Harry Millington

Personal Records

Seasons Played: 8
Tries in a Game: 2
Goals in a Game: 0
Drops in a Game: 0
Points in a Game: 6

Player Bio

The success of many a team over the years, be it the 1930's or 1980's, has often hinged on the triangle of players - loose forward, stand off and scrum half.

In the 1930's when Widnes created a record of three Wembley appearances and reached a Championship play-off, the Chemics had one of their best ever triangles - loose forward Harry Millington, stand off Tommy Shannon and scrum half Tommy McCue.

Although he was only 5ft 9in. and weighted less than 13st., Millington was regarded as a fearless forward. You have only to read some of the match reports from those days and talk to the old timers and you will quickly realise that Millington was no slouch in the loose. In fact, his breaks often led to tries.

Harry's first major honour came as a 21-year-old in the Widnes side which upset all the odds by defeating the great St. Helens 10-3 in the second Wembley Challenge Cup Final. On that occasion Millington played in the second row with Jimmy Hoey, another Hall of Fame star, in the number 13 slot. It was a piece of alertness by Millington that gave Widnes a crucial second try in that final - a game which saw all the points scored in the first half. Saints centre Lewis played the ball near his posts, but Millington was on to the ball in a flash and scooped it to Ratcliffe, who put Dennett over in the corner.

Four years later Millington was back at Wembley, but this time he picked up a losers medal in an 11-5 defeat against Hunslet. That game saw the Widnes trio together for the first time in a major final, but they were all back at Wembley in 1937 when Widnes toppled Keighley 18-5. Tommy Shannon had already scored the opening try, when Millington made the break to send McCue scooting over. That made it 8-0 and the pair were there again in the 63rd minute to combine and put skipper Nat Silcock over.

The war years halted all competitions but in 1945 McCue and Millington were still going. They helped Widnes to another famous victory, this time by toppling favourites Wigan 7-3 before a 28,184 crowd at Wilderspool.

Millington was one of only 13 players who have ever played in a Championship final for Widnes. That was the 1936 clash with hull at Huddersfield which the Humbersiders won 21-2.

Harry Millington was another of those Widnes players who were desperately unlucky never to play for Great Britain - although he appeared many times for Lancashire.

He played three times for Widnes against the Australians in 1929, 1933 and 1937. That latter occasion saw Widnes draw 13-13 with the Kangaroos, the nearest a Chemics side came to beating the tourists until Doug Laughton's side did it in 1978.

Of all the players who played pre-1946/47, Harry Millington was only second to George Aspey in the number of appearances he made for the club. He turned out 460 times, just 16 less than Aspey.

This text was reproduced from the original Widnes RLFC Hall of Fame Brochure written by Sam Patmore, Ron Girvin, Steve Fox, John Potter & Chris Moore.