Antranick Apellian

Antranik Apelian (26 December 1929 - 10 June 2017) was a French-Armenian rugby league footballer who played in 1950s and 1960s, as a hooker. At club level, he played for Marseille XIII for all of his career, with which he won the Lord Derby Cup in 1965 and ended second in the 1954 French Rugby League Championship final. He was surnamed "Niky". Outside the field, he worked as a firefighter in the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion[4].

Antranik Apelian

Personal information
Born	(1929-12-26)26 December 1929 Marseille, France
Died	10 June 2017(2017-06-10) (aged 87) Sarrola-Carcopino[1], France
Playing information
Height	1,77 m[2]
Weight	86 kg (190 lb; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1954–56 Battaillon de Joinville Marseille XIII Total 0 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1955–61 France 20 ? 0 0 3
Source: [3]

His performances at club level brought him to the France national team between 1955 and 1961, taking part at the 1957 Rugby League World Cup.

After his career as player, Apelian moved to Corsica, where he trained the clubs Ajax XIII and Appietto XIII.

References

1. "Avis de décès de M Antranik APELIAN à Sarrola-Carcopino". Avis-de-deces.net (in French). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
2. "Niky Apelian, ex-champion de rugby à XIII, s'en va". LaProvence.com (in French). 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
3. Antranik Apelian rugbyleagueproject.org
4. Mouret, Aimé (2011). "Appelian Antranick (sic)". Le Who's who du rugby à XIII. Toulouse: Éditions de l'Ixcea. p. 21. ISBN 978-2-84918-118-8.