Jackie Fennell and Dale Fennell

Jackie Fennell

Jackie Fennell signed for Featherstone in 1952, part of a richly talented group of Sharlston lads. He quickly established himself in the Rovers first team, and after having played most of his junior football at stand-off eventually settled at fullback for Rovers. Although he never won representative honours, Rovers fans knew his worth, and the club came to depend on his solid contributions in both attack and defence. Without being the biggest or fastest player, very few opponents ever seemed to get past Jackie, and his career total of exactly 1,000 points was a testimony to his timely attacks and steady goalkicking. What a fantastic clubman Jackie was, part of that illustrious but unlucky generation of Rovers teams that were so successful in the late 50s and early 60s, but never made it to Wembley. When Gary Cooper was switched to fullback in 1964, Jackie’s career was virtually over, and his last game was against Batley in April 1965. See here: http://marklaspalmas.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/jackie-fennell.html

Dale Fennell

Just over a decade later in August 1975 Jackie’s son Dale made his Rovers debut at scrum-half at St.Helens. He made a promising start, showing some crafty touches, but his opportunities were limited that year up against Peter Banner and Phil Butler. The following season he established himself, and what a season it was. In only his second year Dale emulated his dad by picking up a Championship medal when Rovers took out the title in April. Dale helped himself to eight tries along the way. He was Rovers first choice scrum-half for the next two seasons as the going got progressively tougher because Rovers Championship winning pack was broken up by transfers. Rovers went down in 1979 and Dale lost his place to Terry Hudson. After 96 games in a Rovers shirt Dale left for Wakefield Trinity, later playing also for Bradford Northern. See here: http://marklaspalmas.blogspot.com.es/2011/08/number-seven-dream-chapter-twelve.html