigan St Patricks, and played for Wigan schoolboys at Wembley Stadium in the curtain-raiser to the 1975 Challenge Cup final. In rugby union, he was part of the England under-19's squad that toured Zimbabwe in 1982. After leaving school, Lydon chose to pursue a professional career in rugby league.

Widnes
Lydon signed professional forms with Widnes, making his début for the "Chemics" in a 9–10 defeat by Leigh in August 1982. On 23 November 1982, Lydon would later get his first taste of international football when playing in the centres for Widnes at Naughton Park in their 19–6 loss to Australia who were on their undefeated 1982 Kangaroo tour.

Lydon played on the, scoring a try and two conversions in Widnes' 8–12 defeat by Barrow in the 1983 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1983–84 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 1 October 1983.

Lydon played at and scored a try in Widnes' 10–18 defeat by Leeds in the 1983–84 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1983–84 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 14 January 1984

In 1984, he won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in Widnes' Wembley win over hometown Wigan in the 1984 Challenge Cup Final, famously scoring two 75-yard interception tries. He also won the Man of Steel, Division One Player and Young Player of the Year awards.

Wigan
In 1986, when he joined Wigan, Lydon became rugby league's first £100,000 transfer (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £327,600 in 2013), making his début in a 44–6 win over Hull in March 1986. One of his first games for the Cherry and Whites was against the touring 1986 Australian Kangaroos where he scored a second half try in Wigan's 26–18 defeat by Australia. He played in the centres for defending champions Wigan in their 1987 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Central Park. During the game, Manly second rower "Rambo" Ron Gibbs became the first player sent off in a World Club Challenge after a high tackle on Lydon. Later in the game after being tackled by Dale Shearer, the Manly fullback appeared to step on Lydon's head after he had got the ball away to teammate David Stephenson.

In March 1989, Lydon scored a 61-yard drop goal in Wigan's 13–6 win against Warrington in the 1989 Challenge Cup semi-final at Maine Road, setting a world record for the longest successful drop kick in rugby league.

During his time at Wigan, Lydon helped the club win six league championships and five Challenge Cup finals. He was also on the winning side in four Lancashire Cup finals (in 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1992), four John Player Special/Regal Trophy finals (in 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1992–93) and three Premiership finals (in 1987, 1992 and 1994).

In November 1994, he played the last of 262 games for Wigan as a substitute in a 30–6 home win over Featherstone Rovers.

Australia
During his career Lydon spent two English off-seasons playing in Australia for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club in 1987, and again in 1989. His first stint at the Roosters was somewhat successful as Easts made it to the Preliminary final before going down to eventual Grand Finalists Canberra. His second stint with the Bondi based club was less successful as Easts finished in 11th place in 1989. Overall Lydon played 22 games for Easts, scoring 8 tries and kicking 14 goals.

International career
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 début, scoring a try and three goals in 20–5 win over France in Carcassonne.

Lydon was selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour, but his invitation was withdrawn after Lydon allegedly assaulted a spectator.

Lydon was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, and collected the last of his 30 GB caps as a substitute in 16–10 defeat by Australia in Brisbane. He made one last appearance for Great Britain, as fullback in their 10–6 loss to Australia in the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final at Wembley on 24 October. Lydon sprained his ankle early in the match but bravely played on until replaced in the second half by Alan Tait.

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.

After playing
Lydon worked as an expert analyst for the BBC alongside former England and Great Britain dual-rugby international Ray French during the 1995 Rugby League World Cup, which was held in England.

After retiring as a Wigan player, Lydon became the team manager of Wigan – 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. In June 2004, he was appointed backs coach for the England rugby union team. In May 2006, after being removed as England backs coach, Lydon turned down the opportunity to join the England RFU Academy.

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.

On 24 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.

In November 2008, Lydon was appointed Welsh Rugby Union Head of Rugby Performance & Development. In May 2013, he was named Head of International Player Development by the RFU. He stepped down from the role in 2016. In 2017, he was appointed by the Irish Rugby Football Union as head of international talent ID and development.

Superstars
Joe Lydon participated in the televised all-around sports competition Superstars, finishing second in the 1985 Series.

Player Awards
Only three players have won the Lance Todd Trophy, Harry Sunderland Trophy, and the Man of Steel Award, they are; George Nicholls, Joe Lydon and Paul Wellens.