Lance Todd

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New Zealand rugby league coach and former international

title: "Lance Todd" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1883-births", "1942-deaths", "20th-century-new-zealand-sportsmen", "auckland-rugby-union-players", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "british-home-guard-officers", "dewsbury-rams-players", "lancashire-rugby-league-team-players", "new-zealand-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdom", "new-zealand-expatriate-rugby-league-players-in-england", "new-zealand-national-rugby-league-team-players", "new-zealand-publicans", "new-zealand-rugby-league-administrators", "new-zealand-rugby-league-coaches", "new-zealand-rugby-league-commentators", "new-zealand-rugby-league-players", "new-zealand-rugby-union-players", "road-incident-deaths-in-england", "rugby-league-centres", "rugby-league-players-from-auckland", "rugby-union-players-from-auckland", "salford-rlfc-coaches", "wigan-warriors-players"] description: "New Zealand rugby league coach and former international" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Todd" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand rugby league coach and former international ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rugby league biography"]

Field	Value
name	Lance Todd
fullname	Lancelot Beaumont Todd
image	(Lance) Todd - Wigan.jpg
caption	Cope's Cigarette card featuring Lance Todd
birth_date
birth_place	Auckland, New Zealand
death_date
death_place	Oldham, England
height	170 cm
weight	63.5 kg
position
first	RU
ru_position	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_appearances4	1
ru_tries4	1
ru_goals4	3
ru_fieldgoals4	0
ru_points4	11
ru_club5	Combined Club XV
ru_year5start	1907
ru_appearances5	1
ru_tries5	0
ru_goals5	0
ru_fieldgoals5	0
ru_points5	0
ru_teamA	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 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
ru_yearCstart	1905
ru_appearancesC	5
ru_triesC	1
ru_goalsC	3
ru_fieldgoalsC	0
ru_pointsC	10
ru_teamD	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
year1start	1908
year1end	13
appearances1	185
tries1	126
goals1	7
fieldgoals1	0
points1	392
club2	Dewsbury
year2start	1913
year2end	14
appearances2	10
tries2	3
goals2	0
fieldgoals2	0
points2	9
teamA	New Zealand
yearAstart	1907
yearAend	08
appearancesA	24 (4)
triesA	13 (1)
goalsA	0
fieldgoalsA	0
pointsA	39 (3)
teamB	Lancashire
yearBstart	1910
appearancesB	2
triesB	2
goalsB	2
fieldgoalsB	0
pointsB	10
coachteam1	Salford
coachyear1start	1928
coachyear1end	40
coachgames1	525
coachwins1	364
coachdraws1	32
coachlosses1	128
source
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 in 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 League Championships and one Challenge Cup victory.

Early life

Todd attended Kings College which at that time was based in Remuera, Auckland, before later relocating to Ōtāhuhu.{{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}} After leaving school Todd became a tailor by trade. 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.{{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}}

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 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. 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 professional All Blacks 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 after the tour for £400 and the captaincy,{{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}} 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 in Wigan's 10–9 victory over Oldham in the 1908 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1908–09 season at Wheater's Field, Broughton, on Saturday 19 December 1908, and played at and scored a try in the 21–5 victory over Rochdale Hornets in the 1912 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1912–13 season at Weaste, Salford, on Wednesday 11 December 1912.

At the end of the 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season Todd played at centre in Wigan's victory over Oldham in the Championship Final. 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 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.{{cite news |last = Press Association |title = NORTHERN LEAGUE FOOTBALL. |work = 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}} In 1909 he refereed Auckland's first ever official match with Taranaki on 9 August at Victoria Park.{{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}} Five weeks later he refereed the return match at the Recreation Ground in New Plymouth.{{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}}

During November 1910, he played twice for Lancashire, when his aggregate of two tries and two goals helped seal the county title. In 1914, he transferred, unexpectedly, to Dewsbury for a fee of £450 – a huge fee at the time, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £139,900 in 2013). He left Dewsbury during the First World War to serve with the ANZACs.

Later life

In 1928 he became the team manager at 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 League Championships, five Lancashire League Championships, four Lancashire Cups, and was the coach in Salford's 7–4 victory over Barrow in the 1938 Challenge Cup Final during the 1937–38 season at 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 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. 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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Inscription,Lance_Todd's_grave-geograph.org.uk-_1209456.jpg" caption="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 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.

In 2007 Todd was inducted as one of the New Zealand Rugby League's inaugural "Legends of League".

References

(31 December 2017). "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". Rugby League Project.
"Lance Todd".
John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. {{ISBN. 0-473-03864-1
(31 December 2011). "1908–1909 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com.
(31 December 2011). "1912–1913 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com.
"1908–1909 Championship Final". wigan.rlfans.com.
Derek Birley ''Land of sport and glory: sport and British society, 1887–1910'', 1995. {{ISBN. 0-7190-4494-4
(31 December 2014). "Measuring Worth – Relative Value of UK Pounds". Measuring Worth.
(November 2004 – March 2005). "lance Todd: Memories of a Rugby League Legend". Wigan Heritage Service.
(1911-06-24). "Rugby". Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 149.
RFL. "Lance Todd Trophy". Rugby Football League.
(2008). "New Zealand Rugby League Annual Report 2008". NZRL.

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