Where are they now?

The two photographs below appear in 'The Other Rugby' - The story of Rugby League in Rotherham. I am sure  quite a few of the players in these  two photographs are not aware of the book. If you recognise any faces or names please let them know about 'The Other Rugby'.

The first ever league game 18th September 1977

Back row L-R Ted Pickering, Kevin Parlett, Mike McLoughlin, Dave Wilmot, Dave Henshaw, Dave Lidster, Sam Mara, Kevin Ceaser, John Essex.

Front row L-R Paul Mortimer, Fred Toyne, Jim Abrahams, Stuart Sheard, Alf Davis, Ray Bramham.

Doncaster Continuation Cup Final team 1981

A Review of 'The Other Rugby'

This review by Harry Edgar appeared in the latest issue of Rugby League Journal

'The Other Rugby'

£7.99

The book tells the story of how rugby league arrived in Rotherham, struggled, prospered, declined and finally disappeared

Updates

6th January 2016

My new book is now been designed. It should be in print by the 5th April 2016, thirty nine years to the day since the Rotherham club was formed.

8th February 2016

The second proofs have been signed off. The book will be in print in early April.

In future updates there will be further information on how to buy a copy of 'The Other Rugby'

29th March 2016

'The Other Rugby' is now available from ypdbooks.com 

follow the link below:

http://www.ypdbooks.com/sport/1428-the-other-rugby-the-story-of-rugby-league-in-rotherham-YPD01627.html

NEW BOOK

AVAILABLE IN APRIL 2016

New Book

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

A History of Rugby League in Huddersfield

    In 1676, Isaac Newton wrote: ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.’ It seems an appropriate metaphor for a book that relates the achievements of ‘Giants’ on which the Huddersfield Giants club and game of rugby league continue to be built.

    The first ‘Giants’ who founded the Huddersfield club in 1864 were quickly followed by the Huth brothers of the 1870s, who took the quality of local rugby to a new level. In 1878 Huddersfield began 114 years at their Fartown home, developed by ambitious committeemen into one of the great northern sporting arenas.

    In 1885, club President Charles Holliday inaugurated the Holliday Charity Cup for local clubs, which remains the longest-running amateur rugby competition in the world.

 Probably the greatest Giant of them all was the slick, innovative Harold Wagstaff who jolted the game from a static, set-piece, forward-fest into a more flowing, fluid, attractive spectacle. He captained the 1914 England team that won the Ashes and on his return led Huddersfield’s Team of all Talents to all four trophies in 1914-15. This team included Albert Rosenfeld, whose 80 tries in 1913-14 remains a distant benchmark for aspirational wingmen. It also included Douglas Clark, rugby international, world wrestling champion and war hero, whose extraordinary courage and spirit continues to inspire.

    Following in the wake of such Giants, Len Bowkett led Huddersfield to League and Challenge Cup glories that raised local spirits during the Great Depression.

    A host of heroes arrived after World War II, spearheaded by Australians Johnny Hunter, Lionel Cooper and Pat Devery. Scot Dave Valentine lifted the inaugural Rugby League World Cup in 1954, and master tactician Tommy Smales captained Huddersfield to the League Championship in 1962. Collectively, they inspired a generation of fans who stuck with the club when the collapse of local manufacturing industries was almost mirrored by the demise of the club.

    Foremost among these supporters were Keith Burhouse and his family, who led superhuman efforts that sustained the club until better times arrived in the form of the McAlpine Stadium and, shortly afterwards, Ken Davy.

    Chairman since 1996, Ken Davy is a modern-day Giant whose input has driven the club’s progress to the top of the game as the Leaders of Super League in 2013..

   The unique decisions of 29 August 1895 at the George Hotel are forever etched into the histories of the town and the sport – the only sport that knows exactly when and where it was born.

    In 1973 the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) was also founded in the town, led by officials from the Huddersfield and District League. BARLA has developed a progressive league structure for amateur clubs, encouraged women’s rugby league, and remains one of the game’s significant developments.

    Embellished by much original research, this book relates original stories and new perspectives on all of these developments. It is about the broad shoulders of Giants on which the modern club and game stand.

Priced at £10 the book will be available, at the beginning of June 2015, from the Huddersfield Giants Club Shop, Waterstones and WH Smiths in Huddersfield, the Tolson Museum and Huddersfield Tourist Information Centre.

ISBN 978/0/9547146/8/0

Doncaster RLFC 1959-60 Season

I found this programme recently and the comments, fixtures and results and the players records give, in my opinion, a fascinating insight into Rugby League at the end of the 1950s.

Were the attendances estimates?

The teams printed in the programme for this final game of the 1959-60 season were:

A Barley Mow Experience

In the early 1960s there was no other Rugby League ground quite like the Barley Mow. Watching a Bramley home game at the ground was often an unforgettable experience for a number of reasons and some of those reasons had nothing to do with what was happening on the field.
I was an occasional visitor to the Barley Mow and after paying my entrance fee (probably sixpence for a schoolboy) I then faced a couple of challenges. The first was trying to find a spot on the terrace where I could actually see all the action on the field. The second was deciding where to stand if it started raining. There was very little cover for spectators on a ground that, despite its ramshackle appearance, certainly did have a unique atmosphere.
I was a Bradford Northern supporter in the 60s and so probably only managed to attend two or three games at the Barley Mow but one in particular, Bramley versus Halifax, played on 20th January 1962, is still memorable after over 52 years. I don't recall very much of the action on the field but I can certainly remember the players entering the ground from the changing rooms in the Barley Mow pub and the Bramley full back Jonny Wilson's contribution to the game.

Jonny Wilson won the match for Bramley with the three penalty goals that made up the 6-0 scoreline. Two of the goals were kicked from the half way line, a remarkable achievement on a muddy pitch with a heavy ball. Wilson also kicked a number of huge touch finders which kept Halifax penned in their own half for much of the eighty minutes. Jonny Wilson's main contribution to the game against Halifax was his kicking but as his goal kicks won the game, and probably a number of others, he was certainly a valuable member of the Bramley team.
There were 2,870 spectators at the Barley Mow on that cold winter afternoon, an attendance that many of today's Championship clubs would be very happy with although, the receipts of £267 would certainly not cover the match expenses of a Championship club in 2014.

The teams that played in the game were those printed in the programme apart from the Bramley loose forward who was Yeomans. The teams were:

The match report from the Yorkshire Post

Acknowlegements:

Martyn Cheney

Andrew Hardcastle

Leeds Local & Family History Library