Former Widnes Stand Off Ken Gill has passed at the age of 76
Classy player. RIP
Great player who never had the chance to show his full potential at Widnes. I remember him being almost decapitated with a stiff arm. A dreadful "tackle". He was never the same after that.
RIP to a good player, As I recall he was in the great Salford team but did not do a lot for us - not sure he played a lot of games
Ken Gill was outstanding for Widnes in a brief spell of 17 games.He was brilliant and played a major role in the title winning run of 77/78.I don't know anyone else who recalls that he never did much for Widnes.Classy and skilfull stand off and it's a shame he wasn't here for longer.
Ken Gill was outstanding for Widnes in a brief spell of 17 games.He was brilliant and played a major role in the title winning run of 77/78.I don't know anyone else who recalls that he never did much for Widnes.Classy and skilfull stand off and it's a shame he wasn't here for longer.
100% correct there Sinbad.
@steelviking no, definitely Ken Gill. I still remember the instant all these years on. A table like that stays in the memory, it was almost enough to kill him.
Yes,it was Billy Benyon in a game v Warrington at Widnes.Upended him,head over heels.
Yes,it was Billy Benyon in a game v Warrington at Widnes.Upended him,head over heels.
I remember the game and the disgraceful tackle but I'd forgotten that Benyon was responsible.
It's a shame we didn't enjoy Ken Gill's skills for longer. I can still remember being very excited when I heard we'd signed him and there is a photo taken late on that season (possibly before or after the last league game v Workington) with Frank Myler and the players. Frank's got his arm round Ken Gill's shoulder as if to say "that's my boy".
Despite playing so few games, I still reckoned he was the best Widnes stand-off I'd seen - until Tony Myler came along that is.
RIP Ken
And you must remember Dennis O'Neil's pace off the mark!!! We had a few when you think back!!
On our way to winning our first league title we played a crucial match at the Willows - we needed a win for us to keep confidence going that we could win the league but Salford were still a good team at the time. Kenny Gill beat his old team on his own. It was one of the best displays by a Widnes player that I’d ever seen at the time. I don’t think it was an exaggeration to say that his performance in that match was what took us to our first title.
He was a gifted footballer and Billy Benyon should have been banned for life for what he did.He did serious damage that had a serious impact to Kenny’s health in later life (I played against a barely recognisable Gill in an amateur Union game a few years later and it was a shame to see as he was). It was basically assault by Benyon.
Kenny Gill would not have been out of place if he’d played in any of our great teams that followed.
RIP Kenny.