Sporting Bygones: When Yorkshire was ‘an empire worth defending’ under legend Fox

There was a predominant reason why Peter Fox presided over a proud unbeaten record while in charge of Yorkshire – his uncanny ability to muster Herculean efforts from all of those he selected.

During the five years that the Rodstock War of the Roses occurred between 1985 and 1989, the no-nonsense legendary coach from pit village Sharlston saw his home county rack up five successive wins over Lancashire.

The former Leeds, Bradford and Featherstone chief also inspired defeats of touring international sides New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for good measure; he was an alchemist of the highest order.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yorkshire did not necessarily always have the finer players to draw upon – their bitter rivals from across the Pennines had such luminaries as Andy Gregory, Shaun Edwards, Andy Platt and Joe Lydon to aid their cause – but Fox’s persuasive skills and motivational powers were second to none.

“He built up the passion, pride and sense of occasion so that by the time kick-off came you believed Yorkshire was an empire,” explained one of his erstwhile soldiers, Andy Kelly.

“But not only that – it was an empire worth defending.”

Kelly, 50, recollects the moment, as a robust second-row with Hull KR, he was chosen for the first time to feature in the 1986 contest at Headingley.

“I wasn’t in the original squad but Lee Crooks got injured,” recalled the former Wakefield Trinity coach.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I got a phone call from Peter and he asked what I was doing at a certain time and date and would I like to be part of the Yorkshire squad.

“It was with a certain amount of tongue in cheek – he knew everyone was desperate to be part of that game; it was a great honour at the time to be asked to play and I knew all the Yorkshire squad took it very, very seriously,

“I was still playing second-row at the time and had not moved up but Peter asked if I would be part of the Yorkshire squad as a prop. I told him if he picked me at full-back I’d play.”

Yorkshire, led by elegant Castleford captain John Joyner at stand-off and with Great Britain star Ellery Hanley taking man-of-the-match at centre, won 26-10 in front of a crowd of nearly 6,000.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It proved to be Kelly’s only cap as Castleford’s monstrous Kevin Ward and the highly-talented Crooks returned 12 months later but it did not detract from his memories.

“It is strange as I’d made my England debut a couple of years earlier in 1984 against Wales at Ebbw Vale and that time and particular fixture did not seem that prestigious if I’m totally honest,” he said.

“It was in total contrast to walking out for Yorkshire at Headingley.

“I don’t actually remember much about the match itself but the feeling of excitement was immense.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Peter was all about the person and sense of belonging. He only had us together for a short time and needed us to gel as a group but he did that really well.

“He made sure we were together. John Joyner was captain and someone you played against but never previously really got to know.

“He was held in high regard in rugby league while with Ellery it was renewing old alliances as I’d played alongside him with England Schools and BARLA Under-18s.”

Featherstone Rovers loose-forward Paul Lyman was among the try-scorers, proving a dynamic force in the Yorkshire pack, while club colleague Deryck Fox again outshone Great Britain scrum-half rival Gregory.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Castleford centre Tony Marchant and Wigan winger Henderson Gill were others to cross with David Hobbs kicking five goals, York’s Gary Price debuting alongside Kelly after Andy Goodway withdrew injured.

For Lancashire, Widnes winger John Basnett and Wigan centre David Stephenson – who would both later sign for Leeds – earned tries, Stephenson adding three goals but they had no answer to their hosts’ sheer tenacity.

The War of the Roses was seen as an unofficial Test trial – 20 capped players featured in this 1986 affair – as it attempted to echo the growing presence of Australia’s own State of Origin between Queensland and New South Wales.

However, it ceased to exist in 1989 and, despite half-hearted attempts to resurrect the fixture in the intervening two decades, it never recaptured its allure and remains today redundant.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Friday’s inaugural game between England and the Exiles, a squad comprising Super League’s finest overseas talent, was the latest representative fixture, however, to be hosted at the same Headingley venue.

It is a bid to secure a higher game intensity required to improve the national squad.

But Kelly said: “It’s funny thinking back how big an honour playing for Yorkshire really was.

“I know the game here is now trying to replicate the State of Origin and a lot of the top players see that as the biggest game around.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Back then, we all certainly bought into it and so did the clubs because the players were allowed to play; it wasn’t seen as a toothache fixture.

“Alex Murphy was still the Lancashire coach at the time I played so there was tremendous rivalry between the two counties.

“But Yorkshire won too many in the end and Lancashire lost interest.

“That was the thought bandied about at the time.

“The game has evolved and I’m sure politics played a part, too. It was on, then dropped, then brought back again and off again. It just never found its place.”

Related topics: