View source for Lance Todd

{{short description|New Zealand rugby league coach and former international}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|name                = Lance Todd
|fullname            = Lancelot Beaumont Todd
|image               = (Lance) Todd - Wigan.jpg
|imagesize           =
|caption             = Cope's [[Cigarette card]] featuring Lance Todd
|birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1883|05|26}}
|birth_place         = [[Auckland]], New Zealand
|death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|11|14|1883|05|26}}
|death_place         = [[Oldham]], England
|height              = {{convert|170|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}
|weight              = {{convert|63.5|kg|stlb|abbr=on}}
|position            = {{rlp|CE}}
|first               = RU
|ru_position         = [[Fly-half (rugby union)|First five-eighth]]
|ru_club1            = Suburbs
|ru_year1start       = 1903
|ru_year1end         = 04
|ru_appearances1     = 10
|ru_tries1           = 1
|ru_goals1           = 0
|ru_fieldgoals1      = 0
|ru_points1          = 3
|ru_club2            = City
|ru_year2start       = 1905
|ru_year2end         = 06
|ru_appearances2     = 11
|ru_tries2           = 3
|ru_goals2           = 20
|ru_fieldgoals2      = 0
|ru_points2          = 49
|ru_club3            = Parnell
|ru_year3start       = 1906
|ru_year3end         = 07
|ru_appearances3     = 16
|ru_tries3           = 2
|ru_goals3           = 12
|ru_fieldgoals3      = 0
|ru_points3          = 35
|ru_club4            = City Odd Fellows
|ru_year4start       = 1906
|ru_year4end         =
|ru_appearances4     = 1
|ru_tries4           = 1
|ru_goals4           = 3
|ru_fieldgoals4      = 0
|ru_points4          = 11
|ru_club5            = Combined Club XV
|ru_year5start       = 1907
|ru_year5end         =
|ru_appearances5     = 1
|ru_tries5           = 0
|ru_goals5           = 0
|ru_fieldgoals5      = 0
|ru_points5          = 0
|ru_teamA            = [[Auckland Rugby Union|Auckland Trial]]
|ru_yearAstart       = 1905
|ru_yearAend         = 07
|ru_appearancesA     = 3
|ru_triesA           = 0
|ru_goalsA           = 3
|ru_fieldgoalsA      = 0
|ru_pointsA          = 8
|ru_teamB            = [[Auckland Rugby Union|Auckland inter-union]]
|ru_yearBstart       = 1905
|ru_yearBend         = 06
|ru_appearancesB     = 4
|ru_triesB           = 1
|ru_goalsB           = 0
|ru_fieldgoalsB      = 0
|ru_pointsB          = 3
|ru_teamC            = [[Auckland Rugby Union|Auckland]]
|ru_yearCstart       = 1905
|ru_yearCend         = 
|ru_appearancesC     = 5
|ru_triesC           = 1
|ru_goalsC           = 3
|ru_fieldgoalsC      = 0
|ru_pointsC          = 10
|ru_teamD            = [[Auckland Rugby Union|Auckland B]]
|ru_yearDstart       = 1906
|ru_yearDend         = 07
|ru_appearancesD     = 3
|ru_triesD           = 1
|ru_goalsD           = 1
|ru_fieldgoalsD      = 0
|ru_pointsD          = 5
|club1               = [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]]
|year1start          = 1908
|year1end            = 13
|appearances1        = 185
|tries1              = 126
|goals1              = 7
|fieldgoals1         = 0
|points1             = 392
|club2               = [[Dewsbury Rams|Dewsbury]]
|year2start          = 1913
|year2end            = 14
|appearances2        = 10
|tries2              = 3
|goals2              = 0
|fieldgoals2         = 0
|points2             = 9
|teamA               = [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]]
|yearAstart          = 1907
|yearAend            = 08
|appearancesA        = 24 (4)
|triesA              = 13 (1)
|goalsA              = 0
|fieldgoalsA         = 0
|pointsA             = 39 (3)
|teamB               = [[Lancashire rugby league team|Lancashire]]
|yearBstart          = 1910
|yearBend            =
|appearancesB        = 2
|triesB              = 2
|goalsB              = 2
|fieldgoalsB         = 0
|pointsB             = 10
| coachteam1         = [[Salford Red Devils|Salford]]
| coachyear1start    = 1928
| coachyear1end      = 40
| coachgames1        = 525
| coachwins1         = 364
| coachdraws1        = 32
| coachlosses1       = 128
|updated             =
|source              = <ref>{{cite news
| title =Media/Downloads
| publisher =Rugby League Records
| url =https://www.rugbyleaguerecords.com/
| accessdate = 2022-02-27}}</ref><ref name="Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/lance-todd/summary.html|title=Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=Rugby League Project|date=31 December 2017|access-date=1 January 2018}}</ref>
|retired = yes
}}

'''Lancelot Beaumont "Lance" Todd''' (26 May 1883 – 14 November 1942) was a New Zealand-born [[rugby league]] footballer and manager of the early 20th century. As a player, he represented [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] in [[1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain|1907 and 1908]] and played in England for the Wigan and Dewsbury clubs. He later became the manager at Salford and led the club to three [[Rugby Football League Championship|League Championships]] and one [[Challenge Cup]] victory.<ref name="Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org"/>

==Early life==
Todd attended [[Kings College, Auckland|Kings College]] which at that time was based in [[Remuera]], [[Auckland]], before later relocating to [[Ōtāhuhu]].<ref>{{cite news
| title =Athletics
| page =6
| publisher =Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 281
| date = 1899-11-27
| url =https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18991127.2.59
| accessdate = 2022-02-27}}</ref> After leaving school Todd became a [[tailor]] by trade.<ref name=book /> His father was John Todd who was a well known sporting identity in the [[Ōtāhuhu]] area, particularly in horse racing. At the time of his death in October, 1920 he was the vice president of the Otahuhu Trotting Club.<ref>{{cite news
| title =Racing World
| page =13
| publisher =Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 260
| date = 1920-10-30
| url =https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19201030.2.74
| accessdate = 2022-02-26}}</ref>

==Rugby in New Zealand==
Originally he played [[rugby union]] in the [[Ōtāhuhu]] area, with his senior debut being for the Suburbs club. They were a side made up of players who lived outside a 10-mile radius of the city centre and struggled to practice for obvious reasons. They did often train in Otahuhu however. Todd joined the City club in 1905 and then moved to the Parnell club in 1906. He first made the [[Auckland representative rugby union team|Auckland]] side in 1905, making his debut against Hawke's Bay on 12 August where he scored a try and kicked 2 conversions in their win. In 1906 despite joining the Parnell club he went on the 4 match City tour of Sydney where he played in 3 matches against Sydney University, Glebe, and South Sydney. Later in the year he played in a match for City Oddfellows (Manchester Unity town Oddfellows) against Goldfield Oddfellows. Todd was a member of the Franklin Lodge along with his brothers.

He did not make the [[All Blacks]] but this was due to the tremendous talent in front of him and he was still regarded as being a special player in the Auckland scene.<ref name=book>John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. {{ISBN|0-473-03864-1}}</ref> He made his debut for Auckland in 1905, playing in 4 matches. Despite playing in several trial matches he did not play for Auckland again in 1906 or 1907, but did play in an inter-union match in 1906 and 3 Auckland B games over the 1906-07 period. [[File:New Zealand Rugby League Team of 1907-08 to Tour England.png|thumb|New Zealand Rugby League Team of 1907–08 to Tour Great Britain]]

He was picked for the [[New Zealand national rugby league team|professional All Blacks]] [[1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain|1907–1908 rugby tour of Great Britain and Australia]] and subsequently, like all members of the tour, received a life ban from the [[New Zealand Rugby Union]]. Todd had been involved in organising the tour and served on the Management Committee. During the tour he excelled at the game of [[rugby league]], playing in four Test matches, and scoring eight tries in all games. He was one of five players who opted to stay in Great Britain at the tour's end.

==Rugby League in England==
He was signed by [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]] after [[1907-1908 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain|the tour]] for £400 and the captaincy,<ref>{{cite news
|last = Jessup
|first = Peter
|title = Rugby League: Kiwi 100 equals Aussie 87
|work = The New Zealand Herald
|date = 18 October 2003
|url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=3529501
|access-date = 29 April 2010}}</ref> and he became an outstanding centre, making 186 appearances for the club. He was later joined by fellow tourist [[Massa Johnston]] and All Black [[Charlie Seeling]].

Lance Todd played at {{rlp|ce}} in [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]]'s 10–9 victory over [[Oldham R.L.F.C.|Oldham]] in the [[1908 Lancashire Cup]] Final during the [[1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season|1908–09 season]] at [[Wheater's Field]], [[Broughton, Salford|Broughton]], on Saturday 19 December 1908,<ref name="1908-1909 Lancashire Cup Final">{{cite web|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=412|title=1908–1909 Lancashire Cup Final|publisher=wigan.rlfans.com|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref> and played at {{rlp|ce}} and scored a [[Try (rugby)|try]] in the 21–5 victory over [[Rochdale Hornets]] in the [[1912 Lancashire Cup]] Final during the [[1912–13 Northern Rugby Football Union season|1912–13 season]] at [[Weaste]], [[City of Salford|Salford]], on Wednesday 11 December 1912.<ref name="1912-1913 Lancashire Cup Final">{{cite web|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=415|title=1912–1913 Lancashire Cup Final|publisher=wigan.rlfans.com|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref>

At the end of the [[1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season]] Todd played at centre in Wigan's victory over [[Oldham R.L.F.C.|Oldham]] in the [[Rugby Football League Championship|Championship]] Final.<ref>{{cite web|title=1908–1909 Championship Final|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=414|work=cherryandwhite.co.uk|publisher=wigan.rlfans.com|access-date=3 January 2012}}</ref> He was also a member of the first Wigan Rugby League [[Challenge Cup]] Final line-up, which they lost to [[Broughton Rangers]] in 1911.

The [[Auckland Rugby League]] was recognised by England's [[Rugby Football League|Northern Rugby Football Union]] as New Zealand's governing body for the game of rugby league, with Lance Todd to act as their delegate in England.<ref>{{cite news
|last = Press Association
|title = NORTHERN LEAGUE FOOTBALL.
|work = [[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]], Volume LXXVIII, Issue 107
|place = New Zealand
|pages = 11
|date = 1 November 1909
|url = http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19091102.2.113
|access-date = 20 September 2009}}</ref> In 1909 he refereed Auckland's first ever official match with [[Taranaki rugby league team|Taranaki]] on 9 August at [[Victoria Park, Auckland|Victoria Park]].<ref>{{cite news
| title =Northern Union Game/A and B Match
| page =7
| work=[[Auckland Star]]| volume=XL| issue=182
| date = 2 August 1909
| url =https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19090802.2.69
| accessdate = 2 August 2019}}</ref> Five weeks later he refereed the return match at the Recreation Ground in [[New Plymouth]].<ref>{{cite news
| title =Auckland v Taranaki
| page = 4
| publisher = Taranaki Daily News| volume=LII| issue=192
| date = 17 September 1909
| url =https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19090917.2.55
| accessdate = 12 December 2019}}</ref>

During November 1910, he played twice for [[Lancashire]], when his aggregate of two [[Try (rugby)|tries]] and two goals helped seal the county title. In 1914, he transferred, unexpectedly, to [[Dewsbury Rams|Dewsbury]] for a fee of £450 – a huge fee at the time,<ref>Derek Birley ''Land of sport and glory: sport and British society, 1887–1910'', 1995. {{ISBN|0-7190-4494-4}}</ref> (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £139,900 in 2013).<ref name="Measuring Worth – Relative Value of UK Pounds">{{cite web|url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/|title=Measuring Worth – Relative Value of UK Pounds|publisher=Measuring Worth|date=31 December 2014|access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref> He left Dewsbury during the [[World War I|First World War]] to serve with the [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps|ANZACs]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=lance Todd: Memories of a Rugby League Legend |magazine=Past Forward|date=November 2004 – March 2005|issue=38|page=25|url=http://issuu.com/wlct/docs/38_nov-2004-march-2005|publisher=Wigan Heritage Service}}</ref>

==Later life==
In 1928 he became the team manager at [[Salford Red Devils|Salford]], achieving legendary status. Salford were close to folding when he joined but his management turned them into a formidable and successful team. During the 1930s Salford won three [[Rugby Football League Championship|League Championships]], five [[Rugby league county leagues|Lancashire League]] Championships, four [[Rugby league county cups|Lancashire Cups]], and was the [[Coach (sports)|coach]] in [[Salford Red Devils|Salford]]'s 7–4 victory over [[Barrow A.F.C.|Barrow]] in the [[1938 Challenge Cup]] Final during the [[1937–38 Northern Rugby Football League season#Challenge Cup|1937–38 season]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], [[London]], in front of a crowd of 51,243.. He stayed at Salford until August 1940 when club directors decided not to renew his contract whilst the country was at war with Germany.

In 1933, as well his work at Salford, he became the Rugby League [[Sportscaster|commentator]] for [[BBC Radio]]. "Mr Lance B. Todd presents running commentary on....." the rugby league game of the day was very common in the Radio listings during the 1930s.

==Personal life and death==
Lance Todd married Amy B. Samuels on 7 May 1911 at the Wigan Parish Church. Her father was Charles Samuels who was deceased prior to the wedding. Charles and had been licensee of the Crofters Arms Hotel, and had been a well known rugby player and a famous sprinter when younger.<ref>{{cite news| title =Rugby| page =16| publisher =Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 149| date = 1911-06-24| url =https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19110624.2.110.2}}</ref> They had a daughter, Patricia Elaine Todd in 1922 who died in 2004.

Later in his life he managed the Silver Grid in King Street and the Ship Hotel in Millgate prior to his appointment as manager of Salford.

[[File:Inscription, Lance Todd's grave - geograph.org.uk - 1209456.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Lance Todd's Gravestone]]
Todd died in a motor accident on 14 November 1942. An inquest into his death determined a verdict of "accidental death".
During [[World War II]] Todd was serving as a commandant to the Salford section of the [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] but it would be on a return home from duty in [[Oldham]] that the accident happened. A car he was driving swerved to avoid a collision with a tram, but crashed into a lamppost. Todd died along with his colleague Colonel Frank Sewell in the front passenger seat. Two passengers in the rear seats of the car survived. Todd is buried in Wigan (Ince) cemetery.

==Legacy==
His work as a manager and as a radio commentator resulted in the [[Lance Todd Trophy]] being named after him. This trophy is awarded to the man of the match in the [[Challenge Cup]] Final.<ref name="rfllance">{{cite web|url=http://www.therfl.co.uk/challengecup/page.php?areaid=59|publisher=Rugby Football League|title=Lance Todd Trophy|author=RFL|access-date=8 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501024937/http://www.therfl.co.uk/challengecup/page.php?areaid=59|archive-date=1 May 2009}}</ref>

In 2007 Todd was inducted as one of the [[New Zealand Rugby League]]'s inaugural "Legends of League".<ref>{{cite web|title =New Zealand Rugby League Annual Report 2008|publisher =NZRL|year =2008|url =http://www.nzrl.co.nz/files/financials/nzrl_2008annualreport_part1.pdf|access-date =21 July 2009|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090912205939/http://www.nzrl.co.nz/files/financials/nzrl_2008annualreport_part1.pdf|archive-date =12 September 2009|url-status =dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://wigan.rlfans.com/readarticle.php?article_id=990 Lance Todd] on the Wigan RL Fansite.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071216093735/https://www.wiganwarriors.com/SquadMember.asp?teamid=9&id=153 Lance Todd] at ''wiganwarriors.com''.

{{New Zealand All Golds 1907}}
{{Wigan - 1908–09 Championship Final winners}}
{{Salford - 1938 Challenge Cup Final winners}}
{{Salford Red Devils Coaches}}
{{Salford Red Devils - Les Diables Rouges Squad}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Lance}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand sportsmen]]
[[Category:Auckland rugby union players]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Home Guard officers]]
[[Category:Dewsbury Rams players]]
[[Category:Lancashire rugby league team players]]
[[Category:New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England]]
[[Category:New Zealand national rugby league team players]]
[[Category:New Zealand publicans]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby league administrators]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby league coaches]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby league commentators]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby league players]]
[[Category:New Zealand rugby union players]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in England]]
[[Category:Rugby league centres]]
[[Category:Rugby league players from Auckland]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Auckland]]
[[Category:Salford Red Devils coaches]]
[[Category:Wigan Warriors players]]