1988-89 - Promotion

A number of players had left at the end of the previous season, some like Roy Rafferty, Kevin Farrell and Bary Smith had been club stalwarts. Hetherington retained a core of 16 players from 1987-88 Season:

• Mark Aston
• Paul Broadbent
• Michael Cook
• Mark Fleming
• Neil Kellett
• Chris McDermott
• David Nelson
• Peter Wilders
• Derek Bridgeman
• David Close
• Andy Dickinson
• Mark Gamson
• Steve Lidbury
• Paul McDermott
• Daryl Powell
• Andy Young

Daryl Powell spent the off-season playing for Balmain Tigers in Australia. 

During that period he played with future Eagles players Gary Jack and Bruce McGuire. His time there encouraged him to think about playing the game in a more intense and structured manner, which was easily seen when he returned to play for the Eagles.

Neil Kellett was a long term injury with a broken jaw and only played a couple of games in the season.

To this core of players Hetherington added a number of new players throughout the season, many of whom had a wealth of experience to add to the squad:

• Phil Cartwright (Rochdale Hornets)
• Steve Evans (Bradford Loan)
• Nic Grimoldby (Fulham)
• Darren Hale
• Sonny Nickle (Hunslet)
• Warren Smiles (Bramley)
• Gary Van Bellen (Wakefield Trinity)
• Mark Geyer (Penrith)
• Gary Charlton (Gold Coast Giants Australia)
• Mark Gibson (Bramley)
• Nick Halafihi (British Colleges)
• Graham Idle (Bramley)
• Paul Okesene (Richmond NZ)
• Maseesee Solomona (NZ)
• Mark Fleming (Halifax Loan)

Steve Evans on loan from Bradford brought nine years’ experience of playing at Championship and International level, whilst 39 year old Graham Idle brought twenty years’ experience playing for clubs throughout the two divisions. Nick Halafihi was the son of Nan Halafihi who had played for Castleford and Hull during his career, whilst Gary Charlton was the son of former Great Britain and Salford fullback, Paul. He had also represented BARLA before emigrating to Australia.

The overseas quota was initially made up of two New Zealanders, Paul

Okesene and Se’s Solomona. Solomona was already a member of the New Zealand squad that was to meet Australia in the World Cup Final in early October and his arrival was delayed by this. When he did arrive, he was detained at Heathrow by immigration officials. Using the help of Bill Michie MP and Eagles supporter, who cajoled the Home Office to let him remain. Hallam Towers Hotel sponsored both players yet again, by taking them as guests.

Mark Geyer was another overseas signing from Penrith in Australia, who played for the Eagles in the Australian off season.

Steve Lidbury went to Bradford as part of the loan deal for Evans.

The Eagles had two friendlies to help them prepare for their forthcoming challenges. At the start of August they played a South West Yorkshire Amateur Select XIII. It was a one sided affair, with the Sheffield side ahead 23-0 at half-time and then extending that lead to 62-0 by the final whistle. On the 19th they travelled to Hull to participate in the annual Eva Hardaker Memorial Trophy. Losing 12-4 at half-time, they did not manage to add to their score, as Hull scored two more times to take the match 24-4. Mark Aston scored twice with the boot, but it was Chris McDermott who was the Eagles Man of the Match.

The Second Division operated with the same fixtures arrangement as in the previous season. That meant that the Eagles did not play any games against Whitehaven, Rochdale Hornets, Carlisle, Workington Town, and Runcorn Highfield.

Leigh, Swinton and Hunslet were relegated from the Championship to replace Oldham. Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity. With their next move to Chorley, Springfield Borough changed their name this time to Chorley Borough. 

Unlike the previous two seasons, the start of the Eagles campaign was not as productive. They started as fifth favourites for promotion. In front of a crowd of 700 they managed to beat Bramley 13-10 at Owlerton in the first home match of the season. It was a mediocre affair, with much more excitement being generated by the Touch Rugby competition that preceded it. Aston had taken over the kicking with the departure of Roy Rafferty, but his accuracy, in the early games of the season, failed him.

Three days later they faced Wakefield Trinity in the preliminary round of the Yorkshire Cup. Despite two unconverted tries from Aston, the Eagles were knocked out of the Cup 28-8. 

The following Sunday they travelled to London but were beaten by Fulham in the last few minutes, 21-20, despite two Andy Dickinson tries.

A week later, at home to Barrow they managed to secure an 11 all draw, in front of a paltry crowd of 365, the lowest of the season, The game marked the debut of Steve Evans off the bench. In later games he would have significant influence on the club’s promotion bid, showing moments of pure class, but he was also capable of periods of inactivity when his interest wandered. Graham Idle also made his debut at prop. Prior to the game, Owlerton hosted the National Women’s Rugby League fixture between Guisley Angels and Crossfields of Warrington, which was followed by a six team school event as a curtain raiser before the main event.

Ten days later they faced struggling Mansfield Marksmen at Owlerton. Scoring five tries, but only three conversions, the Eagles easily dispatched them, 27-14. But only 380 turned out to watch them win. The end of September brought a trip to recently relegated Leigh who were top of the league. The Eagles outplayed the home side, but still lost 12-8. Sheffield were 10thin the division with only 5 points.

October opened with a trip to recently renamed Chorley Borough. With Mark Aston starting to find more accuracy with his kicking, the Eagles scored two tries, Aston adding a further 6 points. They ended 14-4 victors. The following weekend was the return fixture with Leigh at Owlerton. Despite a further two tries and a further 9 points from Aston, Leigh showed their prowess, scoring six tries to claim victory, 30-17. The match was the debut of Kiwi International Solomona, who had a relatively good game. A further defeat followed when Batley visited., the Eagles losing the game 17-10. With eight games now played, the Sheffield side were still well outside the play-offs, with only 7 points from eight games. Gary Charlton had also left to go to Hull KR during October.

With the visit of York to Owlerton at the end of October, the club’s fortunes started to change. The visitors had had a similar start to the season as the Eagles. After two minutes the home side were ahead through a Paul Broadbent try. A dodging run from Daryl Powell, set up Steve Evans for his first try for the club in the second half. Scoring five tries to York’s three, with Aston contributing a try and four conversions, the Eagles were 26-16 victors.

The first visitors in November were Keighley, who were in the middle of a long losing run. The Eagles added to their woes, running in six tries through the visitors defence, including a hat-trick from Mark Gamson. With Aston on target with five conversions, Sheffield won the game, 34-6.

The next Sunday, they had a home-tie against amateurs Wigan St Patricks in the John Player Trophy. The Eagles put the plucky amateurs to the sword that day. A crowd of 621, witnessed hat-tricks from Johnny Nelson and Mick Cook, whilst Andy Young, Daryl Powell and Paul Okesene all scored two apiece. Scoring fifteen tries, and Mark Aston adding ten conversions, the Eagles progressed to the next round and a tie against Widnes, by the then record score 80-8, a record that stood for many years. Solomona was the Man of the Match and one of the try scorers, but he had to fly home after a second family bereavement in a month. He never returned to play for the club again.

The tries kept coming the following week, as the side visited bottom club Huddersfield. A further six were scored on a snow covered pitch, which with Aston three conversions, the visitors recorded a 30-4 victory. November ended with the second round of the John Player Trophy, with the current League One Champions, Widnes the opponents at Owlerton. A crowd of 2,716 watched the match, but the visitors were too powerful for the Eagles, taking the game 32-9. But the score flattered the champions, as Martin Offiah scored three quick tries as the Sheffield side tired.

With four victories, November had been a productive month for the Eagles. With 15 points they had moved into the play-off positions in sixth place.

December brought three more league games and three more victories. Mark Fleming arrived at the club on loan from first division Halifax and played for the club for the rest of the season. A trip to Keighley brought a 34-12 victory, the Eagles scoring five tries, whilst Mark Aston added to his tally with seven successful kicks. The following weekend, Dewsbury were the victims of ten try blitz, with Andy Dickinson scoring four tries and Daryll Powell scoring a couple. Aston was less successful with his kicking, converting five of the tries in the 50-8 rout.

The traditional Boxing Day game was a derby match with fourth place

Doncaster at Tattersfield, the first time they had played against Roy Rafferty since his transfer. He managed to score two goals, but it was the Eagles who triumphed with a six try haul. In front of a crowd of over 2,500, Powell crossed the hosts whitewash twice, one of which involved a 60 metres individual run, whilst Aston again contributed five goals in the 34-20 victory.

By the start of 1989, the Sheffield Club had won nine and drawn one of their fourteen league games and were in sixth position in the league with 19 points. Mark Aston was in the top ten of goal scorers of both divisions with 66 to date, not far off Rafferty’s Eagles record of 76 in one season.

The Eagles were away at Mansfield for the New Year game. The Marksmen were third from bottom of the league, having won only four games in the first half of the season. They were no match for a rampant Sheffield side who scored eight tries in a one-sided game. Five of those came from Daryl Powell, which was a club record, whilst Paul Okesene scored a couple and Steve Evans also touched down. Aston added nine goals, the Eagles taking the game 50-10, moving into third place in Division 2. Pete Wilders had been made Captain for the day for his one hundredth appearance for the club.

Batley were the next to suffer at the hands of the Sheffield side. Daryl Powell was again on the scoresheet with another two tries, as were Mark Gamson and Steve Evans. Mark Aston was successful, adding five kicks to the eight tries, the Eagles victorious by 42-4. Aston had now moved to second place in the goal scorers league with 80 to his credit, setting a new Eagles record, which he was to add to in the remainder of the season.

Mark Geyer had returned to Penrith for the start of the Australian league season in January and had been replaced by fellow Australian Warren Smiles. He had played for 50 minutes of the Batley game, coming off the bench as a substitute.

The winning run continued when promotion chasing Swinton arrived at Owlerton. They were dispatched 23-6. with Aston again contributing three goals and a drop goal. The Eagles finished with twelve men, due to the dismissal of Andy Dickinson. Dave Nelson dislocated his collar bone in the game and was out for six weeks.

The last win of the seven match unbeaten run was the first round Challenge Cup game against Leigh at Owlerton. Leigh had already beaten the Eagles in both league games, and it was a typical no quarters given match. The Sheffield side managed to get ahead in the latter part of the game and held on to record a memorable victory 23-17. Aston, in scoring four goals, and a drop goal passed Roy Rafferty’s goal scoring record of 187 points scored in the Eagles second season.

The Eagles won the Second Division Team of the Month Award for their January performance, whilst Daryl Powell secured the Rugby League Entertainer of the month for his 11 tries in four games.

With eleven games left in the season, defeat finally came at McLaren Field, when they met fourth placed Bramley, watched by a crowd of over 1,050, Leading 7-6 at half time, the Eagles could only manage a penalty, whilst their opponents were awarded two and then scored a field goal in the dying seconds to take the points. However Mark Aston moved to the position of top goal scorer after the game with 83 to his credit for the season

The following weekend they were at home to first division Oldham in the second round of the Challenge Cup. It attracted a crowd of 3.636 to Owlerton, the largest home crowd of the season. Despite an Andy Dickinson converted try, the Eagles were behind 19-6 at half time. Outscoring Oldham in the second half, with tries from Daryl Powell and Andy Cartwright, they went out of the Cup 32-20, with Oldham losing to the eventual Cup winners, Wigan, in the next round.

As the season approached its crucial last stages the Eagles were in fourth position with 25 points, just one point behind third placed Doncaster who were in the last available promotion spot. But there were five other clubs who were in contention for that third spot. York and Bramley were on the same number of points as Sheffield, whilst Swinton and Whitehaven were three points behind. Carlisle were ninth on 21 points. Both Leigh and Barrow were well ahead of this chasing pack and were guaranteed promotion. Commenting on the situation, Gary Hetherington believed that the unfairness of the arrangements for allocating fixtures had brought this situation about:

Following their Cup exit, the Eagles played host to lowly placed Huddersfield. Two tries from Daryl Powell and one a piece from Mark Gamson and Andy Young, all converted by Aston, resulted in victory by 24-0. This was followed by a further win at promotion chasing Swinton, 30-14. Amongst the Eagles try scorers were Phil Cartwright and Andy Dickinson with a brace each, which moved them up into the third promotion spot.

March opened with a home tie against fourth placed Doncaster. Only a point separated the clubs. Whoever won the game were in a strong position to claim third spot and be favourites for promotion. It was a typical derby match with only a point separating the two sides at the final whistle.

With over 2,250 in attendance, the Eagles led at half-time 25-18 through tries from Smiles, Dickinson, and Cartwright and six goals and a field goal from Aston. But throughout the game there were issues with the performance of the referee.

Doncaster narrowed Sheffield’s lead to within five points, through a controversial penalty to the visitors. Defending desperately against continuous pressure from the visitors, as the clock approached eighty minutes, former Eagles player, Audley Pennant forced his way over and with the resultant conversion, the Dons won 26-25, replacing the Eagles in third spot.

Doncaster’s run in to the end of the season appeared a lot easier than Sheffield’s, and they looked prime candidates for promotion, but that was not to be. After beating Whitehaven in the next game, they went onto lose five of their remaining six matches finishing in sixth position.

The Eagles however seem to have been regalvanised by the defeat. 

Playing without an injured Daryl Powell, they beat Hunslet at Owlerton 24-10, before travelling to second placed Barrow, whom they had drawn with earlier in the season. Sheffield stormed to a 23-3 half time lead, but four second half tries by Barrow, including one in injury time brought the scores to 24-20 at the final whistle. It was the Eagles kicking, three by Aston, and two David Close drop goals that enabled them to get the result, along with a bit of pre-match planning.

After regaining the third promotion spot another strong performance at York helped them consolidate it. The Eagles won the Good Friday game 21-0, and this was followed by a home game against Fulham two days later. It was in complete contrast to the previous game, as the game was littered with poor handling. It was Paul Okesene last game before returning to New Zealand, yet despite the errors, the Eagles took the two points, with a 24-16 victory. Mark Aston passed the 250 points in a season mark with six goals. The York game saw the debut of Sonny Nickle, who had been signed from Hunslet for a club-record fee of £21,000. 

April began with the visit of Chorley, who were in seventeenth spot. Playing in atrocious conditions, that eventually turned into a mud bath, the Eagles were never troubled, running in 26 points to their visitors converted try. With that victory, they secured the vital third promotion spot in front of a crowd of 1,252. Captain for the day Mark Fleming led his victorious team off to a champagne reception. Whilst the Eagles were celebrating, the previous day at nearby Hillsborough football stadium, a tragedy occurred that would impact all sport for many years to come, but particularly the Eagles in their forthcoming adventure in Rugby League’s top division.

After gaining promotion, the Eagles league campaign appeared to run out of steam in their last two league fixtures, both away from home. First was a trip to Dewsbury which they lost 18-11, and the following week they were at Hunslet which, after the sending off of Steve Evans, the twelve men were unable to hold out their hosts, losing the game 32-6.

Finishing their season on a low, the Eagles had won nineteen of their twenty games and drawn one, securing third place with 39 points, four points more than fourth placed York.

Many thought that if they gained promotion, they would be back in Division Two the season after next. But Gary Hetherington believed that the two defeats was the proper psychological preparation for what was to come in the next few weeks and beyond. It was to be hoped that the Eagles would regain their momentum as the season moved into the Play-Off phase.

In the previous two seasons the Eagles had been knocked out at the first hurdle of the play-offs. This season they had a home tie against South Yorkshire rivals, Doncaster. It was a typical derby with both teams going in at half-time having scored four points each. Soon after the restart, Sheffield had accumulated a further 14 points in seven minutes by running the ball and creating gaps in the opposition defence. Two tries from Andy Dickinson and one each for Sonny Nickle and Mick Cook sent the Eagles through to the semi-final stage, 28-10, where they faced a long trip to Barrow the following weekend.

The Doncaster fixture was the last ever time that he club played at Owlerton for nearly 24 years as they were advised by their landlords, Sheffield City Council in early September that the safety certificate was being withheld from the stadium for Rugby League games. This was as a consequence of the interim Taylor report into the Hillsborough Disaster.

Second placed Barrow had flown Brisbane centre Jeff Burns back to play in the game. Barrow had beaten Whitehaven 30-5 in their quarterfinal. It was a match that Hetherington regarded as the hardest the club had ever played. A close affair, Barrow led 6-0 at halftime. The Eagles rallied from the restart with a try from Mark Fleming which was converted by Mark Aston, Aston then added a penalty and a drop goal, helping the visitors to victory, 9-6 and a place in the final at Old Trafford on Sunday 14th May 1989.

Their opponents were Swinton who had beaten champions Leigh 20-8 in the other semifinal. Hetherington’s preparations for the game were thorough, analysing his opponents and setting his traps. In front of a crowd of 40,198, the Eagles opened the scoring with a dropped goal by Mark Aston, making him the first Eagles player to score in every match that season. He controlled play throughout the game, even when Swinton had taken the lead and then advanced it to 8-1, but by half-time the Sheffield side had regained the lead 13-8. Daryl Powell scored a hattrick that day, with tries also coming from Paul Broadbent, Mick Cook, Paul McDermott and Mark Aston. McDermott played the game of a lifetime in his 99th and last performance for the club. The Eagles ended the day Premiership winners 43-18, with Aston contributing 19 points. For his all-round performance he was chosen as Man of the Match.

Gary Hetherington regarded the victory as the high point of his coaching career. A squad that had cost very little to put together, less than what had been spent by other clubs in the dash for promotion, had achieved one of the ultimate accolades, which others had failed to do so over many decades. Promotion within five years to the top division of the Rugby Football League. That had been achieved by the close camaraderie of those that were glad to put on the Eagles shirt which made it a special club, different from many others that made up the top two divisions of the Rugby Football League.

The victory at Old Trafford was the culmination of five years of progress and was the most successful to date, both on and off the field.

On the field records tumbled, and the points haul for the club was a record 889 from all competitions. Mark Aston was crowned Player of the season, scoring five tries, 135 goals and 13 drop goals to accumulate a record 307 points for a season.

Top try scorer was Daryl Powell with 28 tries plus 2 drop goals, Andy Dickinson was second with 17and Mark Gamson third with 12. Powell also secured the Division’s player of the year award.

Paul Broadbent and Mark Aston were called up to the Great Britain Under 21 squad.

As with every season players moved on from the club. Those that left included some who had only had one season with the Eagles, but others who had been at the club since its first campaign:

• Derek Bridgeman (Keighley)
• Steve Evans (Bradford Northern)
• Chris McDermott
• Darren Hale
• Paul Okesene (NZ)
• Peter Wilders (Eagles Alliance)
• Gary Charlton (Hull KR)
• Mark Gibson (Castleford)
• Paul McDermott (Rochdale Hornets)
• Graham Idle (Doncaster)
• Maseesee Solomona (NZ)

In his five years at the club Derek Bridgeman made 119 appearances for the club scoring 25 tries. Paul McDermott in his two spells at the club appeared 99 times scoring 37 tries. Pete Wilders appeared 102 times over five years scoring 5 tries, who then appeared for the newly formed Alliance side for the 1989-90 Season as captain.

Paul McDermott was out of contract and placed on the transfer list, which brought in a fee of £12,500 following the decision of a Rugby League tribunal.

Off the field, during the season, work went on to establish an Eagles Alliance team with a view to joining the Alliance League in the 1989-90 Season. A series of friendlies were arranged in preparation.

Development activities went from strength to strength. During the first half of the season, in a typical week around 700 youngsters in Sheffield were involved in activities organised by SARDRLA either through coaching in and out of schools or playing in competitive matches. By the second half of the season that had grown to 1,000.

The club decided not to operate a Colts side. But they expanded from having just two age level teams in 1987-88 to having teams from under 9s up to Under 17 competing in the junior Yorkshire Leagues. A Sheffield Schools League was also in operation involving 12 schools with the Finals day at the end of November before the main Eagles matches. Nearly every Eagles home game had a junior match played as a curtain raiser to the main event.

A key development was the creation of a South West Yorkshire U19 squad which competed and won a number of games against similar sub-regional teams. In the wider community, in addition to the clubs that were operating at an amateur level, a new club, High Green ARLFC competed in the Yorkshire League, coached by Paul McDermott

The Eagles development activities were awarded an important accolade when it was decided to hold School boy International between England B and France at Owlerton, with the England team drawn from the developing areas including South Yorkshire.

The average number attending all home games at Owlerton rose from

738 to 1,184, whilst the divisional average fell slightly from 1,286 to

1,200. League matches before the New Year attracted an average of 580, whilst after that had risen 1,182. Success had attracted more people to home games, but they would need to be much higher if the Eagles were to survive in the top division.

First Division status would also require a more rigorous professional organisation that would lose some , but certainly not all, of the close knit atmosphere that had been generated in the Owlerton Panorama Room, R&Bs Uptown Bar and in the schools and community.

Would the Eagles survive and thrive in the First Division, or would they go the way of many of their predecessors, facing automatic relegation after promotion, as many believed they would.