We were sad to hear that former Great Britain international, the Welsh-born Malcolm Price, died yesterday aged 86.
Malcolm played rugby league during a time where Wales played few games so he didn’t ever win a Wales RL cap. He was however capped twice by Great Britain, both on the Kangaroos tour in 1967, and was an unused substitute in the second of the three tests in that Ashes series.
A rugby union player with Pontypool, he won nine caps for Wales and five for the British Lions, when he scored two tries to help beat the All Blacks on the 1959 tour. He also played rugby union for Wales Youth, the RAF, Barbarians and a “Pontypool & Cross Keys” combined team in 1960 against the touring South Africans. He was never forgotten in Wales as in 2019, he was inducted into the WRU Hall of Fame.
Malcolm turned professional with Oldham in 1962, joined Rochdale Hornets in 1964 and then finished his rugby career with Salford in 1969. He remained in the north, living in the Milnrow area for over 50 years, working in co-operative store management and eventually becoming a regional manager for Norwest Co-operative Society by the time he took early retirement. In 1992, he started working at the Rochdale Pioneers Museum as a warden and was there for over a decade. It is known that during his time here at the museum we had visitors who came to see him rather than come to see the museum itself.
Another former Rochdale Hornets player, Brett Garside, paid tribute to him online stating: “Malcolm did a lot for the amateur game in Rochdale and was a very well-known gentleman to the all amateur teams. Speaking from personal experience you couldn’t have wished to meet a more polite and modest person than Malcolm. And myself along with everyone else would like to pass on our condolences to his daughter Elise Price and family.
Our condolences from Wales Rugby League go out to all of his family and friends.