Throughout the month of October, Cardiff Rugby will be celebrating the contributions of notable players with African and Caribbean heritage who have pulled on the famous Blue & Black jersey.
Each year in the UK, BHM is used as an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Black people to British society and beyond. This year the focus is on “Reclaiming Narratives,” marking a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture
At Cardiff Rugby we pride ourselves on being an inclusive, diverse and welcoming club for all people of all backgrounds. We remain fiercely committed to championing equality and opportunities for all, while supporting societal change.
We continue this series with Billy Douglas, the first black player to appear in a team photograph.
In that Cardiff team photo taken before a match versus a Stade Nantais and Cognac combined team in 1947, the wiry, powerful forward sits alongside legends like Jack Matthews, Haydn Tanner and Bleddyn Williams. Billy is far from the most famous name in that photo. But he was in his own way, a history maker.
He was a black rugby player from Tiger Bay, and this was the first time a Cardiff team photo had included a player who looked like him.
Billy was not the first black player to play for Cardiff. That honour likely goes to Charles Lewis, who we featured last week and you can read about here.
But, William Henry Douglas was born in 1917. During the second world war he had served in the parachute regiment as a captain. After the war he became a shopkeeper in Butetown.
The young Billy Boston lived nearby and the up and coming superstar of docks rugby was friendly with the older Billy Douglas, who most likely will have been a minor celebrity in Butetown thanks to his selection for Cardiff.
Like Billy Boston, Douglas had played for CIACS, the famous Butetown club which had played its first matches in 1946. And like his namesake, Billy Douglas would eventually “go north” to rugby league.
Though in his case, Billy Douglas only went as far north as Grangetown. That was where a professional Cardiff Rugby league club was setup in 1951, at a long since demolished speedway stadium on Penarth Road.
In his time in rugby union for Cardiff, Billy would play for the Cardiff first team 39 times between 1947 and 1951 and was also a stalwart with the Rags throughout that period. He played in a period where forwards were more versatile than they are now and his appearances came both as a flanker and as a prop.
After retiring, Billy became an antiques dealer in Canton. A great Cardiff character, Billy Douglas had a relatively modest career in the game, but in his own way he was a trailblazer.