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This page last updated Friday, 12 September 2011
Warrington Zingari was founded in 1879 by Timothy Grix of Chatburn. Read on for what happened next...

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This page features information on Warrington Wolves rugby league club.
It is not a complete history of the club by any means, nor is it intended to be.
For more visit the Warrington Wolves Foundation official heritage website wire2wolves.com.
See also www.warringtonwolves.org. mywarrington is not responsible for any content on either of the club websites.

Congratulations to Warrington Wolves on becoming Super League Champions 2011 after beating Hull FC 34-12 on Friday 9 September 2011. Our nearest rival Wigan also won, but we were one point ahead in the table. I will review the 2011 season in detail later.

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Featured on this page

Warrington Wolves Lee Briers Alex Murphy
Wilderspool Stadium Paul Cullen

Chris Riley

Halliwell Jones Stadium Jonathan Davies Tony Smith
Building the Halliwell Jones Stadium Martin Gleeson Challenge Cup 2009
Selected Player and Coach Profiles Mike Gregory

Challenge Cup 2010

Harry Bath Gerry Helme Challenge Cup Final Listings
Brian Bevan Andrew "Joey" Johns Super League Results

Rugby League Links

Note: some of this material is from Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. Please see the foot of the Feedback page 
for important copyright information. mywarrington is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Warrington Wolves beat Leeds Rhinos 30-6 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on
Saturday 28 August 2010 in front of a sell-out crowd of 85,217. Read my report here.

History was made for the club as they have now defended their 25-16 victory
over Huddersfield Giants in the previous year's final of Saturday 29 August 2009. 

An estimated 50,000 fans welcomed them home on both occasions.

Unfortunately, the Wolves didn't achieve a hat-trick of wins as Wigan Warriors knocked
them out in 2011 and went on to win the competition by beating Leeds Rhinos 28-18.

Warrington Wolves   Some information from Wikipedia

Warrington Wolves are the professional rugby league team in the town. In the past the club has been nicknamed "Wire", in reference to the strength of the wire-weaving industry in Warrington. Their colours are primrose (light yellow) and blue, though white has often featured on the home shirt.

They previously played at the traditional ground of Wilderspool, which still exists, but have since moved to a state-of-the-art Halliwell Jones Stadium off Winwick Road. Warrington are currently in the top flight of rugby league, the Super League. To date, they have never won the Super League trophy, though they have won many major trophies in their past.

logo used with permission

History

Early years

Warrington Zingari was founded in 1879 by Timothy Grix of Chatburn. The committee of the newly formed club managed to get the use of a field fronting Sankey Street. The headquarters of the club were at the White Hart Hotel in Sankey Street.

The first match was an away game against the Walton side, played at Rice Field in Liverpool on 18 October, 1879. Walton won by three goals to nil. The first home game at Sankey Street was against Oughtrington, with Warrington gaining their first victory by three goals to one. In their first season Warrington played 11 games, won 7, lost 2 and drew 2. A year later, The Warrington Guardian newspaper purchased the land in Sankey Street for its new offices, and the club was forced to move to a new pitch at Wilderspool.

Another local club, Padgate Excelsior, amalgamated with Warrington in 1881-1882 to form a representative town side. After one season at Wilderspool, the club obtained another field at Slutchers Lane. A year later, Warrington moved back to Sankey Street to play in a field behind the town's post office. In 1883-1884, they moved for the fourth time, this time back to Wilderspool, the new pitch being just a short distance from the previous ground.

In 1884-1885, Warrington were strengthened again when the Warrington Wanderers club, joined the town side. In 1886, the club won its first silverware, the South West Lancashire and Border Towns Trophy.

On 28 August, 1895, the Committee decided to join with 21 other clubs throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire to form a new 'Northern Union' and resigned from the Rugby Football Union.

In 1900-1901, Warrington reached the final of the Challenge Cup, facing Batley. A crowd of 29,000 turned out at Leeds to see Warrington battle hard, but were beaten by two tries to nil. Warrington also appeared in the renamed South West Lancashire Cup against Leigh two days later. The strenuous game against Batley took its toll on the Warrington players and the match ended in a 0-0 draw. The replay never took place.

In 1903-1904, Warrington defeated Bradford in a semi-final replay to earn a place in the final of the Challenge Cup. Warrington put up a fine performance against Halifax but lost 8-3.

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The first ever Challenge
Cup Final, 1897:
Batley(l) vs St Helens(r).

Public license
image is in
the public domain.

Post WW2                                             

The early post-WW2 years saw a boom in rugby league in general, and the glory years of the Warrington club. Brian Bevan, winger,  made his debut for Warrington in 1945. Over the next 16 seasons he scored 740 tries for the club in 620 games. With other stars such as Harry Bath and Gerry Helme, the Wire won all the code's major honours, including the League Championship in 1947/8, 1953/4 and 1954/5. Warrington reached the 1948/49 Lancashire Cup Final but were beaten by Wigan. In the league Warrington lost only five matches all season.

Another good cup run took the Wire to the 1950 Challenge Cup Final. This time they were to play local rivals Widnes, beating them 19-nil.

In 1951/52 Ces Mountford was appointed as coach with a ten-year contract.

In 1954, a record 102,569 paid to see Warrington defeat Halifax 8-4 in the Challenge Cup Final replay at Odsal, Bradford, but thousands more got in for free.

The 1955/56 season saw a tournament entitled the ITV Floodlit Competition. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually beating Leigh 43-18 at Loftus Road.

On 19 January, 1957, Warrington launched a lottery, which played an important part in the club's finances in future seasons.

In the 1959/60 season, they won the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 22 years, playing all their games away from home. St. Helens were the final hurdle but the Wire managed a 5-4 win at Central Park.

In 1961, Warrington reached the final of the RL Championship held at Odsal, but Leeds had total control over the match and won 25-10. This also turned out to be the last match for long-serving coach Ces Mountford.

Ernest "Ernie" Ashcroft took over as coach for the 1961/62 season. Easter Monday 1962 saw Brian Bevan's last match for Warrington.

During the early part of the 1965/66 season, floodlights were installed and a friendly match against Wigan was arranged. They were officially switched on for the match on Tuesday 28 September, with Wigan winning the match. Warrington's home game against Widnes became the first rugby league match to be broadcast on BBC, albeit only to the south of England. Warrington beat Oldham 21-10 in the Lancashire Cup Semi-final, and went on to beat Rochdale Hornets at Knowsley Road 16-5.

1970s to early 1990s.

After a disastrous start to the 1970/71 season, coach Joe Egan decided to stand down, to be replaced by Peter Harvey. Alex Murphy joined Warrington as player-coach on 20 May, 1971. In January, 1974, the club beat Featherstone Rovers 4-0 at Salford in a new one-off competition, the Captain Morgan Trophy. In that season also, they won The Locker Cup (14-9 victory over Wigan) and the Players No. 6 Trophy (beating Rochdale Hornets 27-16 at Wigan). They were beaten in the first round of the BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy. Later in 1974, Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers before retiring as a player. As coach in 1975, he took Warrington to the Challenge Cup Final again, but were defeated 14-7 by Widnes.

Poor league performance continued in 1977/78, but Warrington again made it to the Regal Trophy Final. Warrington beat Widnes 9-4. In 1978, Warrington appointed Billy Benyon as Alex Murphy's successor. A solid year round performance saw Warrington finish second in the league, losing only 8 matches all year.

The 1980/81 season brought the Lancashire Cup and the John Player Trophy. After consistently good performances in the league they were League Championship runners-up.

In 1990 Warrington made it to the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium and faced arch rivals Wigan. Warrington lost 34-16.

Warrington won the Regal Trophy in 1992 beating Bradford Northern 12-2 at Headingley, Leeds. Warrington did make it to the final of the Regal Trophy in 1994, but lost 40-10 to Wigan at McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield.

Super League 1996

With the advent of Super League, several mergers between clubs were proposed. Warrington were scheduled to merge with Widnes to form Cheshire who would compete in Super League. This was, however, resisted. Warrington were awarded a place in the Super League.

21st Century

Plans to move from Wilderspool Stadium were announced, with Burtonwood the likely site. The former Tetley Walker brewery on Winwick Road was chosen to be the new home for the club, and Tesco were to develop on the land with a superstore. A lengthy planning process finally ended with the Secretary of State giving the green light for the 14,206 capacity stadium and supermarket to be built.

Paul Cullen was appointed head coach in 2002, replacing David Plange.

In January 2003, at the Past Players Association Annual Dinner, the Warrington Hall of Fame was launched. The first twelve players inducted were:

Jackie Fish 1898-1911 Billy Dingsdale 1928-1940 Harold Palin 1936, 1947-1951 Brian Bevan 1945-1962
Jack Miller 1926-1946 Bill Shankland 1931-1938 Albert Johnson 1939-1951 Eric Fraser 1951-1964
Tommy Thompson 1927-1934 Jack Arkwright (Snr) 1934-1945 Gerry Helme 1945-1957 Jim Challinor 1952-1963

Read profiles of the players at the official Warrington Wolves website.

Warrington's first season in the Halliwell Jones Stadium (2004) saw slight underachievement on the pitch, reflected in their finishing position of eighth in Super League, though they did make the semi finals of the Challenge Cup. However, they recorded a significant increase in their average attendances and midway through the season the club was purchased by events promoter Simon Moran. Moran immediately released fresh investment into the club, enabling coach Paul Cullen to sign Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for a club record fee for a reported £200,000. The club also purchased New Zealand internationals, Henry Fa'afili and Logan Swann.

Their best season in Super League has been Super League X (2005), where they finished in 4th place and earned a home tie in the playoffs. They are one of only a handful of clubs never to have been relegated from the top flight of rugby league throughout their long history.

Australian half-back Andrew 'Joey' Johns played 3 games for the club in 2005 when his Australian club Newcastle concluded their season. He wore the number 31 (the club was refused permission for Johns to wear 77) and is rumoured to have been paid around £40,000 per match for the Wolves. The signing caused controversy for a couple of reasons. If the Wolves had made the Super League Grand Final, it would have clashed with the Kangaroos Tri-Nations test against New Zealand in Sydney.

Also, many people questioned why the Wolves were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wolves by signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts.

On 22 September, 2006, the Wolves beat Leeds 18-17 at Headingley to progress to the second round of the play-offs, but failed to get any further. Warrington Wolves finished in 6th place in 2006. They were named as Club of the Year at a ceremony held in Manchester.

Adrian Morley joined the club in 2007 and the Wolves finished the season in 7th place. For 2008, the club signed Chris Hicks and Matt King. On 27 May, 2008, coach Paul Cullen left the club by The Wolves finished in 6th place in 2008 and were knocked out of the play-offs by Catalans Dragons, having been in 4th spot earlier in the season.

For the 2009 season, new signings included Garreth Carvell from Hull FC and Micky Higham from Wigan Warriors. Martin Gleeson departed the club for Wigan Warriors. As part of that deal, Richie Mathers returned to the Wolves following a short loan deal back in 2002. Stuart Reardon also left the club. On 5 March, 2009, following a 3-match series of defeats at the start of Super League XIV, leaving them bottom of the table, Warrington Wolves announced the appointment of Great Britain rugby league coach Tony Smith, as Head of Coaching. He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract heading the Wolves Coaching and Performance team. He will work alongside James Lowes, who takes on the role of First Team Coach. They have worked together in the past on the Great Britain team and it is hoped they can bring the club to future success. Smith will continue in his role as England Head Coach, but has stepped down as the RFL's technical director. Read his profile here.

Challenge Cup Final Winners 2009

Warrington 25-16 Huddersfield Giants

wolves_wembley_090829_JERob1.jpg (84539 bytes) Warrington Wolves beat Huddersfield Giants 25-16 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 29 August, 2009, in front of 76,560 spectators. Warrington's Richie Mathers scored the first try in just 69 seconds, with Chris Bridge converting the first of his 4 goals in the match. Huddersfield thought they had scored after seven minutes with a Shaun Lunt try, but the video referee deemed the touchdown to be a double-movement.

Original photo Copyright © JE Roberts

The first score for the Giants did come from a Shaun Lunt try, after 9 minutes, with a goal from Brett Hodgson taking the score to 6-6. Next to score for Warrington was Michael Monaghan after 12 minutes, with Bridge converting for a 12-6 lead, followed by a try from Chris Hicks on 15 minutes, and Bridge's 3rd successful goal kick to make it 18-6 to Warrington. A try by Matt King was ruled out on 18 minutes after the video referee said it was a ball steal with two players in the tackle, and Huddersfield were also denied a try after 23 minutes, one of two tries disallowed for them. On 37 minutes Brett Hodgson scored a try for Huddersfield (the conversion was missed), making the half-time score 18-10 to the Wolves.

The score did not change again until the 60th minute when Vinnie Anderson scored under the sticks, with Bridge's 4th conversion taking the score to 24-10. Five minutes later Warrington were awarded a penalty within kicking distance of the goal for a high tackle, but Bridge was unable to convert on this occasion. Warrington were defending well, and with a knock-on and an offside by Huddersfield in the 68th and 71st minutes respectively, it looked all over for the Giants. A try from David Hodgson in the 77th minute (converted by Brett Hodgson) closed the gap to 8 points, making the score 24-16 to the Wolves. A familiar drop-goal from Lee Briers in the next minute sealed the victory for Warrington Wolves. The final score was 25-16.

Michael Monaghan became the third Australian to win the Lance Todd Trophy for Man of the Match. It was the first Challenge Cup victory for coach Tony Smith. Wolves captain Adrian Morley said the victory was the highlight of his hugely successful career. The victory ends a 35 year wait for fans and players alike. You have to go back to 1974 for Warrington's last win, when they beat Featherstone Rovers 24-9 under captain Alex Murphy, who was in the crowd at this year's final. In all, 78 coaches and two trains took Warrington fans to Wembley on the day, with many more booking into hotels and guest houses to make a bank holiday weekend of it in the capital city.

Huddersfield Giants had knocked out St Helens in a thrilling match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 9 August to gain their place in the final. Huddersfield's last victory in the Challenge Cup was in 1953, when they beat St Helens 15-10. The last time Warrington appeared at Wembley was 1990 when they were beaten by Wigan. Earlier in this year's competition on 30 May, Warington beat Hull 25-24 in their quarter-final match after a thrilling drop-goal Golden Point in extra time by Lee Briers. They were drawn against Wigan Warriors in the semi-final at Widnes on 8 August, beating them 39 points to 26, leading 28-8 at half-time.

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Wembley 29 Aug 2009.
Photo Copyright ©  JE Roberts.
Homecoming 30 Aug 2009.
Photo Copyright ©  GI Gandy.
Homecoming 30 Aug 2009.
Photo Copyright ©  GI Gandy.
Homecoming 30 Aug 2009.
Photo Copyright ©  GI Gandy.

Warrington finished outside the Top Eight in Super League 2009, missing out on the play-offs.

Challenge Cup Final Winners 2010

Warrington 30-6 Leeds Rhinos

FIRST HALF

Warrington’s Lee Briers kicks off at 2:37 pm in front of an 85,217 sell-out crowd and Danny Buderus immediately knocked on for Leeds to give Warrington the advantage on the Leeds 10–metre line, but Leeds come back to force Atkins into touch.

After 4 minutes Ryan Bailey of Leeds seemed to touch down over the Warrington goal line for a certain try, but the video referee Ian Smith spotted that Louis Anderson held him up and forced him to lose the ball. No try.

Play continues for the fourth set of six tackles in a row for Leeds, who are held up once more until the ball goes out of play on the opposite side of the pitch. An explosive start from both teams, defence and attack.

A well-timed kick from Lee Briers after 14 minutes puts Ryan Atkins into space for the first try of the match to Warrington as he snatches the ball out of the air for a simple touch down. Ben Westwood missed the conversion and the score is 4-0 to Warrington.

Soon after the restart Briers kicks a brilliant 40/20 for head and feed to the Wolves after the 3rd tackle. This leads to an 18th minute try on the line for Hicks as Matt King takes the opposition towards the touchline and provides Hicks with an inside pass to keep the pressure on Leeds. Westwood hit the post in his conversion attempt. Warrington 8-0 Leeds.

From the restart Jamie Jones-Buchanan charges down a kick from Briers on the 4th tackle but Leeds fail to take advantage when they knock on at their first tackle.

Leeds continue to fight back and at 24 minutes kick through to Warrington’s goal line but Lee Briers takes an easy catch in the in-goal area. He passes the ball to his fellow players in an attempt to make a quick restart on the 20-metre line. However, the referee isn’t in place so halts the game, as per the rules, and makes them play it again.

A penalty is awarded to Leeds on 28 minutes for offside against Warrington in the Leeds half, giving the Yorkshire side the chance to build up a move. On the 5th tackle they gain another penalty for a ball steal to apply even more pressure on Warrington’s 10-metre line. But the Wolves keep up their defence and force a knock on to give Warrington the scrum on the 2nd tackle.

A minute later it was Warrington’s turn to knock on, this time on the Leeds 20-metre line. On 30 minutes Jones-Buchanan performed a reverse pass on the halfway line to Ryan Hall, who was bundled into touch on the Warrington 40-metre line. Shortly afterwards, Wolves Matt King tried the same method of passing, but it caught the back of one of the Leeds players.

On 35 minutes a brilliant run by winger Riley puts Ryan Atkins in for his second and Warrington’s third try, and with Westwood converting successfully this time under the sticks the score to the Wolves is 14-0, the half-time score.

SECOND HALF

Leeds kicked off and Warrington keep up the attack in the first minute as Ben Westwood kicks through towards the Leeds goal line, but Matt King’s attempt at a try is stopped by Rob Burrow, one metre short of the line.

On 44 minutes Riley takes a superb catch on the 5th tackle but Leeds force a knock on at Warrington’s 4th tackle. It led to a Leeds attack on 46 minutes, but Lee Briers accidentally catches Danny McGuire in the head with his left knee after a tackle by Hicks, who holds his hand up immediately to stop the game. McGuire was patched up and continues the game. There’s no way he was missing out on the rest of the cup final!

After the restart on 47 minutes, Leeds are fired up and pile on the pressure in the Warrington 20-metre zone, but the Wolves save the day once more as Wood tries to run though the middle in the Leeds half. Atkins knocks on soon after.

On 51 minutes Leeds have 60% of the territory and it’s 50-50 on possession, but they still need to score. Leeds keep battling, but are help up on the try line once more. They continue the attack on Warrington and are help up over the line, denying Delaney a try on the 3rd tackle. Warrington regain the ball on the 5th tackle after a poor kick from Leeds.

Warington keep the ball moving and attack the Leeds line, but are kept out as Hall saves the day in the dead ball area on 55 minutes. In the 56th Jamie Jones-Buchanan is taken off with a twisted ankle and played no further part in the game.

After 62 minutes Warrington rub more salt in the Leeds wounds as Briers kicks through to the corner on the 5th tackle and Hicks runs from behind to snatch the ball from the hands of Hall to score his second try of the match. Westwood converts to make the score 20-0. Leeds are in trouble and need to move fast if they wish to get back into this match.

On 65 minutes Warrington give away a penalty. Leeds move the ball into Warrington’s half, but an injury to Clarkson halts the game after his leg went under him. He was up on his feet soon after to continue the Leeds attack, resulting in their first try of the match from Lee Smith on 67 minutes. Sinfield converted to make the score 20-6 in Warrington's favour.

On 69 minutes Riley took a knock in the ribs but he was soon up on his feet again. A minute later Richie Mathers touches down for Warrington but the try is disallowed by the video referee because of an obstruction on Kirke from Westwood.

In the 72nd minute Hicks scores his hat trick, only the third person to achieve this at Wembley. Westwood missed the conversion, but it doesn’t matter now as Warrington are heading towards the final whistle. Warrington 24, Leeds 6.

On 74 minutes Lee Briers attempts one of his trademark drop goals, but it is charged down. It is announced over the public address that he has been voted the Lance Todd Trophy winner for man of the match, receiving 34 out of 40 votes from the rugby league press. He is delighted to hear it and pointed to the skies to dedicate the honour to his late brother, who passed away a few years ago.

There is still more to come as Louis Anderson forces his way through the Leeds defence to score Warrington’s 6th try on 76 minutes. Westwood converts to make the score 30-6 to Warrington. But the drama wasn’t over yet as Hicks surged towards the Leeds goal line in the last minute for his 4th try attempt, but he knocked on.

The final whistle blows and Warrington Wolves make history for themselves by successfully winning the Challenge Cup for the second time in a row.

Final score Warrington Wolves 30 Leeds Rhinos 6.

Attendance: 85,217

REFEREE Richard Silverwood

SOUND BITES

It’s good to play for a team like this. (Lee Briers, Warrington)

It’s a special feeling to defend the trophy. (Adrian Morley, Wolves captain)

The longer we could keep them scoreless, the better our chances were going to be. We knew we would have to perform to beat a team like Leeds. They are a champion team and dangerous right to the end. It was special (to win last year) but it is more special to do it twice. (Tony Smith, Warrington coach, as he announces his parent's 57th wedding anniversary was taking place today)

They were a bit more powerful than us. You have just got to acknowledge a great performance by Warrington. (Brian McClennan, Leeds coach)

We're disappointed and embarrassed that we didn't play like we could. I'm gutted. Things just went wrong from minute one. (Kevin Sinfield, Leeds)

(Warrington) were better by a mile (Brian Noble)

TEAMS

WARRINGTON WOLVES

BACKS 5 Hicks (right wing), 1 Mathers (full back), 2 Riley (left wing), 3 King (centre), 23 Atkins (centre), 6 Briers (stand off), 9 Monaghan (scrum half)

FORWARDS 13 Harrison (loose forward), 11 L. Anderson (second row), 12 Westwood (second row), 8 Morley (c) (prop), 15 Clarke (hooker), 10 Carvell (prop)

INTERCHANGES 16 Wood, 26 Solomona, 14 Higham, 27 V. Anderson

COACH Tony Smith

LEEDS RHINOS

BACKS 28 Smith (right wing), 1 Webb (full back), 5 Hall (left wing), 4 Senior (centre), 3 Delaney (centre), 7 Burrows (stand-off), 6 McGuire (scrum half)

FORWARDS 13 Sinfield (c) (loose forward), 27 Clarkson (second row), 11 Jones-Buchanan (second row), 8 Leuluai (prop), 9 Buderus (hooker), 16 Bailey (prop)

INTERCHANGES 14 Diskin, 15 Eastwood, 17 Kirke, 18 Ablett

COACH Brian McLennan

welcome-home-wolves.JPG (31446 bytes) An estimated 50,000 people lined the route from the motorway at Woolston to the Town Hall on Sunday, 29 August 2010 to welcome the Warrington team home.

The 2010 season was Warrington's best in Super League to date. They finished 3rd in the table behind St Helens and Wigan, and for a large part of the season were in 2nd place - only points difference put them behind St Helens at the end.

On Friday, 19 November 2010, Warrington Wolves assistant coach James Lowes announced he was leaving the club to pursue other ventures, and joined the coaching staff at Leeds Rhinos on Saturday, 20 November 2010. He played for Leeds Rhinos in two Challenge Cup Finals (1994 and 1995) before moving to Bradford Bulls in 1996 where he remained until 2003. He began his coaching career under Brian Nobel at Odsal in 2004 and moved to Salford in 2005 before moving to Warrington in 2007 as assistant coach to Paul Cullen. He took over when Paul Cullen left in 2008 and reverted to assistant again when Tony Smith arrived in 2009.

Lowes' replacement as assistant to Tony Smith was announced as Willie Poching on Monday, 22 November 2010. Poching, 37, is a former Samoa and New Zealand international who has played for Wakefield and Leeds and has worked with Tony Smith at Leeds. He was forced to retire at Leeds in 2006 due to a serious knee injury. Poching is also coach of the Samoan nation side.

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Major honours

Some famous players

Championship (twice): 1953-54, 1954-55
Challenge Cup (7 times): 1904-05, 1906-07, 1949-50,
1953-54, 1973-74, 2009, 2010
Lancashire League (8 times): 1937-38, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1967-68
Lancashire Cup (9 times): 1921-22, 1929-30, 1932-33,
1937-38, 1959-60, 1965-66, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1989-90
Regal Trophy (4 times): 1973-74, 1977-78, 1980-81,
1990-91
Allan Bateman
Harry Bath
Brian Bevan
John Bevan
Les Boyd
Lee Briers
Jonathan Davies
Jack Fish
Bobby Fulton
Parry Gordon
Andy Gregory
Mike Gregory
Iestyn Martin
Gerry Helme
Steve Hesford
Ken Kelly
Allan Langer
Harold Palin
Albert Pimblett
Paul Sculthorpe
Bill Shankland

List of Challenge Cup Finals

Warrington winners: blue text on yellow background. Warrington runners-up: yellow text on blue background.

Year

Winners

Score

Runner-up

Venue

Attendance

1896-97 Batley 10–3 St Helens Headingley, Leeds 13,492
1897–98 Batley 7–0 Bradford FC Headingley, Leeds 27,941
1898–99 Oldham 19–9 Hunslet Fallowfield, Manchester 15,763
1899–00 Swinton 16–8 Salford Fallowfield, Manchester 17,864
1900–01 Batley 6–0 Warrington Headingley, Leeds 29,563
1901–02 Broughton Rangers 25–0 Salford Athletic Ground, Rochdale 15,006
1902–03 Halifax 7–0 Salford Headingley, Leeds 32,507
1903–04 Halifax 8–3 Warrington The Willows, Salford 17,041
1904–05 Warrington 6–0 Hull Kingston Rovers Headingley, Leeds 19,638
1905–06 Bradford FC 5–0 Salford Headingley, Leeds 15,834
1906–07 Warrington 17–3 Oldham Wheater's Field, Broughton, Salford 18,500
1907–08 Hunslet 14–0 Hull Fartown, Huddersfield 18,000
1908–09 Wakefield Trinity 17–0 Hull Headingley, Leeds 23,587
1909–10 Leeds 7–7 Hull Fartown, Huddersfield 11,608
Replay 26–12 19,413
1910–11 Broughton Rangers 4–0 Wigan The Willows, Salford 8,000
1911–12 Dewsbury 8–5 Oldham Headingley, Leeds 15,271
1912–13 Huddersfield 9–5 Warrington Headingley, Leeds 22,754
1913–14 Hull 6–0 Wakefield Trinity Thrum Hall, Halifax 19,000
1914–15 Huddersfield 37–3 St Helens Watersheddings, Oldham 8,000
1919–20 Huddersfield 21–10 Wigan Headingley, Leeds 14,000
1920–21 Leigh 13–0 Halifax Wheater's Field, Broughton, Salford 25,000
1921–22 Rochdale Hornets 10–9 Hull Headingley, Leeds 32,596
1922–23 Leeds 28–3 Hull Belle Vue, Wakefield 29,335
1923–24 Wigan 21–4 Oldham Athletic Grounds, Rochdale 41,831
1924–25 Oldham 16–3 Hull Kingston Rovers Headingley, Leeds 28,335
1925–26 Swinton 9–3 Oldham Athletic Grounds, Rochdale 27,000
1926–27 Oldham 26–7 Swinton Central Park, Wigan 33,448
1927–28 Swinton 5–3 Warrington Central Park, Wigan 33,909
1928–29 Wigan 13–2 Dewsbury Wembley Stadium, London 41,500
1929–30 Widnes 10–3 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 36,544
1930–31 Halifax 22–8 York Wembley Stadium, London 40,368
1931–32 Leeds 11–8 Swinton Central Park, Wigan 29,000
1932–33 Huddersfield 21–17 Warrington Wembley Stadium, London 41,874
1933–34 Hunslet 11–5 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 41,280
1934–35 Castleford 11–8 Huddersfield Wembley Stadium, London 39,000
1935–36 Leeds 18–2 Warrington Wembley Stadium, London 51,250
1936–37 Widnes 18–5 Keighley Wembley Stadium, London 47,699
1937–38 Salford 7–4 Barrow Wembley Stadium, London 51,243
1938–39 Halifax 20–3 Salford Wembley Stadium, London 55,453
1940–41 Leeds 19–2 Halifax Odsal Stadium, Bradford 28,500
1941–42 Leeds 15–10 Halifax Odsal Stadium, Bradford 15,250
1942–43 Dewsbury 16–9 Leeds Crown Flatt, Dewsbury 10,470
1942–43 Leeds 6–0 Dewsbury Headingley, Leeds 16,000
1942–43 Dewsbury 16–15 Leeds (aggregate score) n/a
1943–44 Wigan 3-0 Bradford Northern Central Park, Wigan 22,000
1943–44 Bradford Northern 8–0 Wigan Odsal Stadium, Bradford 30,000
1943–44 Bradford Northern 8–3 Wigan (aggregate score) n/a
1944–45 Huddersfield 7–4 Bradford Northern Fartown, Huddersfield 9,041
1944–45 Huddersfield 6–5 Bradford Northern Odsal Stadium, Bradford 17,500
1944–45 Huddersfield 13–9 Bradford Northern (aggregate score) n/a
1945–46 Wakefield Trinity 13–12 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 54,730
1946–47 Bradford Northern 8–4 Leeds Wembley Stadium, London 77,605
1947–48 Wigan 8–3 Bradford Northern Wembley Stadium, London 71,465
1948–49 Bradford Northern 12–0 Halifax Wembley Stadium, London 95,050
1949–50 Warrington 19–0 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 94,249
1950–51 Wigan 10–0 Barrow Wembley Stadium, London 94,262
1951–52 Workington Town 18–10 Featherstone Rovers Wembley Stadium, London 72,093
1952–53 Huddersfield 15–10 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 89,588
1953-54 Warrington 4–4 Halifax Wembley Stadium, London 81,841
Replay 18–4 Odsal Stadium, Bradford 102,569
1954–55 Barrow 21–12 Workington Town Wembley Stadium, London 66,513
1955–56 St Helens 13–2 Halifax Wembley Stadium, London 79,341
1956–57 Leeds 9–7 Barrow Wembley Stadium, London 76,318
1957–58 Wigan 13–9 Workington Town Wembley Stadium, London 66,109
1958–59 Wigan 30–13 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 79,811
1959-60 Wakefield Trinity 38–5 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 79,773
1960–61 St Helens 12–6 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 94,672
1961–62 Wakefield Trinity 12–6 Huddersfield Wembley Stadium, London 81,263
1962–63 Wakefield Trinity 25–10 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 84,492
1963–64 Widnes 13–5 Hull Kingston Rovers Wembley Stadium, London 84,488
1964–65 Wigan 20–16 Hunslet Wembley Stadium, London 89,016
1965–66 St Helens 21–2 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 98,536
1966–67 Featherstone Rovers 17–12 Barrow Wembley Stadium, London 76,290
1967–68 Leeds 11–10 Wakefield Trinity Wembley Stadium, London 87,100
1968–69 Castleford 11–6 Salford Wembley Stadium, London 97,939
1969–70 Castleford 7–2 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 95,255
1970–71 Leigh 24–7 Leeds Wembley Stadium, London 85,514
1971–72 St Helens 16–13 Leeds Wembley Stadium, London 89,495
1972-73 Featherstone Rovers 33–14 Bradford Northern Wembley Stadium, London 72,395
1973–74 Warrington 24 –9 Featherstone Rovers Wembley Stadium, London 77,400
1974–75 Widnes 14–7 Warrington Wembley Stadium, London 85,098
1975–76 St Helens 20–5 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 89,982
1976–77 Leeds 16–7 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 80,871
1977–78 Leeds 14–12 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 96,000
1978–79 Widnes 12–3 Wakefield Trinity Wembley Stadium, London 94,218
1979–80 Hull Kingston Rovers 10–5 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 95,000
1980–81 Widnes 18–9 Hull Kingston Rovers Wembley Stadium, London 92,496
1981–82 Hull 14–14 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 92,147
Replay 18–9 Elland Road, Leeds 41,171
1982–83 Featherstone Rovers 14–12 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 84,969
1983–84 Widnes 19–6 Wigan Wembley Stadium, London 80,116
1984–85 Wigan 28–24 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 99,801
1985–86 Castleford 15–14 Hull Kingston Rovers Wembley Stadium, London 82,134
1986–87 Halifax 19–18 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 91,267
1987–88 Wigan 32–12 Halifax Wembley Stadium, London 94,273
1988–89 Wigan 27–0 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 78,000
1989–90 Wigan 36–14 Warrington Wembley Stadium, London 77,729
1990–91 Wigan 13–8 St Helens Wembley Stadium, London 75,532
1991–92 Wigan 28–12 Castleford Wembley Stadium, London 77,286
1992-93 Wigan 20–14 Widnes Wembley Stadium, London 77,684
1993-94 Wigan 26–16 Leeds Wembley Stadium, London 78,348
1994-95 Wigan 30–10 Leeds Wembley Stadium, London 78,550
1996 St Helens 40–32 Bradford Bulls Wembley Stadium, London 75,994
1997 St Helens 32–22 Bradford Bulls Wembley Stadium, London 78,022
1998 Sheffield Eagles 17–8 Wigan Warriors Wembley Stadium, London 60,669
1999 Leeds Rhinos 52–16 London Broncos Wembley Stadium, London 73,242
2000 Bradford Bulls 24–18 Leeds Rhinos Murrayfield, Edinburgh 67,247
2001 St Helens 13–6 Bradford Bulls Twickenham, London 68,250
2002 Wigan Warriors 21–12 St Helens Murrayfield, Edinburgh 62,140
2003 Bradford Bulls 22–20 Leeds Rhinos Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 71,212
2004 St Helens 32–16 Wigan Warriors Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 73,734
2005 Hull 25–24 Leeds Rhinos Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 74,213
2006 St Helens 42–12 Huddersfield Giants Twickenham, London 65,187
2007 St Helens 30–8 Catalans Dragons Wembley Stadium, London 84,241
2008 St Helens 28–16 Hull Wembley Stadium, London 82,821
2009 Warrington Wolves 25–16 Huddersfield Giants Wembley Stadium, London 76,560
2010 Warrington Wolves 30-6 Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium, London 85,217
2011 Wigan Warriors 28-18 Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium, London 78,482

Super League Results               

Year Grand Final winner

Runner up

League leader
1996 n/a n/a St Helens
1997 n/a n/a Bradford Bulls
1998 Wigan Warriors Leeds Rhinos Wigan Warriors
1999 St Helens Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls
2000 St Helens Wigan Warriors Wigan Warriors
2001 Bradford Bulls Wigan Warriors Bradford Bulls
2002 St Helens Bradford Bulls St Helens
2003 Bradford Bulls Wigan Warriors Bradford Bulls
2004 Leeds Rhinos Bradford Bulls Leeds Rhinos
2005 Bradford Bulls Leeds Rhinos St Helens
2006 St Helens Hull St Helens
2007 Leeds Rhinos St Helens St Helens
2008 Leeds Rhinos St Helens St Helens
2009 Leeds Rhinos St Helens Leeds Rhinos
2010 Wigan Warriors St Helens Wigan Warriors
2011 . . Warrington Wolves

Wilderspool Stadium   From Wikipedia   

wilderspool_ground_960216.JPG (73127 bytes) Wilderspool Stadium was Warrington Wolves' old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. It held just over 9,000, after substantial decreases for crowd safety. It was their home for well over 100 years, and the move to the new ground was widely considered long overdue; one of the stands was deemed unsafe, there was no disabled access, and seating for just over 500.

In 1888 with increasing crowds, a new stand was built. The ground is seen here on 16 February 1996.

It was scheduled for demolition when the club moved out in 2003, but the council kept it open, and Warrington Woolston Rovers and Warrington Wizards now play their home games there.

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Wilderspool Stadium as seen on 7 August, 2008.

Halliwell Jones Stadium       

wolves_stadium_1.jpg (42610 bytes)

Halliwell Jones Stadium is the Wolves state-of-the-art purpose-built stadium, which opened for the 2004 season. It has a capacity of 14,206, seating and standing, and has also staged major fixtures such as the Challenge Cup semi-final and the 2004 European Nations Final.

It was also a venue for women's Euro 2005 in football. During the 2007/8 football season it was home to Liverpool FC Reserve game matches, which had previously been played in Wrexham.

The stadium was notable for bucking the common trend of modern stadia by including standing areas rather than being an all-seater stadium. It has pitch dimensions of 120 metres x 74 metres.

After Warrington's success in the 2005 Super League, plans are already under way to extend the new stadium. Details of the plans include new executive seating above the "South Stand" and more seating arrangements. But it's not just about rugby. The stadium has conference rooms and is often booked by the community for meetings. School children have access to the very latest information technology for after school classes and projects. The club also has a successful women's team.

Building the Halliwell Jones Stadium

tetley_walker_bewery_950809.jpg (56716 bytes) The Halliwell Jones Stadium is built on the site of the former Tetley Walker brewery. Peter Walker took over an existing King Street brewery in 1846 and moved to a new site at Dallam Lane some time later. In 1960, he merged his business with Tetley's to form Tetley Walker and rebuilt  the Dallam Lane brewery in 1967. They eventually merged with Carlsberg but the Warrington business closed in 1996. The site at Dallam Lane was a 'brownfield' site and a joint-application between the Warrington Wolves and Tesco was submitted. A public enquiry was ordered, after which work began in early 2003, with the stadium being officially handed over to the Wolves on 20 October, 2003. The first match at the stadium, on 21 February, 2004, saw the Wolves beat Wakefield Wildcats 34-20 in a match witnessed by a sell-out crowd of 14,206 and televised live on Sky. Nathan Wood scored the first try.
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The views here show the old brewery on 9 August, 1995 (top), and the vacant land (26 November, 2002) before work started on the stadium.

The remaining photos show the building sequence in 2003.

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A view towards town centre showing (L-R) the Parish Church, the Lord Rodney pub, the former Cheshire Lines railway warehouse, and Buckley Street Methodist Church (7 Feb 2003). Foundations begin to go in while  site clearance goes on simultaneously. As is the norm
these days, all waste is recycled
(21 Feb 2003).
The first posts for the north stand are put in place (22 Feb 2003). The first of a series of views from Townsend (by the Lord Rodney pub and roundabout) showing progress from the south east (1 March 2003).
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The north stand takes shape. This will become the main reception area and the location of the changing rooms
(5 April 2003).
The next view from the Lord Rodney roundabout shows the
basic shape of the stadium
(23 May 2003).
From Dallam Lane we see the
south, east and north stands
(23 May 2003).
From Dallam Lane again a week
later and the west stand is
beginning to take shape
(30 May 2003).
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Inside the ground, the basic shape of the pitch is prepared, whilst the entrances/exits to and from the
seating areas are now appearing
(13 June 2003).
The west stand continues to expand. This view along Dallam Lane shows the Three Pigeons pub in the distance (17 June 2003). On Dallam Lane again from the south west corner. The fencing from the old brewery is still in place (4 July 2003). From Lord Rodney roundabout
again the very next day
(5 July 2003).
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Nearly a month later from
Townsend (3 August 2003).
Progress from the south west again at Dallam Lane (3 August 2003). By August the pitch had been laid in this view from the east stand
(3 August 2003).
And the view from the opposite
end from the west stand
(3 August 2003).
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Outside the ground on Winwick Road and the access roads are being prepared. The entrance will serve both the ground and the Tesco store
(11 September 2003).
Inside the ground again and
seating has been installed
in the main (north) stand
(11 September 2003).
Fourteen days before the official handing over ceremony and the ground is almost ready. This
view is from Winwick Road end
(6 October 2003).
And from Dallam Lane in the south west. The Sky TV trucks are parked in this area on transmission days
(6 October 2003).
wolves_halliwell_22_031124.jpg (35458 bytes) The ground was now almost ready, but one essential test must be completed before the ground can be approved for public use: it must be issued with a Health and Safety certificate. Part of this procedure involved calculating how long it would take to evacuate the ground in the event of a fire or other incident. To do this, the Wolves invited the public to an open day. At a specified point we were all instructed to evacuate from one area of the ground to another. It is not always necessary to leave the ground itself, sometimes the safest place would be on the pitch itself, although on the day we simply had to move from one stand to another. The test was successful and the ground opened for public use.
(photo 24 November 2003)

Player and Coach Profiles (past and present)   

Additional information will be added to some of the player profiles in time. If you wish to submit more about their Warrington careers, please use the Feedback link. For the current squad, and more profiles, link to the Warrington Wolves Foundation official heritage website wire2wolves.com. See also the Wolves merchandising website

Tony Smith    Read more in Wikipedia.

Tony Smith (born 24 January, 1967, in Lismore, New South Wales) is a British-Australian former rugby league player and is now the head coach of the Great Britain national rugby league team. He is the younger brother of fellow rugby league coach, Brian Smith. In 2007, Smith was included in the Southstander.com Hall of Fame.

He played rugby league with the Illawarra Steelers, for whom he made 37 appearances, and scored 9 tries and played 28 games for St. George Dragons including the 1992 Grand Final. Tony finished his playing career in 1996 with a spell at Workington in Super League.
He was appointed by Leeds Rhinos in a surprise move in November 2003. He guided Leeds to their first Championship in 32 years in 2004. The Rhinos went on to beat the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge at Elland Road.
Later that year they suffered an unexpected defeat to Hull FC in the Challenge Cup Final and were edged out by the Bradford Bulls in the 2005 Grand Final. Smith extended his contract to the end of the 2006 season. The Rhinos failed to win a trophy in the 2006 season. 
On the 13 October, 2007, Leeds Rhinos beat St. Helens 33-6 to become Super League champions, giving Tony Smith the perfect send off.
Smith became the successor to Brian Noble as full-time coach of Great Britain. His first game in charge of Great Britain was the victory over France.
Smith became a naturalized British citizen on 8 September, 2008 at a ceremony in Huddersfield.
He joined Warrington Wolves as Head of Coaching and Rugby on 5 March, 2009, on a 2½ year contract.
He took the club to Wembley on 29 August, 2009 to win his first Challenge Cup victory as a coach.
On 29 August 2010 he took the Wolves back to Wembley to defend the Challenge Cup, this time against Leeds to make history for the club - the first time they have won the competition two years in a row. It was his parent's 57th wedding anniversary on the same day.

Paul Cullen (Player and Coach)     

Paul Cullen was a former player and coach of Warrington Wolves from 2002 to 2008. Cullen had played 348 times for the Wolves, and after spending time with Whitehaven, took over as coach in August 2002. His 5½ year reign made him the longest-serving coach in Super League at the time.

In 2006 he was appointed the Head Coach of England ahead of the Federation Shield tournament in the autumn.

On 27 May, 2008, it was announced he had parted company with Warrington Wolves by 'mutual consent' after a humiliating defeat by bottom of the table Castleford Tigers the day before, their first away-win of the season, and Wolves 6th loss in 7 Super League games. Fans staged a sit-in protest after the Castleford game. The club failed to win any silverware during Cullen's reign, even though they had some high-profile signings. His place was taken by Assistant Coach, James Lowes, until a permanent replacement could be found.

On Monday 9 March, 2009, Cullen took over as new Head Coach at Widnes Vikings on a two year contract.

Brian Bevan   Read more in Wikipedia.                               

wolves_bevan_statue.JPG (39919 bytes)

Brian Eyrl Bevan was born in 1924 in Bondi, Sydney, Australia, and died 1991 in Southport, Merseyside. He is a legendary player who scored a world record 796 tries for Warrington. He was a frail, gaunt ex-Australian serviceman when he turned up for a trial at Warrington in 1945. He was not expected to make much of an impact but he went on to enjoy a remarkable 16 years with the club. Brian Bevan began his career playing for Eastern Suburbs in 1942, just as his father had in the past, although he never actually played a first-grade game in his first year.
When World War II began, Brian Bevan decided to join the Navy. He arrived in England on board HMAS Australia in 1946.
Warrington decided to give him an 'A' team trial in November in which he scored a try. The club were impressed with his first performance and decided to play him in the first team a week later.
The club then decided to sign him on a permanent basis on a £300 contract. He went home for several months to discharge from military service.
In 1946-47, his first season, he scored 48 tries for the club, which was 14 tries more than any other player in the league.
Within four years at the club he had surpassed the club try-scoring record of 215 set by Jack Fish over thirteen seasons.
His best season for try-scoring feats was in 1952-53 when he amassed a total of 72 tries.
During his sixteen year career with Warrington he helped the club win the Challenge Cup twice, three championships, a Lancashire Cup and six Lancashire League titles.
Twice he scored seven tries in a single game for Warrington, which is still a club record.
He played his last game for Warrington on Easter Monday, 1962.
He came out of semi-retirement to play for Blackpool Borough between 1962-64.
In 1961 he returned to Australia to play in an Eastern Suburbs seven-a-side competition for Keith Holman's testimonial.
The 'wing wizard', as he is commonly referred, died in Southport, Merseyside in 1991, aged 66.
Thousands turned up for his memorial service a month later, which was held on the pitch at Wilderspool Stadium.
In 1988, Brian Bevan was inducted in to the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. In September, 2005 he was also inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
A statue of him was erected in the middle of a roundabout close to Warrington's old Wilderspool ground. It now stands outside the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Harry Bath   Read more in Wikipedia.                           

Harry Bath (born 1924, died 4 October, 2008) was an Australian player. His position of choice was as a second-row forward. He is commonly said to be the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for Australia.

Nicknamed 'the old fox'.
Represented both Queensland and New South Wales before he turned twenty-one.
In England, he played at Barrow for six months before signing for Warrington.
He spent a total of nine seasons at Warrington, playing in over 500 games for the club.
His major highlight for Warrington was when he captained the club to victory in the replay of the 1954 Challenge Cup in front of a massive record crowd 102,569 people.
He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in the 1952-53 season.
He returned to Australia in 1957 and started playing for St George Dragons.
In 1961 he joined the inaugural NSWRL coaching panel.
His greatest achievements while coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to World Cup glory in the 1968 Rugby League World Cup and 1970 Rugby League World Cup.
He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981. Harry moved back to Sydney, Australia with his wife Gwen.
Harry died in his native Australia on Saturday, 4 October 2008, aged 83.

Gerry Helme    Read more in Wikipedia.

Gerry Helme (born 1923, died 19 December, 1981) played for Warrington and also represented Lancashire and Great Britain. Helme became the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy twice, his second coming in the famous 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay. He also helped Great Britain to victory by scoring the match-winning try in the first-ever World Cup Final in 1954.

After retiring Helme had coaching roles with Leigh and Oldham.

Alex Murphy   Read more in Wikipedia.                  

Alex Murphy (born St Helens, Lancashire, 22 April, 1939). He was a player and coach who enjoyed a prodigious career as a scrum-half, often as controversial as he was prolific. One scribe suggested “You either like him or loathe him but you certainly can’t ignore him!” 

Murphy’s playing career was spent at three clubs - St. Helens, Leigh, and Warrington. He had a player-coach role for the latter two clubs.
During National Service, Murphy played rugby union for the RAF.
At ten years old he played in both the junior and senior XIIIs at St Austin's School, Thatto Heath, St. Helens and he had town and county schoolboy honours by the time he signed for his native St Helens on his sixteenth birthday in 1955.
His career with Saints was long and successful, with 319 appearances, 175 tries and 42 goals, giving him a total of 609 points.
After unhappy times at St Helens, and offers of work in Australia, Murphy agreed a five-year deal with Leigh to become the highest paid coach in the Rugby League. His first game saw a 29-5 win over his former club, St Helens.
Murphy left Leigh shortly afterwards to become player-coach at Warrington and, in 1974, captained them to a 24-9 win in the cup final against Featherstone before retiring as a player.
As coach in 1975, he took Warrington to the Challenge Cup final, but lost to Widnes 14-7. I attended that 1975 Final with my dad, my only visit to the old Wembley Stadium.
He was appointed to high-profile roles at Wigan, Leigh and St. Helens.
Upon retirement, Murphy built upon the experience he had acquired as a player-coach by taking up the reigns as a full time coach.

wires_1974_pspilsbury.jpg (48231 bytes)
Photo © Peter Spilsbury.

Murphy was also employed as a commentator by BBC television for a spell, and was employed to write opinion columns for newspapers such as the Daily Mirror. One was known as ‘Murphy’s Mouth.’
In 2006, he became Chairman of Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Club.

Jonathan Davies    Read more in Wikipedia       

Jonathan D. Davies, MBE, (born 24 October 1962 in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire) is a Welsh retired rugby professional who represented his country in both rugby union and rugby league. A goal-kicking backline player in both codes, he played his club football in Wales, England and Australia.

He started his career in rugby union at amateur level but was recruited into rugby league. He would later return to rugby union.
Davies is the son of Diana and Len Davies, who worked in Trostre, Llanelli and played centre for Swansea and Llanelli RFC. Len had also been made Captain of Trimsaran Rugby Club.
In 1974 Davies played for the very first time at Cardiff Arms Park, when he was chosen for the West Wales Under 12's. Age 17, Jonathan left school and became an apprentice painter and decorator.
After developing at Trimsaran RFC, he was given a trial with Llanelli but was rejected. Neath gave him another chance and he signed with them in 1982, selected to play at fly-half.
After 35 games for Neath he was selected to play for Wales, against England at home in the Cardiff Arms Park. After scoring a try and a drop goal, Davies was named Man of the Match in the Welsh victory.
After problems in the Welsh game he controversially decided for the best interests of his family to move to the rugby league team Widnes, who signed him for £225,000. In 1991 he took on a further challenge when he spent the summer in Sydney playing for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, and the North Queensland Cowboys in 1995.
After Widnes got into financial difficulties, in 1993 he moved to their local rivals Warrington. During his time in rugby league he represented both Great Britain and Wales. He was also named player of the 1993-94 season, winning the RFL's Man of Steel Award.
Davies' final rugby league match was for Wales against England in the 1995 World Cup, which Wales lost.
After the birth of daughter Geena in 1995, Davies' wife Karen was diagnosed with cancer. In 1996 Davies was awarded an MBE and went with his family to Buckingham Palace to collect his award. His wife passed away in 1997. Nowadays he is a BBC rugby commentator in both England and his native Wales.

Mike Gregory  Some information from Wikipedia.             

Michael Keith "Mike" Gregory (20 May, 196419 November, 2007), was a rugby league player and later coach; the former head coach of Wigan and player for Warrington and Great Britain.

Mike had a distinguished playing career captaining both Warrington and Great Britain, gaining over 20 caps for the Lions.
He captained Warrington's winning 1989 Lancashire Cup side,  and was captain when they were beaten at Wembley in the Challenge Cup.
His most memorable match was the third Test in Australia in 1998, when his try won the game for the British team, their first win against Australia for a decade.
He left Warrington in 1994.
Gregory started his coaching career as assistant to Shaun McRae at St Helens. He spent three successful seasons at St. Helens between 1996-98, before taking the head coach job at Swinton.
He later joined Wigan, taking charge of the Senior Academy in 2001. He led the youngsters to first place in the 2002 Academy Championship, before being promoted to Assistant Coach for the 2003 season.
He spent three months as caretaker coach at Wigan, remaining unbeaten for 11 matches, and guiding Wigan into the Grand Final - becoming the first side from outside the top two to make it all the way - before being awarded the job full time on a 2 year contract.
He took Wigan to the Challenge Cup Final in 2004, which turned out to be his last game.
In 2004, it was revealed that Gregory had been suffering from a serious illness affecting his nerves and muscles which he had possibly contracted as early as 2001. The illness blocks signals from the brain getting to muscles, causing weight-loss and affecting speech. Gregory went to the USA for a week in May 2004 to receive specialist treatment.
At the last home game of the season in 2006, it was announced that he was to become the latest addition to the Wolves Hall of Fame. As Mike was confined to a wheelchair, his two sons received the award on his behalf, although Mike was pitch-side at the time.

Wire Legend Mike Gregory dies, aged 43, 19 Nov 2007

wolves_mike_gregory_tribute_071127.jpg (152193 bytes)

The rugby league world was shocked and saddened to hear that former Warrington rugby league captain, Mike Gregory, has died after a four year battle with a neurological disease. It is thought an insect bite while on tour with the Great Britain academy team in Australia in 2003 caused Mike to develop Progressive Muscular Atrophy, a form of motor neurone disease. Mike was wheelchair-bound for the last 12 months of his life.

Tributes from Wolves fans and other clubs were left by the Brian Bevan statue.

Warrington chairman, Lord Hoyle, paid tribute to Mike, saying: "I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Mike's death and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. Mike served our club with distinction as a player for 12 years, including captaining Warrington in their last Challenge Cup Final appearance in 1990. His brave battle against illness and his efforts to raise awareness of Progressive Muscular Atrophy has been an inspiration to us all. He will be greatly missed."

During his final years he wrote a book and also took part in many fundraising activities for disabled people. It was heartbreaking to see his demise on ITV1 Granada Reports on the day he died. He will be sadly missed by the rugby league world. Mike's funeral took place in Wigan on 23 November, 2007.

On Tuesday, 26 January 2010, the approach road to the Halliwell Jones stadium was renamed Mike Gregory Way in his memory.

mike_gregory_way_100126.jpg (56051 bytes)

Martin Gleeson Read more in Wikipedia.                  

Martin Gleeson was born 28 May, 1980, in Wigan. He is rated as one of the top centres in international rugby league.

Much of his early rugby development took place in Australia where he emigrated with his family at age 9 to live in Queensland.

He returned to England aged 17 and embarked on a professional career, signing for Huddersfield Giants in 1999.

After three seasons with the Giants he left the club after their relegation from Super League in 2001, and signed for St Helens.

He made his debut for Great Britain against Australia in Sydney in July 2002.

He opened the 2004 season in superb form for St. Helens, and won the Challenge Cup against Wigan Warriors at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. However, he was involved in the 2004 rugby league betting scandal and received a four month suspension and £7,500 fine for breaking rugby league betting rules.

Whilst serving his suspension, Gleeson was signed by Warrington Wolves for a club record fee for a reported £200,000, and made his debut for the Wolves in the 2005 season, recording a personal best scoring tally of 17 tries in 27 Super League appearances. He was named as a centre in the Super League Dream Team 2005.

In September 2008 he was named in the England training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October, 2008, he was named in the final 24-man England squad.

Andrew "Joey" Johns Read more in Wikipedia.       

Andrew "Joey" Johns (born 19 May, 1974) was an Australian player. He usually played half-back but has played in other positions at times throughout his career. In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would be joining Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League and any playoff games the Wolves might get to. The Australian club, Newcastle Knights, first made him sign a new contract, making him available to captain the team until the end of 2008.

In 2002, Johns was awarded the captaincy of both New South Wales and Australia, going on to win the title of Player of the Series against Great Britain.

5 May, 2006, Johns played in his 21st and final Test match for the Kangaroos at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, with Australia defeating New Zealand by 50 points to 12.

On 30 June, 2006, it was announced that Andrew Johns will play for the NSW cricket side in their upcoming Twenty20 series.

On Saturday 8 July, 2007, against the Parramatta Eels, Andrew Johns converted a try scored by Riley Brown and became the highest point scorer in Australian first grade rugby league history, eclipsing Jason Taylor's previous record of 2,107 points.

On 10 April, 2007, he announced his retirement from rugby league on health grounds.

Lee Briers  Read more in Wikipedia.                           

wolves_briers_090830.JPG (34666 bytes) Lee Briers was born 14 June, 1978, and is a former captain of the Wolves, playing at scrum-half. He previously played for St Helens, but moved to Warrington Wolves as a teenager in a deal worth £65,000. 

He currently holds the Super League record (with Paul Bishop) for the most number of drop goals in a game (five against Halifax at The Shay).

Photo copyright GI Gandy, mywarrington.

He also holds the record for points scored in a match (40 through 14 goals & 3 tries) and goals in a match (14) both recorded in the Challenge Cup against York in 2000.

In 2006 he became Warrington's leading all-time drop-goal scorer, and at the end of the 2006 season has 50 to his name in Wolves' colours.

Lee is also captain of the Wales national rugby league team and was selected in the back-up squad for the 2006 Tri-Nations competition in Australia and New Zealand, playing in Britain's warm-up game in Newcastle.

One of his most memorable exploits on Sky was when he scored a try in the 2004/5 season and, as he couldn't stop himself, jumped over the advertising boards and sat down in an empty seat in the crowd to join in the applause for his own try!

The 2008 Super League season is Briers' 11th, and he stepped down as captain at the end of the 2007 season. Currently fourth in the all-time points scoring list for the club, Harry Bath is next in Briers' sights. Only Brian Bevan and Steve Hesford have scored more for the famous club.

Chris Riley    Read more in Wikipedia.                           

wolves_riley_090830.JPG (60443 bytes) Chris Riley born 22 February, 1988 in Warrington with a fine strike rate at Super League level, Riley was primarily a fullback with England Academy and the Wolves junior grades, but he has forged his first team career to date on the wing. Riley attended Penketh High School in Warrington, where Steve Foster is head of P.E. and the Rugby Coach. 

He is a well-balanced and elusive runner who has added some strength to his build since debuting in late 2005. A graduate of Woolston Rovers ARLFC and the Wolves Scholarship Scheme, he won Junior Academy titles in 2003 and 2004, represented England U17 against the Australian Institute of Sport in 2005 and made a try scoring debut for

After three seasons as a squad player, 2009 was his best season to date, featuring in the majority of the Wolves games and scoring try doubles on five occasions, including away at St Helens.

Photo copyright
GI Gandy, mywarrington.
On 7 February 2010, in his sixth season of rugby league for Warrington Wolves, Riley scored five tries against Harlequins RL in the opening fixture of the 2010 Super League season. He therefore became the tenth player in the fifteen year history of Super League to score five tries in a match, the first since Ryan Hall for Leeds Rhinos against Castleford Tigers on 14 August 2009. He was part of 2009 and 2010 Challenge Cup winning teams against Huddersfield and Leeds respectively.

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