a place on the 1979 Lions tour, but declined the selection. Atkinson was also capped 12 times for England between 1968 and 1978. He was selected for a fourth World Cup in 1975. Coaching career Atkinson became player-coach at Carlisle in February 1983, replacing Mick Morgan. He resigned in February 1986. Outside rugby league Atkinson worked as a police officer during his playing career. After retiring from rugby, he became a detective sergeant and later worked as a security manager. In March 2017, it was revealed that Atkinson was suffering from dementia and was being cared for by his wife. He died on 23 December 2017, aged 71. Honours Club RFL Championship Winners (2): 1968–69, 1971–72 Challenge Cup Winners (3): 1967–68, 1976–77, 1977–78 RFL Premiership Winners (2): 1974–75, 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Winners (1): 1970–71 Players No. 6 Trophy Winners (1): 1972–73 RFL Yorkshire Cup Winners (7): 1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81 Representative Rugby League World Cup Winners (1): 1972 Individual Open Rugby World XIII: 1978, Oct 1979 Leeds Rugby Hall of Fame Inductee: 2019 References External links (archived by web.archive.org) John Atkinson International Profile When Great Britain won the World Cup Tracking down the heroes of 1972 Headingley Heroes Rugby Cup Final 1968 1946 births 2017 deaths Carlisle RLFC coaches Carlisle RLFC players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Leeds Yorkshire rugby league team players