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| Born | (1948-06-21)21 June 1948 Widnes,Lancashire, England[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 August 2023(2023-08-21) (aged 75) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing, Centre, Second-row, Loose forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Steve Prescott (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eric Prescott (21 June 1948 – 21 August 2023) was an Englishrugby union, and professionalrugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Widnes ICI RUFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) forLancashire, and at club level forSt Helens,[3]Salford (two spells),Widnes andRuncorn Highfield, as awing, centre, second-row orloose forward. He was the father of England international rugby league player,Steve Prescott.
Eric Prescott was born inWidnes,Lancashire, England. He died on 21 August 2023, at the age of 75.[4]
Prescott joined St Helens in 1968 and appeared in his first Championship final in the1969–70 season when he played on thewing, and scored two-tries inSt. Helens' 24-12 victory overLeeds atOdsal Stadium,Bradford on Saturday 16 May 1970,[3] The following season he was asubstitute (replacingpropGraham Rees) in St. Helens' 4-7 defeat byLeigh in the1970 Lancashire Cup Final atStation Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970.
Prescott appeared for St Helens in three finals of theBBC2 Floodlit Trophy. In the1968 final he was substitute as St Helens lost 4–7 toWigan atCentral Park,Wigan on Tuesday 17 December 1968,[5] In1970 he was in St Helens' starting line-up, playing atsecond-row in the 5-9 defeat byLeeds atHeadingley,Leeds on Tuesday 15 December 1970. He was, eventually, on the winning side in1971 when he played atsecond-row in the 8-2 victory overRochdale Hornets at Headingley Stadium on Tuesday 14 December 1971.
Prescott was transferred from St. Helens toSalford for a world record fee of £13,500 on 6 September 1972. As well as being part of the Salford team that won the league in the1973–74, and1975–76, Prescott appeared atloose forward in Salford's 2-15 defeat by St. Helens in thePremiership Final during the 1975–76 season atStation Road, Swinton on Saturday 22 May 1976.[6]
Prescott and Salford appeared in four consecutiveLancashire Cup finals between 1972 and 1975, losing all of them. Atloose forward Prescott was in Salford's 25-11 victory overSwinton in the1972 Final atWilderspool Stadium,Warrington on Saturday 21 October 1972, playedloose forward in the 9-19 defeat by Wigan in the1973 Final at Wilderspool on Saturday 13 October 1973,[7] playedloose forward in the 2-6 defeat byWidnes in the1974 Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 2 November 1974, playedloose forward in the 7-16 defeat by Widnes in the1975 Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 4 October 1975.
Prescott playedloose forward in Salford's 0-0 draw withWarrington in the1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the atThe Willows, Salford on Tuesday 17 December 1974, and playedloose forward in the 10-5 victory overWarringtonreplay atWilderspool Stadium,Warrington on Tuesday 28 January 1975.[8]
Prescott was transferred from Salford toWidnes for a fee of £22,000 in 1980. With Widnes he made two appearances in theChallenge Cup final. The first in the1981 final as Widnes defeatedHull Kingston Rovers 18–9 atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 2 May 1981.[9] The second was thefollowing year when Widnes drew 14–14 withHull F.C. at Wembley on Saturday 1 May 1982 in front of a crowd of 92,147. Two weeks later, he played atsecond-row in the 9-18 defeat by Hull F.C. in the replay atElland Road,Leeds on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171.
His career at Widnes also included two more Lancashire Cup finals; the 3-8 defeat byLeigh in the1981 Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 26 September 1981, and in the 8-12 defeat byBarrow in the1983 Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 1 October 1983.
Prescott returned to Salford in January 1984 in a player exchange deal which sawJohn Wood make the move in the opposite direction.[6] He retired at the end of the 1984 season.[10]
Fours years later Prescott made a comeback with second division sideRuncorn Highfield and retired for a second, and final, time at the end of the 1988–89 season having made 10 appearances.[11]
Prescott representedLancashire on 11 occasions between 1970 and 1979.[2]
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| Preceded by | Rugby league transfer record St Helens toSalford 1972 | Succeeded by |