In
the summer of 1956 Rovers picked up wingman Cyril Woolford for the bargain sum
of just £400. It turned out to be one the shrewdest transfer market moves the
club ever made. Having started his career at Castleford, where he
played for six years, Woolford then went to Doncaster where he spent a further
three seasons. So by the time he arrived at Featherstone Cyril had a wealth of
experience, but there was no doubt that his best years were yet to come. He
grabbed two tries on his Featherstone debut against Leeds and never looked
back.
For their £400 investment Rovers got whole-hearted
endeavour from a player with plenty of speed who was raw-boned and hard to
tackle. He was fearless with the ball in hand, but was prepared to put
everything into his defence too, with some solid textbook tackling. Over the following
five seasons he rarely missed a match. This was a period during which Rovers
enjoyed unprecedented success, winning the Yorkshire Cup in 1959 when Cyril, as
vice-captain, grabbed one of Rovers’ tries. In the Challenge Cup he could
perhaps have cause to rue his luck that he never went to Wembley, losing in the
semi-finals of 1958, 1959 and 1960. Whilst Cyril was a fixture on the left
flank, there was no shortage of promising local youngsters who played right
wing during this time. Dennis Scholes had two good years, Barry Charlesworth was
a one-season wonder in 1960, Brian Kinsey played over four seasons without
fully establishing himself, and perhaps the most recognisable wing partner of
the era was Frank Smith, whose 101 games brought him 52 tries. That classic
three-quarter line up of Smith, Ken Greatorex, Jim Hunt and Woolford is fondly
remembered by older fans.
Woolford’s efforts brought representative
recognition when he won his Yorkshire county cap in 1957 playing, as he
occasionally did, at centre. His year by year try tallies were a fair
reflection of his consistent approach. In all he managed 88 tries in 185 games
for Featherstone Rovers, but without doubt his vintage year was 1959/60 when he
broke the club try scoring record which had belonged to Eric Batten. His record
of 31 tries that year stood for over thirty years until a phenomenal year from
Paul Newlove (albeit at second division level) shattered the record. No player
has passed 31 tries since 1992/3.
Cyril’s career came to an end when he retired in the
summer of 1961. 25 years later his son Neil followed him into the Rovers first
team and played 45 games on the wing in the mid-eighties.
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