Huddersfield fans share memories of Wembley as Challenge Cup Final approaches

Aug 27 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Huddersfield fans share memories of Wembley

GIANTS fan John Hirst is busy putting the finishing touches to his Wembley banner.

And he hopes the huge banner, bearing the club crest and the legend The Birthplace Of Rugby League, will be fluttering high in the Wembley stands on Saturday.

Mr Hirst, 72, of Salendine Nook, will be there to cheer on Huddersfield – just as he was in the 1953 final at the old Wembley.

He has followed the town’s rugby league side since 1947 and recalls being taken to the old Fartown ground by his grandfather, William Henry Wilsden, of Birkby.

The retired engineer said: “We used to stand below the old scoreboard at Fartown and he’d lift me on his shoulders.

“When it came to 1953 and the Wembley final, I was 16 and we set off on a Bottomleys coach from Luck Lane, in Marsh.

“I remember the crates of beer stacked all down the middle aisle and I had one or two on the journey. Some of the girls had to give me coffee to bring me round.

“I was fine for the game, though, and I remember the heroics of Peter Ramsden, who celebrated his 19th birthday with two tries.

“He suffered a terrible facial injury but came back to help us win the game and he got the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match.

“Coming home on the bus, we seemed to stop a thousand times for more beer, but it was all worth it. What a day!”

Rugby fan Reg Stone, of Cumberworth Drive, Skelmanthorpe, was at Warrington to see the Giants seal their Wembley slot with victory over the mighty St Helens.

And he recalls the Wembley experience of 1953 with great clarity.

“A last seat was available on one of the Hanson coaches and we were on our way.

“I still remember the famous win over St Helens at Wembley, with the Fartown side winning 15-10.

“Peter Ramsden was our hero, scoring that last-minute try and getting the Lance Todd Trophy.”

Trevor Kaye has more reasons than most to enjoy Saturday’s Wembley experience.

He was one of the small group of committed people who kept Huddersfield’s rugby league club going in the dark days of the 1970s.