For
some, the Swinging Sixties meant The Beatles and The Stones, flower power and
hippies, flared trousers and mini-skirts. At Featherstone Rovers, with Gary
Jordan speeding down one wing and Vaughan Thomas on the other flank, we had a
very stylish backline indeed.
Although
his name sounds Welsh, Vaughan Thomas was of pure local stock, Sharlston born
and bred, the cousin of scrum-half Carl Dooler. Rovers signed Vaughan in 1963
and he got some first team chances in his debut season thanks to an unfortunate
injury to Gary Waterworth. From the following season he was a first team
regular, forming a very popular three-quarter line with Ken Greatorex, Keith
Cotton and Gary Jordan. Although his try returns were more modest than the
prolific Jordan, Thomas had the pace to finish any chances offered him, and his
tackling style, whilst not copybook, proved effective. In his second full
season he won representative honours when he was selected for Great Britain’s
Under 24 side against France.
Doubtless,
Vaughan’s finest hour was the Challenge Cup final at Wembley in 1967. His place
in the line-up had been far from certain, having played in only two of the four
previous rounds, missing the semi-final against Leeds. He got the nod from
Laurie Gant though, and in the wide open spaces at the Twin Towers he made his
mark. Rovers had to work tremendously hard to get ahead in a close encounter
against Barrow, finding themselves 7-2 down in the first half. Thomas thought
he had scored in the corner but was ruled to have had a foot in touch. After
the break, and with Rovers having edged 9-7 ahead, the game’s crucial moment
arrived. A crash tackle by Cotton on Barrow’s Smith saw the ball fly out and
Vaughan Thomas scooped up the loose ball. With only daylight between him and
the Barrow line he sprinted clear to gleefully score under the posts. It swung
the Cup Featherstone’s way, a fact only confirmed by Tommy Smales’s later try.
Our photo shows the unadulterated joy the whole team felt at their efforts, as Thomas
and Les Tonks paraded the Cup around the ground afterwards.
With
the emergence of young John Newlove the following season Thomas missed out on first
team selection more frequently and he asked for a transfer. He was eventually
sold to Bradford in 1968, but a knee injury saw him give up the game just a
year later. In all Vaughan Thomas played 108 games for Featherstone scoring 35
tries, but for Rovers fans he will always be racing under the posts in the Cup
final at Wembley…..
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