1984-85 - The Eagles Had Landed

Since the Eagles have been in existence it has always been assumed that their first ever appearance was at Owlerton at 3pm on Sunday September 2nd 1984, in their opening game of the season.

Recent research has found that before that date Eagles teams appeared at three pre-season friendlies in August 1984. The first was at Championship side Castleford on the 10th when, despite tries from Mark Campbell, Richard Davies, Mark Q Campbell, and Paul McDermott and two goals from Dave Alred, they lost that game 44-20.

Two days later an Eagles team appeared in the Sterling Sevens in Wakefield. The squad included Neil Cooper, John Magyar, Steve Robinson, Paul McDermott, Quinten Campbell, Gary Hetherington, Steve Cooper, Richard Davies and Ian Jowitt. The Eagles drew Warrington in the first round and lost 16-6 so didn't progress any further, with Castleford beating St Helens 16-12 in the final.

The final friendly was a trip to Keighley on the 22nd. The squad included a number of AN Others as well as Ray Smith, Mark Campbell, Daryl Powell, Dave Alred, Steve Robinson, Billy Harris, Gary Hetherington, Steve Cooper, Ian Jowitt, Paul McDermott, Richard Davies, and Steve Harvey. The Eagles won the game 24-15, the first ever victory for a team playing under the banner of the Sheffield Eagles.

On the day of the first game of the 1984-85 season, against Rochdale Hornets, large crowds were seen in the vicinity of Owlerton, but the majority were going to the second day of the Sheffield Show in Hillsborough Park. Nevertheless a crowd of 1,425 attended the game. They first witnessed a curtain raiser by the premier under 11 teams in Yorkshire, the Travelers and Redhill clubs.

Sheffield had asked the RFL for the Hornets to be their first official opponents. Gary Hetherington calculated that this mid table team would be beatable by the Eagles, whilst giving a good account of themselves. Fred Lindop, a well-known name in sporting circles, and the top referee in the sport, took charge, giving extra credibility to the Sheffield team.

Rochdale took an early 10 point lead whilst the Eagles forwards struggled. With 10 minutes gone, Andy Tyers was injured and replaced by Ray Smith at full back who then galvanised the attack. Billy Harris then scored two tries, whilst Paul McDermott scored a hat-trick. A Gary Hetherington drop goal, coupled with four failed conversions, saw the Eagles through to a 29-10 victory before their new fans. The win was greeted by the local media as “Eagles successful maiden flight".

The following weekend was the first round of the Yorkshire Cup. As part of the deal granting the Eagles membership of the Second division, they had to forgo participation in the Cup, as did Mansfield. This was for fear, according to the organisers, of diluting the prize money for the other clubs in the competition. It also deprived the Club from any income, which would have helped improve their finances.

The reality of competition rugby then kicked in. Victory was followed by four successive defeats for the remainder of September. Next up was a visit from recently relegated Fulham, who were regarded as the best team in the Division and expected to run out comfortable winners. An injury hit Sheffield saw Gary Hetherington playing at stand-off. By half time the home side were trailing 12-0, but inspired by a man of the match performance from Vince Farrar and tries from Hetherington and new signing Paul Welsh, with three goals from Dave Alred, his last for the club, the Eagles managed to run up 14 points. But a converted try from Fulham secured the points for the visitors by 18-14.

The Eagles first away fixture was a trip to Runcorn Highfield on September 23rd. A lacklustre performance from the Sheffield side gave the home side their first victory of the season, 13-6, with Andy Tyers securing the only try for Sheffield. On trial that day for the visitors was Derek Bridgeman on the wing. Playing with a permanently damaged left arm, he soon became one of the Eagles’ fans favourite during the eighties.

Off the field the Eagles faced difficulties with player’s contracts and conditions. Whilst many clubs avoided making contracts with all their players, the Eagles did have contracts. Financially they did not add up to much, but when trialist Ray Smith was made an offer by Fulham, which Gary Hetherington was not prepared to match, as it meant a distorting of the wage structure for one player, Smith signed for Fulham. Brian Adams didn’t join the Eagles from Wakefield Trinity for the same reason.

The final September fixture was a home game against another relegated side, Salford, which they lost again, 13-6, with Hetherington securing the only Sheffield try of the game. Sheffield had been leading for 70 minutes as the home side fought hard. Amongst those that played that day, was Mark Gamson who made his debut after a four match ban picked up whilst playing for Leeds Colts.

With crowds averaging 1,243 for the first three home games, it was clear that the 2,000 minimum target that Hetherington was gambling on to keep the club on an even financial keel would not be achieved easily, if at all. A new ticket promotion was planned, a strategy that the Eagles would deploy over the years by making special offers, aimed at young people and their families. Under 15’s were given free admission which was circulated widely to all Sheffield schools. But take up was not strong initially and crowds continued to be low, even dropping to less than a 1,000 when the visit of smaller, less fancied clubs came to Owlerton. However in the longer term, it did attract an increasing number of female and younger fans as regular supporters.

Hetherington rued the failure of securing Bramall Lane as a venue as he believed that it would have attracted more cross over fans from football as was the case of the other new club Mansfield. They had attracted a crowd of 2,291 to their opening game against relegated Wakefield Trinity, but by the end of that first season attendance had dwindled to just 321. A seasonal loss of £90,000 meant that they were unable to continue to rent the Mansfield ground and had to move to a smaller venue for the next season.

September closed with the first Eagles South Yorkshire derby against Doncaster at Tattersfield. The hosts had been winless for 20 games and the visitors were anticipating their next victory. The match was sponsored by South Yorkshire County Council. In a closely fought game, the Eagles managed to score tries through Hetherington and Farrar, with a single conversion from Tyers. But Doncaster outscored them with three converted tries to take the game, and the bragging rights, 18-10. It was a bitter defeat for the Sheffield side to take.

October opened with a trip to Mount Pleasant, the home of Batley, who like the Eagles had only won a single game so far that season. Despite a hat-trick of tries from home favourite Carl Gibson, the visitors managed to cross the whitewash five times, converting four of them, to win their first and only away win of the season, 28-18.

A week later they were home to Runcorn Highfield and secured their next victory 20-14. Amongst the try scorers was Sam Panapa, a new recruit from New Zealand, one of the Eagles’ first overseas signings. The other Kiwi signing, Geoff Morton, goaled four conversions. Both had responded to Gary Hetherington’s request to join the Eagles following their recommendation to the club by Hull player, James Leuluai, even paying their own air fares over. 

They saw their chance with Sheffield as a strong opportunity to improve their play, but also to improve their chances of securing places on the forthcoming New Zealand tour of Britain the following year. But the Runcorn game also saw the first sending off of an Eagles player, Paul Welsh, who was given a one match ban by the RL Disciplinary Committee.

The Eagles’ winning streak did not last long, as they lost their next game away to struggling Blackpool 25-10, yet they resumed winning ways in their next home tie against Bridgend. It saw the debut of the third Kiwi who had signed fort the club, Arnold Hema who played at full back and was a more established player than his fellow countrymen. In his previous season he had scored 20 tries and scored over 200 points with the boot for Wellington. Against Bridgend he made three successful conversions and a drop goal to help his new employers to a 26-10 victory. After a shaky start, by the end of October the Eagles had climbed to 9th in the Second Division, the highest point of their league season.

Off the field the Eagles Development plan took off. With support from BARLA and the City Council, whose Recreation Committee had made a grant of £10,000 available to fund the initiative, a launch event was held at Owlerton at the end of October.

The initial focus would be on young people, running coaching courses for 11-19 year olds, with a leadership course for those who would become organisers. Plans were also being developed to run a number of initiatives, including an 8-a-side mini Ruby League competition for under 11’s as well establishing an open age amateur side, that became the Hillsborough Hawks in 1989.

On match days, the home programme included information on amateur clubs operating in the South Yorkshire and on occasion pre-match games were played by youngsters from local amateur clubs. Prior to the Runcorn game, the annual match between Sheffield’s two Universities was played. Player involvement in school, coaching soon followed, albeit it limited before the foundation of SARDLA in 1987, but it enabled rugby league to break into the curriculum of local primary and secondary schools.

November opened with a home game against Wakefield Trinity in the preliminary round of the John Player Trophy. This was the Eagles biggest test yet. A win would bring a lucrative tie away to Leeds at Headingley. It was their first taste of real cup football.

The crowd of 1,279 supporters witnessed a dominant first half performance by the visitors who had 80% of the ball but failed to make it count. By half time the teams were all square at 6 points each, the Eagles points coming from a converted try from Paul McDermott. The second half was all Sheffield as they scored 11 unanswered points, through tries from Vince Farrar and a 60 metre effort from Sam Panapa. Arnold Hema completed the effort with a conversion and drop goal, in the 17-6 victory Two weeks later Sheffield were playing at Headingley in front of a crowd of 4,881, but in an unequal contest were soundly beaten 50-2 by Leeds in the first round of the Cup proper, with Panapa sent off before half time. However the money they received from appearing in the game was of great assistance in securing the future of the club, particularly as Telvista had finally gone into liquidation.

The two directors associated with Telvista, David Betts and Barrie Whitford, resigned as Directors, They were replaced by Stuart Sheard, the secretary of the Supporters Club, with Terry Sharman replacing Betts as Chairman. It subsequently transpired that the link with Telvista had not seen any sponsorship money come into the Club.

The rest of November saw a series of successive defeats in the league for Sheffield as the Eagles could not match the display they had put up against Wakefield, The visit of Dewsbury led to a 15-2 loss. This was followed by a trip to league leaders Whitehaven, where despite a Panapa hat trick and a more fighting display from the rest of the team, they went down 22-19. Batley got their revenge in the next home game as the Eagles were badly beaten 30-4, with Gary Heatherington having to apologise to fans for his side’s worst performance of the season.

December continued the rut. First up were Keighley who secured revenge for their pre-season defeat by 16-9. This was followed by the visit of Blackpool to Owlerton, who were the first side to secure the double over the Eagles, 13-8. Just before Christmas the side travelled to Salford, where they were again well beaten 50-16.

The Boxing Day fixture was a trip to fifth placed Mansfield, who had had a much better season so far, having secured 10 victories to the Eagles 4. Their long-term future seemed to be more secure than Sheffield’s at the time, who were languishing in 17th position. Up until the final minutes the game could have gone either way. Both sides were level with ten minutes left, 20-20. But it was the Marksmen who had the final say, scoring a converted try in the dying minutes, to finish victors, 26-20.

The other festive fixture was the second leg of the South Yorkshire derby, a home time against Doncaster. In front of a crowd of 835, more than double those who witnessed the first derby. Sheffield were facing an injury crisis, so even the coach, Alan Rhodes was forced to play. Converted tries from the three Kiwis, Panapa, Morton and Hema, with one from the coach, saw the Eagles end the year with a victory 24-12, and a move up the table to 16th.

A trialist played for the Eagles that day who so impressed the crowd with his strong running that he signed. He was England and Leicester Rugby Union prop Steve Redfern, who played nine times for the club, before injury forced him to retire. His signing, Hetherington believed, gave the Eagles credibility with creditors and sponsors, at a time when the club’s financial position was extremely serious.

As 1985 dawned the Eagles were on the brink of folding like their predecessors. An independent accountant had been asked for an assessment of the club’s trading and financial position. His private advice was to cease trading and close the club. But the Hetherington’s were opposed to winding up the operation, so the Board looked to trying to raise enough finance to keep the Eagles afloat. A number of match day sponsors had been secured, as had individual player sponsorships, but it was insufficient to maintain an effective operation. They focused on increasing corporate sponsorship, which was difficult , given the recent performances in matches. So it was agreed that they would try to sell the concept of a good day out, with a full Sunday lunch in Owlerton’s Panorama room, with the match as an extra. This worked and built up sufficient goodwill to keep the club afloat.

Further focus was also directed towards securing more revenue from advertising, encouraging more people to become Vice Presidents, developing new sources of income and future contacts. Even the players agreed to take a £10 cut in their winning bonus, with team training cut to one day a week. The target was to secure £55,000 by the end of the next season.

The financial situation was not helped by the big freeze that hit fixtures during January as games were cancelled for four weeks. The Eagles managed to get one game in during January, away against Swinton at Burnden Park the home of Bolton Wanderers. After a tortuous journey to the ground, with the bus breaking down at Ossett the players arrived in a fleet of cars at the ground 20 minutes after the scheduled kick off. They put up a creditable performance, losing 14-8.

The poor weather continued into February. The Eagles managed to play their away fixture at Rochdale at the start of the month, but conceded too many early points and, despite rallying, lost 10-12, due to missing a conversion. As the weather started to improve the Eagles were drawn at home against Warrington in the first round of the Challenge Cup. Expecting a record crowd and improved receipts all stops were pulled out to promote the game.

With new signing, Clive Pickerill, from Wakefield at scrum half the Eagles met a team that was in form. In a one sided contest, Warrington moved to the next round of the Cup, 54-19. But the Eagles had competed well and at one stage led by a drop goal, scored by Hetherington. On the positive side the game attracted the largest home crowd of the season, 1,479.

The team were next to face bottom of the table Bridgend in a rearranged match at the end of February. After a long trip to Wales, expecting their next win, the Eagles were beaten 28-12, which was the hosts first and only victory of the season and in the last in their Rugby League career, as they went out of business at the end of the season. Only 186 people viewed that game on the day.

March started with a visit from Carlisle Border Raiders. Giving their best performance of the season, the Eagles beat Carlisle 16-11, recording only their second league victory since the previous October. It was Roy Rafferty’s debut appearance for the club, a recent signing from amateur club Marshland Rangers. But the next three games brought further defeats.

Firstly a trip to second place Dewsbury saw the home side do the double over the visitors, 15-7, and then a reciprocal trip to sixth place Carlisle led to a 16-12 loss. The last game of March was a home fixture against top of the table Swinton, who had not lost in the league since early December. It was another Eagles first, as the match was played on a Friday at Rotherham United’s Millmoor ground, due to Owlerton’s unavailability due to stock car racing. It was another low point as they were beaten comprehensively, 36-2. Stuart Sheard and Keith Williamson resigned from the Board after the game.

Over the Easter period, an Easter Rugby League festival was held, including a South Yorkshire seven a side competition, sponsored by South Yorkshire County Council, won by Rotherham Rangers. The highlight of the event was a game with French side Rouane, coached by Steve Lane, who would join the Eagles in the next season. An understrength Sheffield were beaten by the visitors, who ran out 28-16 winners.

As the season’s end approached, the Eagles had four games left during April. The month started with a home defeat to Mansfield, 30-10, with both Billy Harris and Steve Cooper being sent off within a minute of each other. The remaining three ties produced some of the best rugby all season and provided hope for the future.

A home victory against Keighley, 34-15, was followed by the Eagles only game against Fulham that season. The trip to London was a 12 try bonanza that saw the visitors lose 40-30. The final home game against fifth placed Whitehaven, was another closely fought match, with the home side ending their season 28-26 victors.

During the season the Eagles had fielded 41 players. Many of those who appeared did so for a couple of games as trialists which was a feature of the early seasons of the club, others lasted the season. A number became the nucleus of future Eagles squads in the remainder of the eighties. Of those that moved on, many returned to the amateur game, or retired like Vince Farrar. The three Kiwis, Arnold Hema, Geoff Morton and Sam Panapa, returned home.

Those that moved onto new clubs, either at the end of the season or during it, included:

• Dave Aldred (Bridgend)
• Steve Cooper (Mansfield)
• Ken Ellis (Doncaster)
• Ian Jowitt (Wakefield)
• Pat Mitchell (Oldham)
• Ray Smith (London)
• Mark S Campbell (Huddersfield)
• Richard Davies (Bradford)
• Phil Gibson (Hunslet)
• John Magyar (Hunslet)
• Audley Pennant (Doncaster)
• Andy Tyers

The Eagles first season from the start was a hand to mouth existence financially as the money that had been planned for did not materialise. This was down to a combination of the demise of their initial backers, the lack of funding secured from central Rugby Football League coffers and a failure to attract sufficient spectator numbers at the level that had been planned. The club’s turnover in the season was £83,000 with only £11,000 coming from gate money

Crowds of over 2,000 at home games had been the aim in the first season, but the seasonal average only managed to achieve 933, which compared unfavourably to an average for the whole division of 1,119. Only eight clubs in the Second Division had lower home attendances than the Eagles, with local rivals Doncaster only managing 404. The other newcomers, Mansfield, had an average of 1,041.

Key to their survival was the ongoing support of volunteers on matchdays and beyond, as well as the stubbornness of Garry and Kath Hetherington, who were not prepared to contemplate pulling the plug on the venture. Equally fortuitous was. at critical points, success on the field of play which brought a welcome lifeline. Fortunately the Eagles Board had developed a plan to generate more income in the future which would hopefully place the Eagles on an even financial keel.

On the rugby pitch, Eagles fans started to notice a familiar pattern of play emerging during their first season. When facing stronger opponents the Eagles played outstandingly to match their stronger opponents, but when it came to playing those sides were they were the favourites to pick up the two points on offer, their performance was painfully ordinary to watch. Another positive was the growth of the schools and community development programmes which were aiming to lay the fledgling roots from which the club could fulfil the long term dream of having a team made up of local talent.

The Eagles had survived ….. if only by the skin of their beaks.

At the end of season awards Daryl Powell, in recognition that he was a player of real potential, and the new Captain was voted the Eagles Player of the Year. The retiring Vince Farrar, who had been club captain, was runner up and leading try scorer Paul McDermott came third.

Finishing 17th overall with 16 points, of the six league wins 5 were at home, the only away victory was at Batley. Scoring only 424 points during the season, they conceded 582, a net deficit of 158.

Top points scorer with 77 was Arnold Hema from 32 goals, 3 tries and a solitary drop goal. He was followed by top try scorer Paul McDermott with 64 from 16 tries. Roy Rafferty was in third with 48, the result of 20 goals and four tries, scored in only 8 appearances.

Ian Swain

With thanks to "Against the Odds" by Richard Pepper and John Cornwell