1989-90 - Life on the Road

It was the general view outside Sheffield that the Eagles would be relegated at the end of their first Championship season. Teams promoted in the third promotion spot from the Second Division, invariably were back in that division the following season. But most of those clubs failed to achieve what the Sheffield side had done, win their Divisional Premiership final.

The Championship comprised a group of clubs who were guaranteed to be there year in year out. Household names like Wigan, St Helens, Warrington, Leeds, Bradford, Hull. Castleford and the current Champions Widnes. The remainder often found themselves in the lower reaches of the Championship looking to retain their place and avoid falling into the bottom three relegation places.

Gary Hetherington was very optimistic that the Eagles would avoid the drop. Having one of the younger sides in the division, many of whom had played together for a number of seasons, they had sufficient quality, albeit untested, to stand their own against the more experienced, and well established clubs.

He retained a core of eighteen players from the promotional season:

• Mark Aston
• Phil Cartwright
• Michael Cook
• Mark Fleming
• Nick Grimoldby
• Neil Kellett
• David Nelson
• Daryl Powell
• Gary Van Bellen
• Paul Broadbent
• David Close
• Andy Dickinson
• Mark Gamson
• Nick Halafihi
• Steve Lidbury
• Sonny Nickle
• Warren Smiles
• Andy Young

To that group he signed a number of players following his established principle of mixing young talent with players with a more experienced head:

• Steve Dobson (Ryedale York Loan)
• Jeff Hardy (Illawarra Aus)
• Francis Leota (NZ)
• David Mycoe (Crigglestone All Blacks)
• Hugh Waddell (Leeds)
• Anthony Farrell (Huddersfield)
• Martin Ketteridge (Castleford Loan)
• Bruce McGuire (Balmain)
• Tawera Nikau (Auckland NZ)
• Sean Willey (Ryedale York)

The Eagles, because they were now in the Championship, could only have three overseas players on their books at any one time.

Injured at start of season were Mick Cook. Mark Fleming and David Close. Steve Dobson and Martin Ketteridge were brought in on loan deals to cover these players.

Anthony Farrell joined from Huddersfield for a club record at the time £55,000 fee. Both Jeff Hardy and Bruce McGuire were signed for the first half of the season, before they were due to return to Australia for the start of the Australian season, when they would be replaced by both Leota and Nikau who were then currently members of the Kiwi team that were touring Great Britain.

The Eagles also signed a number of young players from the amateur ranks to be the nucleus of the Eagles new Alliance squad – Lance Cator, Richard Branton, Graham Oakley (Featherstone), Chris Beddis, Dean Johnson (Middleton Leeds), Richard Picksley, Lee Stainforth, Dale Laughton (Dodworth) and Mark Green. Peter Wilders, who had played for Sheffield side was tasked with the role of captain and mentor to his young charges on the field of play.

Planning for the new season, the Eagles were aware that they would have to play some of their home games away from Owlerton. In the wake of the Hillsborough tragedy earlier in 1989, the police had placed a limit of 4,000 spectators attending games at Owlerton. Gary Hetherington had already approached both Wednesday and United about hosting two to three of the bigger games, identifying those against, St Helens, Wigan, Widnes, Hull and Leeds as the ones that would attract larger visitor numbers, plus any additional support locally attracted by these big name clubs.

Both the two Sheffield clubs agreed to host two of the five, Wednesday hosting St Helens and Wigan, and United Widnes and Hull. Eventually, Hetherington obtained the agreement of Chesterfield to host the Leeds game.

In preparation for the Championship, the Sheffield side started their preseason earlier than they had done in previous years. They also organised a couple of warm up games prior to the start of their first Championship game. They had a repeat of last season’s friendly against South West Yorkshire Amateurs in early August, who they beat 50-2. The Eagles also appeared in the Wigan Sevens where they had their work cut out in the beating Leeds, Wakefield and Widnes on the road to lifting the Trophy.

The Eagles kicked off their season at Hillsborough against St Helens in front of a crowd of 6,200, five times larger than the seasonal average gate in the previous year. St Helens had finished seventh in the previous season and had been runners up in the Challenge Cup. In a match built as a David v Goliath contest, the Eagles had at halfback 17 year old David Mycoe in his first ever professional game.

They dominated the game in the first half ,with tries from Paul Broadbent, Sonny Nickle, and Jeff Hardy, all converted by Mark Aston, to which he added a drop goal, to lead 19-10. They maintained their lead for a further 15 minutes scoring a solitary point from a Powell drop goal , before their visitors got their noses ahead, scoring twenty points, to claim the game 30-20.

The club were then advised by Sheffield City Council that the safety certificate for Rugby League matches was going to be withheld from Owlerton Stadium pending the Stadium’s management meeting 43 safety requirements. The management’s response was that even if the money was available, it would take several months to make the necessary alterations.

The decision made the club virtually homeless. The next two games were away, and it was agreed to reschedule the next home game against Barrow, switching the 25th of September tie to the Barrow’s ground, with the reciprocal away tie being scheduled to be played as the home game. Fortunately their Yorkshire Cup tie was away at Batley, whilst their second round tie was also drawn as an away game. The Widnes home game was already scheduled to be played at Bramall Lane, and the next home match after that was to be played at the end of October. The problem for the club was that the scheduling of games at sub-regional professional football club venues was limited because it was the football season, and those grounds would be most likely tied up with games already.

Doncaster RLFC offered their Tattersfield ground as a venue, whilst the City Council leader, Clive Betts, tried to persuade the two Sheffield clubs to take on more games, but to no avail, When Rotherham United refused to allow games at Millmoor, Chesterfield FC came to the rescue, as did Barnsley FC.

In the time available the club managed to secure the following grounds for their home games:

• Hillsborough - St Helens and Wigan
• Bramall Lane - Widnes and Hull
• Tattersfield Barrow, Castleford, Leigh, Salford, Warrington 
• Thrum Hall - Rochdale Hornets Challenge Cup 
• Belle Vue - Featherstone Rovers
• Saltergate Bradford, Castleford (Regal Trophy), Leeds Oakwell Wakefield Trinity

Whilst the decision not to allow Rugby League at Owlerton had no effect on the training facilities for the club, as they trained at Featherstone, since the majority of the team were West Yorkshire based only appearing in Sheffield on match days. It did have an impact on training and coaching for youngsters involved in development activities. An alternative venue was found at Woodburn Road,

The decision had a significant impact on the finances and support for the club, however. Whilst the four games based in Sheffield attracted an average crowd of 6,000, those held outside the city averaged 2,680. If all the games had been played in Sheffield this might have acted as a benchmark for future developments with the increased potential gate money helping towards strengthening the club’s finances. With the added costs of paying for venues and paying for police, the club made an overall £100,000 loss for the season

The club’s Owlerton woes did not have any apparent impact on the team’s performance on the field, Their next game away at Featherstone Rovers brought their first victory. The hosts were completely out played, with the Eagles stablishing a 17-0 lead after 30 minutes with tries from Powell, Hardy and Andy Dickinson, plus two conversions and a field goal from Aston. By the half time break Featherstone had pulled an unconverted try back, and despite rallying in the second half, fell 37-12 to the visitors, with further tries from Nickle, Grimoldby and Andy Young, with Dickinson adding a further one to his tally.

Prior to the game the Eagles fans had organised a sponsored walk from the Birdwell roundabout to Post Office Road to raise £1,500 to assist the finances of the club.

A week later the Eagles travelled to Batley in a first round tie in the Yorkshire Cup. It was again a dominant display of free scoring rugby, with Jeff Hardy securing a hat-trick, whilst Andy Young helped himself to a brace to qualify for the next round, 36-6. Next was a trip to Cumbria to face Barrow. The Eagles put on a polished performance, scoring four tries to the hosts two, with Andy Dickinson claiming a brace this time, ensuring the visitors went home with a winning bonus in their pockets, 22-10.

September ended with the second round Yorkshire Cup tie at Odsal against Bradford, where they managed a solitary try by captain Darryl Powell, knocked out of the Cup for another season. Bradford went on to win the Cup, beating Featherstone Rovers in the final. Having played three Championship games, the Eagles found themselves in fifth position in the league with four points.

Before their next game at Belle Vue to face Wakefield Trinity, Bruce McGuire arrived from Australia, having been involved in Balmain’s run to the Grand Final. Behind 16-2 at the half time break, the Eagles turned it around in the second forty minutes, with tries from Powell, McGuire, Young and Nelson with Aston adding twelve points with the boot, ensuring a 28-16 victory.

Having won three from four, the Sheffield side faced their next major challenge, the visit of World Club Champions Widnes to Bramall Lane.

The previous week Widnes had been playing Canberra Raiders in the World Club Championship, whom they had beaten 30-18. With Widnes fielding a virtually unchanged side from that game, the Eagles biggest ever crowd at a home game, 8,636, watched the Sheffield side control the game at Bramall Lane, through Mark Aston prompting every attack and inch perfect tactical kicking. Leading 8-4 at the break, the Eagles demolished the World Champions in the second half. McGuire and Smiles ripped through the Widnes defence to score. Hardy added to his first half try, before Nickle completed a touchline run from Gamson by touching down. Grimoldby added another, whilst Aston landed five goals and a drop goal before being flattened by Andy Curier, for which he was sinbinned, whilst David Mycoe was stretchered off with a feared fractured leg, after being targeted by the Widnes defence, with ten minutes to go. With a further victory under their belts, 31-6, the Eagles had soared to the top of the Championship with eight points from five games.

But the next three games brought them down to earth with a bump. A trip a week later to Castleford saw a closely fought game. Mycoe recovering from a badly bruised leg, rather than a fracture was impressive, scoring a try in both halves before further heavy targeted tackling led to him retiring from the field. After thirty minutes, the visitors were ahead 14-6, courtesy of an Andy Dickinson try, before a highly questionable penalty try was awarded to Castleford which levelled the scores at half-time. With ten minutes left the Eagles had retaken the lead 22-20, with two penalties from Aston, before the hosts scored a last minute try, taking the game 2422.

Next up were Leeds at Saltergate, a game that nearly got cancelled by the police due to the failure of the PA system. Despite tries from Dickinson, Nelson and Gamson they lost the game 27-16, which saw the visitors into top spot. But one positive was the crowd of 4,622, which vindicated Hetherington’s decision to hold a game there. 

The Eagles next faced Wigan at Hillsborough. The crowd of 7,642, saw a creditable performance from the home side with tries from Nelson and Nickle, but Aston only managed a single conversion. Wigan eventually triumphed 22-10, whilst the Eagles found themselves down to third place in the Championship in the early part of November.

Sheffield were desperate for a win to reverse their fortunes. Their next game was a mid-week Regal Trophy game away at Warrington, followed by a further visit to Wilderspool four days later in the league.

The Eagles won the preliminary round Regal Trophy tie, 12-4, through tries from both Powell and Gamson. They then went on to win again at the weekend, beating a team that had been top of the Championship a month earlier. The 36-22 victory was achieved through six tries all converted by Aston, who contributed16 points overall to the Eagles tally.

But they lost their next home league game at Saltergate to Bradford, 3414, before struggling to scrape a draw at Salford. Outplayed by the home side they were twenty points behind into the second half, before rallying after a stern half-time talk, with Kellett, Smiles and Powell scoring the tries and Aston contributing four goals, to level the game at 20 points each. 

David Mycoe was the Open Rugby Magazine Shooting Star for November 1989

Further victories followed in the Regal Trophy in early December, but this run meant that games had to be re-arranged to later in the season. First to fall victim were Rochdale Hornets. Hetherington managed to secure Halifax’s Thrum Hall as a venue. Although the ground was much nearer to Rochdale than Sheffield, it attracted a crowd of over 2,300, many of whom had ventured up from South Yorkshire. The seven try 36-22 victory secured an away tie at Swinton, much to the relief of the Sheffield management who didn’t have to scramble around looking for a venue at such short notice.

Swinton were no match for the Eagles as they were easily beaten by a five try 28-6 victory, but the quarter final draw was less kind throwing up a home-tie against Castleford. Hetherington managed to get it scheduled at Saltergate, but it was not to be the Eagles day. The pitch was very heavy after having had a football match played on it the previous day. The muddy conditions favoured their opponents style of play, so Sheffield found themselves penned in their own half for large chunks of the game. As a consequence they went out of the competition 18-2, with only Aston managing to score a penalty. It was his hundredth appearance in an Eagles shirt. Castleford then lost their semi-final to the resultant winners of the Trophy, Wigan. 

The Eagles had five league games to play between Boxing Day and the third round of the Challenge Cup at the end of January. Their home game against bottom of the table Barrow was moved from the 30th of December to 25th February. They lost all five in a dismal run that saw them drop from seventh in the league into the relegation places.

Boxing Day involved a trip to Hull, where they lost 15-6, the Eagles only points coming from a Dave Nelson try and an Aston conversion.

Three days into the New Year they played fellow strugglers Featherstone Rovers at Wakefield’s Belle Vue. Despite a brace from Jeff Hardy and a try from David Mycoe, they fell behind and were unable to close the gap, going down 30-20. They also lost Warren Smiles, who suffered a broken leg and did play again for the club, as the Eagles could not offer him a new contract and he returned to Australia at end of the season. He however coached the Alliance side during his recuperation for his injury for the rest of the season Sean Willey, another Australian, came in as a replacement from York. Smiles had a problem with his visa expiring in December as well. His request for an extension was refused by the Home Office and he and his wife Ros, who worked in the Eagles’ office faced deportation. However intervention by his local MPs and support from Sheffield schools, managed to get his case into the appeals procedure which enabled him to remain on the Eagles books until the end of the season.

Four days later they faced Warrington at Tattersfield. Originally scheduled for Saltergate, the game had to be transferred as the Chesterfield pitch had been badly cut up following a football game. Although they had already beaten the visitors twice in the season, they were unable to do so for a third time, narrowly losing 12-8, with Powell scoring the Eagles only try and Aston adding two goals. David Mycoe nearly scored the try that would have given the Eagles a much needed victory as he broke away from the Warrington defence, only to be hauled down a yard from the try line. Likewise Powell had been bundled into touch as he neared the line. Attended by only 1,298 at short notice, it was their lowest home crowd of their nomadic season.

The game marked the departure of Bruce McGuire and Jeff Hardy who had to fly back to Australia to meet the deadline for registration for the Winfield Cup. Hardy had been released from his Illawarra contract and had hoped to sign for St George, but a contract was not forthcoming. The Eagles were faced with having four overseas players available, but only three contracts., so were unable to offer one to Hardy. He managed to find a berth at Castleford for the remaining 15 games of the season for whom he scored nine tries in their successful attempt to move up the table away from the relegation zone. He also stayed with them for the following season, before returning to Australia, later to return to the Eagles in the Super league IV season. In that time he played in the Castleford victory over Sheffield in March at Tattersfield.

The next defeat was at Wigan in a mid-week game, the Eagles beaten comprehensively 30-2. Next up was a visit to fellow strugglers Leigh. This was targeted as a realistic win by Hetherington but ended in a narrow 2816 defeat, with Powell securing a brace of tries and Andy Dickinson scoring the other one. . They were now facing the growing threat that they would be relegated if they were unable to turn the tide.

The last Sunday in January brought some respite, with the first round Challenge Cup game at Barrow. The home side were in a much worse predicament than their visitors, having won only one league game all season and were at the foot of the Championship table. They beat the Cumbrian side 22-12. Although it was the first win since their victory against Swinton in early December, they had had to defend throughout the second half against a determined Barrow side camped in their half looking for a win. Yet tries from Mycoe, Powell and Willey, with Aston contributing five goals, saw them through to the next round..

With the departure of their two Australians, the Eagles welcomed Francis Leota, a Kiwi Test player, and Tawera Nikau to the squad. Both had been in the Kiwi squad that had toured the country in the early part of the season, To fund their signings, sufficient cash had been raised through the Eagles Holiday Draw. Leota made his debut in the Wigan game, becoming a crowd favourite with his storming runs through opposition defences. Nikau was also a player of high class although it took a while for him to become a regular player.

February brought two consecutive games against Wakefield, firstly a home league fixture at Oakwell, followed by a fourth round Challenge Cup tie away. 

Both sides were looking for a win. Trinity to challenge Wigan at the top, Eagles to stop their slide down the table. A crowd of over 5,100 witnessed another masterly display of kicking skill from Mark Aston, who landed six goals and a drop goal, creating two tries with grubber kicks and constantly driving Wakefield back into their own half. Nikau secured his first try for the Eagles, whilst Powell scored two, with the Eagles taking the two precious match points, 24-10.

The following weekend, Trinity got their revenge, dumping the Eagles out of the Challenge Cup, 27-12. Playing on a churned up pitch, the Sheffield pack failed to dominate their opponents as they had the previous week, despite Powell and Nikau scoring again. Wakefield were beaten in the following round by the eventual winners of the Challenge Cup, Wigan.

Mid-February brought their largest defeat of the season. Leeds were challenging for top spot and had beaten Barrow 90-0 the previous week. They easily saw off the Eagles challenge, running out 44-2 winners. Gary Hetherington was totally unhappy at the lack of fight from his team, particularly as they were in the middle of a battle to avoid the drop.

The Eagles also had some very good news despite their heavy defeat. The City Council, through the efforts of Clive Betts and Peter Price, offered the £29 million Don Valley Stadium to the Eagles as their home ground for the 1990-91 season, Although still a building site, Gary Hetherington snapped up the offer as he had already been looking at moving the Eagles out of the City to another venue. Leicester City Council had made an offer to home the club.

The Stadium was due to be completed. in July for the World Student Games which was scheduled to .took place in 1991. An Athletics event ,the McVities Athletics International was already booked for the first week in September, but after that the Sheffield side could start playing matches the following week.

It became the Eagles home for the next twenty three years and was also the venue in that time for a number of rock concerts, American football, hosted Rotherham United for a season, not forgetting athletics events.

With eight games left in their season, the Eagles found themselves still in the third relegation spot in the Championship won 13 points. Below them were Salford with 7 points and Barrow with only 2. Above them were Featherstone and Castleford with 14 points, and Leigh with 16.

Four of their games were against teams in the bottom six, whilst Leigh had two, Castleford five, and Featherstone had one. Hence the view that they had to win all four of those games if there was to be Championship rugby at Don Valley next season.

The reason for the Eagles predicament was well summed up by Gary Hetherington in his programme notes for the Wakefield game:

The Eagles next match was the rescheduled game against wooden spoonists Barrow. Their opponents were easily overcome at Tattersfield, 40-2 due to Sheffield’s seven try romp. The six goals that Aston managed in the game, moved him into fourth position in the top 10 try goal scorers with 85 to his name. The win moved the Eagles above Featherstone in the league. out of the bottom three, and they now were one point behind Leigh, the club’s next opponents at Tattersfield, but having a significantly poorer goal difference than Hetherington’s side.

This was their first of the four games in March. They outscored their visitors by nine tries to one, including the first ever hat-trick of tries to be scored in a Championship game, by Andy Dickinson. With Aston slotting five goals the Eagles moved ahead of Leigh, and despite Featherstone winning against Warrington, they remained clear of the drop by a single point. 

This was to be Mark Aston’s last full game of the season as in their next fixture at home to Castleford, he was dismissed for a high tackle, after scoring two goals and a drop goal in the Eagles narrow defeat,18-14. It was a Jeff Hardy break that lead to the try that saw the Eagles fall to defeat, whilst Francis Leota managed to record his maiden try for the Eagles. Up until that game Aston had scored in each of the 65 games he had played consecutively since August 1988. The eight week ban he received from the disciplinary committee also meant that he could go no higher than third in the top goal scorers competition, finishing with 90 for the season.

Castleford’s win took them out of the relegation battle as they maintained momentum winning all their remaining matches to finish seventh in the Championship on 32 points. Leigh went ahead of the Eagles by beating Barrow, whilst Featherstone beat Widnes. The Eagles were back in the bottom three.

After the game Heatherington signed GB International Hugh Waddell for £50,000 to bolster the team, even though the club could not financially afford to do so. Waddell was looking for regular football which he wasn’t getting at Leeds and played in all the remaining games of the season.

Without their high scoring kicker, the Sheffield side were away at Odsal in the next game. It was a hard fought game, which the Eagles led at halftime 12-8, but Bradford rallied to claim victory, 28-16. All the Eagles points came from tries scored by Gamson, Nickle and a brace from Richard Picksley, with no successful goal attempts. Elsewhere Leigh drew with Widnes, increasing their lead over the Eagles to two points, whilst Featherstone lost to Salford.

March ended with yet another home time at Tattersfield against Salford. Still with an outside chance of avoiding relegation, albeit it slim, Salford needed to beat the Eagles if they had any chance of survival. In a game that belied the positions of the two teams, exciting open football was the norm for the day. Passing the ball with flair and confidence Sheffield were ahead 13-0 at half time, with tries from Picksley and Nikau, in his farewell performance before returning home. His fellow Kiwi Leota also had an inspired first half, before he also left the club for New Zealand. The Eagles were the first to score in the second half through the dependable Kellett, to increase the lead to 17 points, before Salford hit back with two converted tries, but that was not enough to claim victory, the Eagles hanging on to claim victory.

With three games left, the win enabled the Eagles to again climb out of the bottom three ahead of Leigh on points difference, who had lost to St Helens, and above Featherstone, who had been beaten by Wigan.

Sheffield’s next game was on April Fool’s day at Widnes, who they had spectacularly beaten at Bramall Lane just after they had been crowned World Champions. Prior to the game, Hetherington had secured the goal kicking services of Martin Ketteridge in a loan deal with Castleford. They were out for revenge, and they got it, defeating the visitors 52-20, Fortunately both Featherstone and Leigh had lost their games, so the Eagles remained in tenth position.

The following weekend they travelled to St Helens, were they again lost 42-26, Yet again fortune was on their side, whilst Featherstone surprisingly best Bradford, Leigh again lost and were back in the relegation zone, by virtue of their inferior points difference. 

For the last match of the season on Easter Monday, they had a home game at Bramall Lane against sixth placed Hull, whilst Featherstone faced second placed Leeds and Leigh had a derby match against top of the table Wigan. The game was covered by Sky TV, the first Eagles game to be covered by satellite TV. In a game where the Eagles were always second best, in front of a crowd of 5,856, they were 12-4 behind at the break, all the points scored by Ketteridge’s boot, and by the final whistle they had lost 32-4. Waiting with bated breath they learnt that Leigh had also been beaten in their derby game, 34-6, and that Featherstone had lost to Leeds 25-14.

The Eagles had survived by the skin of their teeth. Finishing in eleventh place with the same number of points as Leigh, 19. They had a negative points difference of 71. Whilst Leigh’s was -200.

Out of the three clubs that had been promoted from the Second Division at the end of the previous season, only the Eagles had survived to fight another Championship season.

Although crowds were up for the Eagles, compared to those attending at Owlerton, the average per game was the third lowest of the fourteen clubs at 3,855, only Barrow and Salford being watched by lower numbers.

Ground and Average Crowd

• Hillsborough 6,921
• Bramall Lane 7,246
• Tattersfield 1,739
• Thrum Hall 2,307
• Belle Vue 2,756
• Saltergate 3,541
• Oakwell 5,104
• Overall Eagles Average 3,855
• Championship Average 5,407

Mark Aston was top points scorer for the club with 197 from 54 goals, five drop goals and a single try. Darryl Powell was top try scorer with 16, followed by Andy Dickinson with 14 and Jeff Hardy with 13 from half a Season. Tawera Nikau scored 5 tries in his 10 game, a very good strike rate.

In the end of season awards event, Mick Cook was Player’s Player of the Year whilst Sonny Nickle was the Most Improved Player of the year and Richard Picksley was awarded the Alliance Player of the Year.

A number of Eagles received recognition through being called up to play for Great Britain.:

• Darryl Powell included in GB squad against New Zealand November 1989. He also played off the bench against France in March 1989
• Sonny Nickle, Anthony Farrell and David Mycoe were selected to play for GBU21 against France. Mycoe and Nickle played prominent roles in the game whilst Farrell was on the bench. The U21s won the game 22-0 result in January. Nickle was picked for the return game in February but did not play. 

A with the previous season the Eagles saw a number of players leave the club.

• Phil Cartwright (Hunslet)
• Mark Fleming (Retired)
• Steve Lidbury (Nottingham)
• Tawera Nikau (NZ/ Ryedale York)
• Gary von Bellen (Dewsbury)
• Sean Wiley (Australia
• Jeff Hardy (Castleford)
• Bruce McGuire (Canterbury)
• Warren Smiles (Australia)

Steve Dobson and Martin Ketteridge returned to their clubs at the end of their loan period.

In the two seasons he was with the club Gary van Bellen played on 43 occasions, whilst Phil Cartwright played in 29 games scoring 6 tries.

Steve Lidbury played in 68 games for the club, recording 31 tries in the first two years of his stint at the club. In the latter two years he was out on loan.

Warren Smiles came to the club midway through their promotion season and left the club the following year. In the months he was with the Eagles he played in 32 games, scoring 5 tries, as well as working with local schools whilst his partner, Ros helped run the office. 

Following the success of the Sponsored Walk and the fund raising activities by fans to help in improving the club’s finances, including buying in as well as developing home grown talent, the Eagles Support Club was launched on the 8th of February 1990 by a group of fans.

One of their first decision was to establish a Young Members Club and run a programme of activities for young supporters, as well as using it as a vehicle to attract match day mascots.

For the older supporters they established a programme of events designed to raise funds for the Eagles, running a series of draws at matches to compliment the existing fund-raising initiatives. The Club planned to run a number of social events as well as organise travel to away games Race nights became a regular feature for fundraising in future years.

School and Community Development Activities continued to grow and expand, as the club tried to increase and improve the local talent that could be available in future years. The Eagles started to establish stronger links linked up with local amateur clubs including, Dodworth, Goldthorpe, Honeywell, Rotherham Rangers, Sheffield and Kimberworth, Royal Main Scorpions, Fox Inn, Hoyland and Eagles Juniors. Rotherham Sheffield and Barnsley each had their own Schools Association.

Each home game continued to feature pre-match competitive games between schools and community clubs at every home venue. The Junior Eagles played in the Yorkshire League at U17 and U15.

A strong mini league sections was developed and the SW Yorkshire Amateurs progressed into the quarter finals of the National Knockout Cup for the first time.

Another key development was the launch of a Sheffield Eagles team in the Alliance League Second Division. Playing at Woodburn Road Athletics Stadium they played 28 games throughout the season, winning thirteen and securing an eight place finish out of fifteen. They had notable victories against .Rochdale (22-10) Whitehaven (30-22), Bramley (3016),Barrow (17-6),Trafford Borough (28-6), Leigh (18-10), Ryedale York (28-18), Keighley (36-22), and Huddersfield (38.4). They drew against Bramley (26-26).

The Alliance was a good vehicle for senior players to get match fit before returning to the Championship squad. The Alliance team was frequently impacted by sickness and injuries, but many played on whilst carrying one. This showed the great spirit of the club. Two players scored a hattrick in a match. Sean Willey against Ryedale York and Anthony Farrell against Workington. Nick Halafihi scored a record 12 tries in a season Chris Beddoe scored nine goals against Keighley whilst Pete Wilders scored 42.

Whilst on teaching practice at Crookesmoor School teacher Tracy Solmon was introduced to Rugby League by Eagles players and school coaches Darryl Powell and mark Aston. Through them she contacted the South Yorkshire Rugby Development Officer, Tim Butcher.

It was Tim’s suggestion that a Women’s team be started as a touch and pass team in May so that they could enter the Whitbread sponsored Touch and Pass Competition at High Green in Sheffield. On the day, the Eagles team beat both the Dodsworth and the Stocksbridge sides, and even greater victories were recorded in the rematches.

Coached by Andy Barker, a series of friendlies were arranged over the next few months. They lost their opening game to Wigan , 4-0, in a warm up game to the Eagles home game against Widnes, before beating teams from Leeds, Rochdale and Huddersfield. Their first ever victory happening in November against an established East Leeds team. the end result being an 8-4 win. They played another curtain raiser against Halifax at the Thrum Hall game.

At the start of 1990 the team realised that if they were to continue then it would be necessary to play the full contact game. By March they felt confident to enter the Aggregate Cup, but were drawn against the national and league champions, Guiseley Angels. Putting up a brave fight they went out in the first round.

A Sheffield Women’s team was established and developed by coach Andy Barker. They played a series of friendlies throughout the season, with. They also beat Leeds and Huddersfield and played a curtain raiser, as well as entering the Aggregate Cup competition.

At the end of the season they were allowed to participate in the Women’s Second Division for the 1990-91 Season.