Laurie Stirling XV

1973

In late 1973 I was invited to play for a Laurie Stirling XV at the Stairfoot ground against Barnsley. Laurie had a long association with Barnsley Rugby Club and the majority of the players invited by Laurie had some connection with Barnsley. I had played with Barnsley from  January 1970 until the beginning of December 1973 when I left the club to concentrate solely on rugby league.

Over the past few years I have attempted, without success, to find out why the game was played and exactly when it took place. Surprisingly, the photograph below that confirmed who played was sent from San Diego by Martin Lodge, one of the players invited to play in the game. Martin had been in contact with Duncan Gawthorpe in order to buy a copy of Changing Times - Grassroots rugby in Yorkshire 1987-2022 the book that Duncan and I recently published.

The photograph gives the names of the players but no detail on the date the game was played and why it took place.

If anyone reading this article has any more information about the game I would be delighted to hear from them.