Helicopter To The Rescue
The pitch at the Greyhound Stadium was, shall we say, a bit heavy at times in the first few seasons. After beating Mayfield and York, Hunslet were drawn at home to Warrington in round 3 of the 1975 Challenge Cup. The Warrington coach, Alex Murphy, was at the league match with Workington Town the week before the tie and was obviously concerned about the state of the pitch, especially as it was one of the narrowest in the league. Warrington tried desperately to get Hunslet to switch the tie to Wilderspool, but the directors resisted and the match went ahead at the Greyhounds. There was a rumour in the week that Hunslet were going to water the pitch on the Sunday morning!! Obviously trying to get a rise out of Murphy and his colleagues. When match day arrived, it turned out that the Hunslet directors had the innovative idea of hiring a helicopter to hover over the pitch to disperse the standing water. This seems to have helped The Wire cause more than Hunslet as they recorded a 23-3 win. Hunslet did have the satisfaction of a record crowd of nearly 6,000. The referee for the game, Harry Hunt, visited the ground during the week and had concerns about the location of the official’s room. He requested that the police be on hand to escort him to the changing rooms should he have to send anyone off. As it turned out, he did send off Trevor Taylor towards the end of the game, but everyone was on their best behaviour and the constabulary were not required. Full marks to Harry, though, as it was noted in the following game’s programme that he came to the ground on Friday to look at the pitch and paid to stay in Leeds out of his own pocket so he would be available to check on the ground preparations for the match.
Other matters this day include…;.
In 1983, Roy Sampson signed on from Stanley Rangers ARLFC. Over the next 12 seasons Roy amassed 203 appearances and 40 tries, mainly as hooker. After his playing career he returned to Hunslet as coach and was nominated for Coach Of The Year in 2005.
Les White and Dolly Dawson played for the Reds against the Whites in the 1932 tour Trial. Les went on to Australia but Frank wasn’t selected.
Phil Morgan, Hunslet’s Welsh stand-off was on a trip to Paris today to assist the Welsh team against France in 1969. As a playing substitute, this was Phil’s Rugby league international debut. Wales lost 13-17.
Challenge Cup ties today included 2019 against juniors West Bowling, a 56-10 win, 2008 and another amateur side in Bank Quay Bulls who were beaten 36-9. In 1935, as the cup holders, Hunslet had beaten Hull KR and Salford in the first two rounds and a trip to Castleford held out hope of a second semi-final in two years, but Cas won through 10-3 and went on to lift the cup. The 1901 2nd round saw Hunslet their way to face Widnes. Wath Brow Hornets had been disposed of in the first round but unfortunately Hunslet had their colours lowered in a 0-8 defeat. Back in the union days and a trip to Mirfield in the 2nd round of 1889 beckoned. Bramley had been beaten in the 1st round at Parkside. Drawing 1 goal each at full time extra time was played and Hunslet had to secure 1 minor point to progress. They achieved this in the first minute, holding on for the next 19 for the win. The match at Mirfield was played on very heavy pitch after overnight snow. Tries by Butler and Skirrow and two goals by Albert G, saw Hunslet through 2 goals and 2 tries to 2 goals and 1 try
