THE University of Huddersfield has celebrated the success of the Up and Under Rugby League oral history project.

And a whole host of the game’s legends were invited to the University’s Queensgate Campus to join in the official celebrations.

They were there to launch the book No Sand Dunes in Featherstone, which has been published as a result of the £85,000 Lottery grant-funded project.

The project was established to help provide a detailed portrait of the game by preserving the passion and enthusiasm of the sport and the role it has played throughout the West Yorkshire community.

People with memories of the game going back decades contributed to the book.

Huddersfield, of course, was the birthplace of the Rugby League, at The George Hotel.

Those who attended the launch included former Great Britain coach Peter Fox and ex-England forward Mick Morgan, who were the guest speakers.

Morgan, in particular, was always expected to attend, having been responsible for the phrase which has been adopted as the project book’s title.

The popular rugby league personality recalled how desperate he was in the 1960s to get himself fit in order to become a top player.

He said: “The Australian runner Herb Elliot never lost a mile race in his life and he used to run up and down the sand dunes in Queensland.

“Well, there were no sand dunes in Featherstone, so we used to run to Sharlston pit and run up and down the steps.”

Others who attended the launch were fellow contributors Ken Senior and David Gronow, from the Huddersfield RL Players Association, Huddersfield Giants associate director Keith Burhouse and former British Amateur Rugby League Association chairman Maurice Oldroyd.

Much of the research in the book has been done by Robert Light, who works at the University of Huddersfield.

He said: “Rugby League’s image has been dominated by its close relationship with northern industrial working class regions in a way which has sometimes made the sport seen impenetrable to those elsewhere in the country.

“There is little doubt the character of those communities and their cultural traditions also helped shape the games’s distinctive self-image.

“Throughout its history, rugby league has been such an important part of life in some West Yorkshire communities that it was almost impossible not to take an interest in the game.

“The game’s relationship with those traditional communities over the last 115 years remains at the heart of British rugby league and must be preserved to ensure a healthy future”.

No Sand Dunes in Featherstone has been produced by London League Publications and is on sale, at £12.95, from all good bookshops.