St Helens have announced the death of one of their former halves Ken Gwilliam, who has passed away at the age of 77.
Gwilliam’s sad passing was first confirmed by his nephew, Phil, who took to social media to share the news before St Helens posted their own In Memoriam.
Despite being local to St Helens, Gwilliam started his professional career when he joined Salford in 1967 – with whom he would play until the 1973-74 season.
During his time with Salford, he would play at Wembley in the 1970 Challenge Cup Final as the youngest member of the squad that lost to Castleford.
He would join Saints for the 1974-75 season, linking up with his younger brother Alan who was already at St Helens.
Success would come for Saints in the 1975-76 season as they won three trophies with Gwilliam featuring off the bench in their Premiership final win over his former club Salford.
The club would defend that trophy in the 1976-77 season with Gwilliam taking a more prominent role at scrum-half that year, making a total of 39 appearances including in the Premiership final where he scored a try in a 32-22 win over Warrington.
Gwilliam went to Wembley once again in 1978 when Saints lost to Leeds before leaving the club at the end of 1979 and eventually retiring after the 1984-85 season with Bridgend.
During his time with St Helens, he made 151 appearances and scored 25 tries.
When sharing the news of his sad passing, his nephew described him as “a rugby league giant” and a “great man”.
All at Serious About Rugby League would like to offer our condolence to the family and friends of Ken at this difficult time.
Sad news that my Uncle, Ken Gwilliam passed away today.
Another Rugby League giant, who played in Challenge Cup Finals for @SalfordDevils & @Saints1890.
A great man who I respected & loved dearly.He’ll be missed, but his memory will be cherished.
Say hello to Dad for me. pic.twitter.com/RBGaO24NMF
— Phil Gwilliam (@Phil_Gwilliam) January 2, 2025
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