Arthur Wood |
As
the Second World War came to an end, Rovers were looking to lift themselves out
of the doldrums they were in throughout the 1930s. In order to do this, they
would rely, as they always had, on the emergence of quality local players.
Three such players were Herbert Nash,
Walt Garner and Lister Mogg who all filled in at hooker for varying spells in
the immediate post-war period. Then in late 1947 Rovers picked up a youngster
from Streethouse who went on to become an England international. Taller than
average for a hooker, with curly ginger hair and a distinctive running style,
Arthur Wood stood out on the field for his hard work in defence and also in the
loose. These are admirable attributes in any player, but the hooker’s job was
to get the ball from the scrum and in that area Wood excelled too.
Before
long he won his county cap for Yorkshire against Lancashire in 1950. One
possibly unique occurrence took place in a home match against Keighley. Wood
was sent off early in the game, showered and changed, and with nothing better
to do, he caught a bus to Leeds where the Rovers A team were playing later that
same afternoon and played for them! When he wasn’t getting sent off, his form
was such that he started to be talked about as a potential international and
that inevitably sent bigger clubs sniffing round to try and tempt him away.
Continuously
good performances won him an appearance for England against Other Nationalities
(the old style “Exiles” team) in April 1951. He became the first Rovers player
to be capped by his country since three-quarter Tommy Askin had played for
Great Britain in Australia in 1928. Unfortunately, Arthur’s days as a Rovers
player were numbered. Within a month, Leeds had stepped in with a record £3,000
offer, the highest fee the club had ever received for a player, and Wood was
off to Headingley. He had played 105 games for Featherstone Rovers over four
seasons. One of the first problems he had at his new club was their strict rule
of all the players turning up to matches in a collar and tie. Arthur Wood had
neither and had to spend part of his first wage packet on said items.
Whilst
he was at Leeds Wood won more county honours with Yorkshire but no more
international caps. Rovers had been reluctant to let Wood go, but, as ever, the
money came in handy. Those ‘in the know’ at the club also realised they had a
very promising young hooker coming through the intermediates by the name of
Willis Fawley and perhaps the loss of Wood wouldn’t be too keenly felt.
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