Ces Mountford

Cecil "Ces" Ralph Mountford MBE (16 June 1919 – 19 July 2009), was a New Zealand rugby league footballer and coach.

Mountford was one of ten siblings, he and four of his brothers played rugby league for the South Island whilst Bill Mountford and Ken Mountford played for New Zealand. Mountford also played for West Coast, along with Bill and Ken, in inter-provincial matches.

Mountford played soccer at school, as he was considered too small to play rugby league. In 1935 at the age of 16 he joined Blackball Rugby League club, where he earned the nickname ‘The Blackball Bullet’ due to his speed on the field.

Mountford signed for Wigan Rugby League Club in 1946, he shared in one of Wigan’s finest moments in the 1949/50 campaign when, as captain – in place of usual skipper Joe Egan who was on tour with seven other Wigan stars – he led his side to a sensational 20-2 Championship Final win over Huddersfield at Maine Road.

Mountford played at Wembley Stadium on two occasions, the first being in 1948, when they beat the current title holders Bradford Northern 8-3 in a nail biting final. The second visit, in 1951, Mountford led the team to a 10-0 victory over Barrow in a rain-soaked Wembley final. He also became the first overseas player to receive the Lance Todd Trophy.

Cecil Mountford played Stand-off/Five-eighth in Wigan's 8-3 victory over Bradford Northern in the 1948 Challenge Cup Final during the 1947–48 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 1 May 1948, in front of a crowd of 91,465.

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