Hunslet Vice President Peter Jarvis and Finance Director Phil Hodgson attended Leeds University’s Rugby League Annual Dinner on Saturday night and presented first team captain Jack Bennett with his great, great Grandad’s Heritage Certificate.
Charlie Bennett played 144 games for Hunslet, the highlight being the 21-0 victory over Leeds in the 1892 Yorkshire Cup Final in front of a 25,000 crowd at Fartown, Huddersfield.
Hunslet’s links with Leeds University go way back. Ex-players Geoff Gunney, Bob Pickles and Jarvo himself have all coached the students and our famous colours were adopted from them in 1932.
Jarvo elaborated “It is rumoured that a committee man went to the house of a Hunslet player whose wife let it slip that they had several white shirts in the cellar, as her husband used them for working at the pit (the shirts were tougher than the normal working shirt). Leeds were using the city colours of blue and amber, so Hunslet plumped for the University colours of myrtle, white and flame”.
Charlie is top left in the photograph. He is my great grandad and worked as a blacksmiths striker.apparently he liked his pint!