ROY Francis, a trailblazer who battled racism throughout his glittering career to become the first ever professional black coach in Great Britain, was a proud Welshman from the Gwent Valleys.

We look back at the career of a forgotten hero of Welsh sport, a legendary rugby league visionary who transformed the game with his exciting philosophy of “total football”.

A sporting pioneer, Francis, is celebrated in the rugby league world as an innovator who was light years ahead of his time.

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Born in Cardiff but raised in Brynmawr, his stylish sides played with a panache the punters loved.

His coaching revolutionised the way the game and was one of the first in any sport to introduce video analysis.

Francis was a magnificent motivator and man-manager who could get the best out of his men.

A highly successful player, he would go on to even bigger and better things as a coach and is a folk hero at two of the English game’s top clubs, Hull and Leeds.

South Wales Argus:

CLASSIC: Roy with Leeds colleagues ahead of the thrilling ‘Watersplash Final’ at Wembley in 1968 when they defeated Wakefield Trinity 11-10 in one of the great Challenge Cup climaxes. Picture: BBC

He became the first black coach at a professional club in Britain back in the early 1950s.

Francis guided Hull to two Championships before he left to take charge at Leeds in what became a golden age at Headingley during the Sixties.

Under his command, the Loiners swept all before them.

The climax came in the 1967/68 season with a second consecutive League Leaders’ Trophy which was achieved after the club went on a record equalling 18-match unbeaten run.

The also lifted the Challenge Cup at the end of that campaign in the epic ‘Watersplash Final’ at Wembley when they defeated bitter local rivals Wakefield Trinity 11-10 in the most dramatic fashion after poor Don Fox missed a conversion in front of the posts with the last kick of the game.

Not bad for the boy from Brynmawr who left home at 17 in 1936 to find fame and fortune in the North of England when he signed for Wigan.

Rugby union’s loss was rugby league’s gain as Francis enjoyed a dazzling career.

He might have lit up then amateur 15-a-side game, he started his days at Brynmawr RFC, had he not turned professional.

Francis scored a remarkable 229 tries in his 356 career games, primarily as a winger, after also representing Dewsbury, Barrow, Warrington and Hull.

He also won five caps for the Wales rugby league side. He scored two tries on his Test debut for Great Britain in a 25-9 victory over New Zealand at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford in 1947.

It was to be his first and only cap.

It was with the Airlie Birds of Hull that he cut his teeth as a coach, after being appointed coach in 1950.

Hull club historian Bill Dalton said: “He was always highly regarded and many players over the years have expressed the view that he was 20 years ahead of his time.

“What is little known about Roy’s early experience in rugby league was that he was a victim of racial prejudice – a common occurrence in sport at the time.

“He was regarded as a certainty for the 1946 Ashes Tour to Australasia, but was omitted from the touring squad, as organisers feared that it may cause problems as Australia had in place at that time an infamous bar on non-white people.

“Roy had the final say, leaving a lasting impression on British sport as the first professional black coach in the country when he took charge of the Black & Whites in 1950.

“He was renowned for his innovative coaching methods and was regarded as a visionary.

“Under his leadership Hull FC won the Championship in 1956 and 1958. Roy was also the coach in Hull’s two Challenge Cup final appearances in Wembley in 1959 and 1960.”

He was lured away from Humberside in 1963 by Leeds and his passionate commitment to an open style of play which embodied the deadly ethos of defence through attack continued.

The flowing football his side played was built around keeping the ball alive and making the game entertaining.

After the glory days at Headingley, Francis was lured away by an exciting new challenge.

He moved to Australia to coach the North Sydney Bears in 1969 but his time Down Under was not a happy one and it is suspected he was again a victim of racism there.

Mr Dalton said: “It is believed that the fact that Roy was black sadly caused resentment in Australia, prompting him to return to the UK in 1971.

“He became Hull’s team manager again from 1971 to 1973, before later winning a Premiership title back at Leeds during the 1974–75 season, before finishing his coaching career with Bradford Northern from 1975.

“Roy died in 1989 but is forever remembered for the quality of the rugby that his sides played.”

Francis passed away at the age of 70 in his adopted city of Leeds.