1987-88 - Pipped at the Post

During the summer of 1987, freedom of contract was introduced, replacing the retain and transfer system used in previous years. Players could now negotiate a move to another club at the end of their contract, with the new club paying compensation to the player's former club. An independent tribunal was created to rule on transfers where the two clubs were unable to agree on a fee.

The Eagles were one of the first clubs to take advantage of what the new system offered, although they had their own unique form from the start. First to be signed up were six of the previous year’s key players – Captain Daryl Powell, Mark Gamson, Derek Close, Mark Aston, Steve Lidbury and Roy Rafferty. These were to form the nucleus of a squad that Gary Hetherington believed could push further and secure promotion. Later in the season Derek Bridgeman and John Glancy were offered the same contractual arrangements.

Hetherington again followed his well-tried and successful formula of bringing in new talent, particularly from the amateur game, but also a couple from overseas. Those who were signed up:

• Paul Broadbent (Lock Lane ARLFC)
• Mark Fleming (Bradford Northern)
• Peter Hytch (Queensland Sunshine League)
• David Nelson (Queens ARLFC)
• Martyn Ward (Australia. Previously Carlisle)
• Andy Young (Eastmoor ARLFC)
• Michael Cook (Queens ARLFC)
• Paul Gearin (Canterbury Bankstown Aus)
• Chris McDermott (Eastmoor ARLFC
• Wayne Vohland (Australia)
• Marcel Wilkinson (Paputetue NZ)

Scott Hamilton and Chris Lloyd also made an appearance for one game each for the Eagles during the season. Marcel Wilkinson only appeared in four games, before injury forced him to return to New Zealand. The club also had to do without the services of top try scorer, Andy Dickinson, who had moved to Florida in August to work in the USA for six months, before returning to play in the latter half of the season for seven games.

Off the field further stability was another aim. Whitbread agreed to renew their sponsorship for another year, but this time for £40,000. Part of the deal necessitated the Eagles changing their strip to scarlet, black, white and gold to match the colours of their sponsors top brand, Trophy bitter. With the traditional Rugby League chevrons matching the pump-head signs of that product, this was to remain the Sheffield strip for the next four seasons. The Eagles fundraising activities included the launch of a monthly Luncheon Club at Baldwin’s Omega restaurant, targeted at local businesses. They were the first Rugby League club to do so.

A great amount of effort had been taking place in developing Rugby League in the wider community, since the inception of the club, particularly within Sheffield Schools. Prior to the start of the new season it was decided to establish the Sheffield and District Amateur Rugby League Development Association. The committee in charge of the initiative drew up a blueprint for development, including the creation of a full time Development Officer’s post. Tim Butcher was appointed to the post, and he had an immense impact on the development of the game in schools, amateur rugby and with women, girls and later wheelchair rugby teams for the next six years.

Prior to the start of the regular season, the Eagles played in a friendly match against the previous season’s Challenge Cup runners-up, St Helens. Having beaten them in the same fixture the previous season, the Eagles were this year soundly beaten, 40-2, with Peter Wilders scoring the only points of the game for Sheffield. Playing for the Eagles team were two players from the Colts, Darren Whitam and John Sellars, as well as Paul Oldridge from Hillsborough Hawks, and triallist Joe Johannson at scrum half, who was the Eagles Player of the Match.

At the end of the previous season, the top three clubs Hunslet, Swinton and Whitehaven had been promoted, to be replaced by relegated Featherstone, Oldham, and Wakefield Trinity from the Championship

The Rugby Football League dispensed with the previous year’s fixture format and introduced yet another new one for the Second Division. The twenty clubs were split into two groups of ten.

Group 1 – 1 Featherstone, 2 Wakefield, 3 Doncaster, 4 Sheffield, 5 Bramley, 6 York, 7 Batley, 8 Mansfield, 9 Dewsbury and 10 Fulham.

Group 2 – 11 Oldham, 12 Barrow, 13 Whitehaven, 14 Rochdale, 15 Carlisle, 16 Blackpool, 17 Runcorn, 18 Workington, 19 Huddersfield and 20 Keighley.

Clubs 1-10 play home and away Clubs 11-20 play home and away

Clubs 1-5 play clubs 11-15 home and away Clubs 6-10 play clubs 1620 home and away

The Eagles first game of the season was an away trip to Fulham. Commenting on their opponents, the Fulham programme made the following observations:

The Eagles won the game, 20-12, helped by two tries from Daryl Powell. 

It was also the debut of a young prop forward signed from amateurs Lock Lave, Paul Broadbent. 

What followed was a mirror image of their positive start to the previous season, winning six of their opening seven league games, although they were knocked out again at the first round stage of the Yorkshire Cup by Wakefield Trinity 32-18 in the middle of September.

Prior to that however, they had beaten Mansfield Marksman at their Alfreton ground. 32-8. In that victory the crowd witnessed a spectacular try involving another debutant, David Nelson, who collected the ball in the Eagles in-goal area, ran across the width of the pitch, before launching himself the length of it, before passing the ball to Andy Wilson, who finished the move with a try. This was followed by a home victory, this time against Rochdale Hornets, 22-8. Their league campaign then faced its first reversal with a typical Eagles close defeat, 10-8, at Barrow. September ended with yet another home victory, against Whitehaven when, courtesy of two Nelson tries, they despatched the visitors, 18-13, putting Sheffield in second place in the Division.

At the start of October, they were on the road again, this time to York. A closely fought match saw the Eagles hitting top spot in the league, with a narrow 20-17 victory, Roy Rafferty contributing sixteen of those points through a hat-trick of tries and two conversions. Three days later they played hosts to Bramley, where another sixteen points from Rafferty, secured the league points, 20-10 and consolidated the Eagles in first position.

Their campaign then hit the buffers, with Sheffield losing four consecutive league games. First was a trip to the Watersheddings to face recently relegated Oldham, who were second. This top of the table clash in front of a crowd of over 3.700 saw the Eagles behind at half-time 20-6, and although they managed a further three tries and a conversion in the second half, lost the game 44-20 and top spot. This was the heaviest league defeat of the season.

Their next opponents were third placed Wakefield Trinity at Owlerton a week later. In front of a crowd of 1,183, they were narrowly defeated 14-12 ,with Rafferty accounting for eight of those points, and the sides swapping league positions. Another narrow defeat followed a week later as they lost away to Rochdale Hornets, 7-2. By the end of October the Eagles were third with 12 points, but still within the play-off places.

The Wakefield game saw the debut of top Australian back, Paul Gearin, who had had seven years in the Australian Winfield Cup representing Wests, Norths and latterly Canterbury-Bankstown. The signing was secured through a unique sponsorship deal. Hallam Towers agreed to host him and his new wife, where they stayed in four star luxury whilst he played at Full-back for the Eagles.

November began with the return visit of lowly Mansfield Marksmen, who surprisingly beat the Eagles 30-10, with the Eagles falling to sixth in the league. Next up was a trip to new World Champions, Wigan in the first round of the John Player Cup. They were the ultimate test for any new club. Prior to the match at Central Park, Gary Hetherington had taken the squad to Blackpool to prepare for the match. He had also signed Andy Young from amateurs Eastmoor.

Come the day of the match, the Eagles players entered the field of play watched by a crowd of more than 7,400, expecting a heavy defeat at the hands of this team of established international players. But it was the Eagles who scored first. They were awarded a penalty in their own half, which Roy Rafferty elected to kick at the Wigan posts. He took this long range penalty and coolly slotted between the uprights to give the visitors a two point lead.

Soon after , Mark Aston broke the Wigan line, passing to David Close who crossed the Wigan whitewash. Rafferty slotted the conversion, and the

Eagles were surprisingly leading 8-2. The superior fitness of the home side then told, allowing them to score three tries before half-time, to lead 16-8. In the second half they scored another eighteen points, progressing to the second round 34-8., The Sheffield performance on that day appeared to galvanize the team for the rest of the league season.

Whereas the Eagles had struggled on the field in previous months during Winter, either with cancellations or a succession of defeats, the 1987-88 Season was one of strong progress. 

The first game after their surprising performance at Wigan pitted them against Featherstone Rovers at Owlerton, who had had a poor start to the season, but had been gradually climbing the table to reach 8th spot. Two evenly matched sides fought out a 10 all draw. There then followed seven wins from the next eight matches, but during this run home crowds never rose above 500.

At the end of November Fulham were the visitors. They were dispatched 16-6.

December opened with a trip to Batley’s Mount Pleasant. The visitors put up a competent display, running in 22-6 victors, with David

Close adding a further three conversions to the two he scored against Fulham. Roy Rafferty was injured during this run of victories, with Close stepping in as goal kicker in preference to Mark Aston. York were the next to fall prey to the Eagles, being subjected to an eight try deluge, with Steve Lidbury securing a brace. The 45-16 victory moved the Eagles to top of the table.

The only defeat of this run occurred at an away trip to Carlisle just before the Christmas festivities. The Eagles went 12-0 behind in the first ten minutes of the game, but could not pull off victory, losing 14-12, as well as top spot. Yet the wins they had secured had put them again in the top echelons of the table with 19 points, with a better points difference to closest rivals Barrow who were also on the same number of points.

At the time it looked as though the Eagles were on course to secure promotion at the end of the season, Consequently they made an approach to Sheffield United to play their last home game against Doncaster at Bramall Lane. It was hoped at the time that this would lead to a more permanent arrangement, as Gary Hetherington was looking for better facilities with a larger capacity than Owlerton. This was not ruled out by the United Commercial Manager, Andy Deakin.

It was at the same time that Sheffield City Council were awarded the World Student Games, The Council’s bid involved a £150 million sports facilities building programme, including the building of a boating and sailing lake in Don Valley Stadium.

December ended with the traditional post-Christmas Day match away to Doncaster. It was the visitors who were triumphant that day, easily beating their South Yorkshire rivals, 32-2. Lidbury again scored two tries in their six try victory.

Mark Aston was placed on the transfer list at £20,000 during December. Aston was seeking First Division football straight away, but Hetherington felt he had failed to reproduce the form he had when he became player of the year in the previous season. Whilst no other club were prepared to sign him, due to his erratic form, he did go out on loan for three weeks to Bramley. By the end of the season he had played 18 times for the Eagles but failed to deliver any tries or goals.

At the start of 1987, the Eagles were again top of the table having compiled 21 points from 17 games. The first fixture of the year involved a trip to Bramley where two tries from Derek Bridgeman and a try from Neil Kellet secured the match points, 12-6. Revenge for the earlier close defeat at Barrow was achieved a week later at Owlerton. The Sheffield side ran out 22-0 victors, consolidating their top spot.

The preliminary Round of the Challenge Cup meant another trip to Bramley, whom they dispatched 14-6, and then faced another trip to Wakefield Trinity in the first round two weeks later. In between the two Cup games, they had a home league match against Carlisle. Again they secured revenge for the previous league defeat, winning 12-10, with Roy Rafferty back as goalkicker. Andy Dickinson arrived back from Florida at the end of January.

The Wakefield cup game at Bellevue, watched by a crowd of 2,371, was a close affair. Tries from Mick Cook and John Glancy, with a six point contribution from Rafferty with the boot, saw the visitors go through to the next round, 14-10.

Their reward was yet another away fixture, this time against Championship side, Hull FC. Hull had had a difficult season in the Championship and were languishing in the lower reaches of that division, 

However on the day their superior fitness told and in front of a crowd of 4,544. the Eagles lost the tie, 26-6, their only points coming from a Gary Smith try and a Rafferty conversion. Hull went on in the competition to be beaten in the semi- final by runners up Halifax.

With eight games remaining to the end of the season, the Eagles had fallen to fourth place in the Division Two, a consequence of their cup campaign. This had allowed their competitors to catch up and surpass them in the League. Yet the Eagles had games in hand. They needed to win these games to ensure promotion.

The first of these was against second placed Wakefield Trinity away. On the day Wakefield, in yet another close game, were able to perform the double over their visitors, 14-6, moving them into top spot. A week later, a home tie against 18th placed Batley, brought yet another defeat, 18-12.

Next at Owlerton at the start of March were bottom club Dewsbury. In a tight game the Eagles struggled to secure a victory, 18-16. The following week end they were at second placed Featherstone Rovers where they were heavily defeated, 40-10. Whitehaven away were their next opponents. Situated in the lower reaches of the league, the Cumbrian side put up a strong fight, but the Eagles managed to sneak a two-point victory, 16-14. Courtesy of the kicking of Paul Gearin, who had replaced the again injured Rafferty. 

With three games to go, Owlerton was visited by the league’s form team, Oldham, who had just moved into second place. The highest home crowd of the season so far, 2,316, witnessed the Eagles fail to win again, this time losing 28-15, resulting in the visitors going to the top of the table. 

This record figure for home games lasted only a fortnight, as it was surpassed in the next home tie, the derby game against Doncaster. There were 2,397 at Bramall Lane for the annual Eagles Sporting Gala day.

The day opened with a football match between past players of both the Sheffield Clubs, Wednesday and United. This was followed by a schools under-11 rugby league tournament, before the main event, the battle for supremacy in South Yorkshire rugby league. That was the Eagles, who scored five tries, with Steve Lidbury accounting for two, the others scored by Mick Cook, Paul Gearin, and Daryl Powell. Gearin also managed all five conversions, to take his match total to fourteen points. But their season ended with a further defeat, again at the hands of Dewsbury, who had hit a run of form to move up from bottom spot to 15th. With Rafferty back from injury, the Eagles had another lacklustre day, losing heavily 42-16.

Finishing the league season in fifth spot, with 33 points from their 28 games, the Eagles next opponents in the first round of the play-offs was against fourth placed Springfield Borough, who they had not played all season due to the new fixture arrangements. Springfield were originally Blackpool, but at the end of the previous season had moved their operations away from the seaside to the Wigan area.

Due to a home fixture clash with Wigan, the game was moved to a 6:30pm kick off time. Late in the game the Eagles were narrowly ahead 10-9, courtesy of two tries from Neil Kellett. But with three minutes to go, their opponents had forced the Eagles into a goal line drop out from under the posts. Daryl Powell took a short kick and tried to recover it on the Eagles ten metre line, But the referee ruled that it had not reached the line, awarding a penalty to the home side. The Springfield kicker slotted the penalty, to take the tie11-10. Springfield then succumbed to Oldham in the next round, who were the eventual winners of the final.

Following that defeat, the Eagles had organised a short French tour to thank the players. They had been invited to participate in a Rugby League Festival at Limoux. On the day of the game, following a morning reception at the Hotel de Ville and a visit to a local vineyard a number of players were worse for wear and unfit to play. Consequently the side that turned our against their French hosts, lacked a number of regulars and was beaten.

Since their inaugural season, the Eagles had progressed year on year. At the start of the New Year, they were in pole position in the Second Division to secure promotion. They had also progressed in the Challenge Cup, achieving a second-round tie against a Championship squad. But a series of lacklustre performances in February and March saw them drop out of contention, although they did qualify for the play-offs, getting knocked out again at the quarter-final stage.

Home crowds picked up as the season progressed, with them reaching the levels that had been planned in Hetherington’s original proposal to the RFL Board that had secured their place in the Second Division. But overall crowds averaged 738 reversing the downward trend that had been experienced since the Eagles first season. Overall the Division on average had crowds of 1,286, a 31% improvement on the previous season.

Roy Rafferty was top points scorer, by virtue of his kicking duties, although with 10 tries to his name. In a season when he was out for long periods with injury it was a highly creditable performance. Steve Lidbury was top try scorer with 14.

Off the field development activities went from strength to strength. A great deal of work went into coaching Rugby League in schools, often by Eagles players which bore fruit. A twelve school knockout tournament with matches staged as curtain raisers to the main Eagles game took place throughout the season. With the appointment of a Development Officer, further progress was expected in future years.

The Colts had a better season, winning eight games out of eighteen, finishing third in their mini league, but they still experienced the occasional heavy defeats to the more established clubs, Doncaster, and Dewsbury. The club also fielded an experimental A team who managed to secure a couple of victories, their first against Keighley at the end of 1987.

As in previous seasons, the Eagles saw a number of players leave during and at the end of the season:

• Kevin Farrell (Retired)
• Gary Hetherington (Finally retired)
• Chris Lloyd (Widnes)
• Roy Rafferty (Doncaster)
• Wayne Vohland (Huddersfield)
• Andy Wilson (Wakefield Trinity)
• Paul Gearey (Batley)
• Peter Hytch (Australia)
• Stephen Parkes (Retired)
• Gary Smith (Batley)
• Marcel Wilkinson (New Zealand)
• John Glancy (Wakefield Trinity)

Martyn Ward and Scott Hamilton also left the club after making a couple of appearances on the field.

Whilst Steve Parkes and Gary Smith were given free transfers, both Roy Rafferty and John Glancy were sold for a small fee.

In their careers at the Eagles, Kevin Farrell made 78 appearances over four seasons scoring 12 tries, whilst Gary Smith made 71 appearances over three seasons, registering 16 tries and 3 drop goals. John Glancy made 96 appearances over his four seasons at the club, scoring 13 tries. Roy Rafferty appeared 87 times over his four seasons at the club, recorded 30 tries and 215 successful kicks at goal, accounting for a record 550 points over his Eagles career, a record that would not be beaten for many seasons.

Gary Hetherington had always aimed at the Eagles securing promotion after five years. Their fifth year was coming, but were they good enough to make that jump to the next level and retain their Championship position after that. Only time would tell.