Sam looks back to stars of yesteryear

Supporting both Whitehaven and Workington Town, in almost equal measures, must be a rarity among West Cumbrian fans. Sam, for one, can proudly wear the badge.

The matches he’s seen are innumerable – so, too, his wonderful collection of memorabilia.

What Sam Coulter really wanted was a career in pro-fessional sport. Disability was the drawback for a lad who shared a desk at school with the legendary footballer Jackie Sewell, of Kells.

Sam compensated by directing his energies into supporting the game of rugby league as a whole, building up his virtually unrivalled collections of RL memorabilia and along the way became a genuine friend and correspondent with some of the greatest names in the sport all over the world. Reg Gasnier and Vince Karalius just two of them.

During these decades rugby league has gone through so many changes and in some respects is unrecog-nisable, for good or bad.

Sam loves his rugby today or yesteryear but like many of the older generation has great nostalgia for the flying wingers like Boston, Bevan, Vollenhoven and our own Ike Southward rattling up 50 or 60 tries a season apiece.

“Up front,” he says, “no one was faster than Dick Huddart; he’d still be the fastest today. The forwards then had a much different job to do. And Bill McAlone did it better than anybody – the best uncapped prop I’ve ever seen.”

Sam laments that the cha-nge from winter to summer rugby has seen the demise of the Great Britain tours to Australia which created Ashes-winning legends.

“Take the 1958 Tour team; nobody would have beaten ‘em, certainly not today. They were outstanding, every man jack, the likes of Huddart, Brian Edgar and Ike.

“It’s the same with the county championship, these were matches to look forward to; they gave our lads more chance of winning international honours after beating the best Lancashire and Yorkshire had to offer.

“In the recent past there have been few better centres than our own David Seeds. I thought David deserved full international honours. He’d have walked into any top class Super League teams. I watched England hammer France at the weekend, and we just weren’t playing anybody. It should still be a Great Britain side picked from everybody, then we might give the Aussies and Kiwis a run for their money.”

Sam Coulter was six years old when he saw his first match

“My father took me down to the Recreation Ground to see the great Australian team, it was 1933 and Jim Brough dropped the winning goal for Cumberland.”

Was it then that you got hooked on the game? – “No, not really. At my schools (Kells Central, then Trinity) it was only soccer in those days. I sat next to Jackie Sewell, who went on to international fame as an England forward playing for Notts County, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday. Twice he played for England against the Hungarians.

“Trinity used to beat anybody in the county. Oh, how I’d loved to have played, especially professional rugby league. Some of my friends say how good I was even on my bad leg, apparently I was kicking goals from all over the Kells Welfare field.

“From the very first match (in 1948) I followed Whitehaven, it was against Hull at home and the water was running out of my clog tops that day, it rained so much.”

Sam yearns for two strong West Cumbrian sides but he rules out any talk of amalgamation. “It will never happen,” he insists.

“One thing to remember is that when Whitehaven were trying to enter the League in 1948, Workington Town were one of the clubs that voted against us to get in and it’s stuck in the mind.”

Sam in his younger days was always a familiar figure outside the Haven and Town dressing rooms, collecting autographs and exchanging greetings with the stars of various eras.

The great Gasnier, for one. “The finest centre threequarter ever and I still exchange Christmas cards with him today.”

Sam is the proud possessor of one Gasnier’s 1959-60 Tour jersey, among distinguished others.

So, too, the gift of a full strip from Gasnier’s illustrious nephew, Mark, while he was playing for Australian Schoolboys against Cumbria at Copeland Stadium.

It’s not just shirts (and caps) that have changed hands – blazers, too!

These have come via the celebrated Aussie forward Arthur Clues who played for Leeds – “Jack Graham brought it up for me because Arthur’s widow was going to throw it away!” – Matt McLeod, from Wembley with Wakefield Trinity (in the famous ‘splash’ final), Sol Roper’s (again from Wembley); Billy Ivison (England v France); Milton Huddart (England debut) and the one Jackie Reid wore as a member of Whitehaven’s 1957 Challenge Cup semi final squad. Last but not least Dan Froley’s.

“Dan was in the first Australian Tour to this county (1908), I later corresponded with the family for years, then lo and behold Dan’s son came to see me out of the blue, arriving in Whitehaven on his motor cycle and stopped with me and Margaret for a few days.”

Reflecting on the last minute semi final defeat, Sam said: “ What a day it was from start to finish, I was in the middle of the field (Odsal) that day presenting the Whitehaven captain (Billy Garratt) with a good luck horseshoe in chocolate, blue and gold colours.

“I shook hands with Billy Garratt and Jeff Stevenson – I’d like to have rung his (Jeff’s) neck afterwards!”

So did Stevenson drop the winning goal or not? – “Definitely not. It went too high for my liking. We were right in line and it should have been a penalty to Whitehaven prior to that for ball stealing, the ball then went back and Stevenson just punted.

“Prior to that, if Billy Garratt had thrown the ball back to Lowdon (twice) we would have had drop goals right in front of the sticks.

“But John McKeown nearly got us there, I have a picture of Lewis Jones, actually clapping his hands when JJ kicked one of his goals, it was so outstanding.

“We were so close, it was the only time I have ever cried at a match.”

Sam did go to Wembley – all three times with Workington Town (‘52, 55 and 58).

Favourite players? – “Oh, there were so many stars in those days but Alex Murphy and Vince Karalius were big heroes and there was no better stand off than Willie Horne at Barrow.”

And your best Whitehaven team? – “Without a doubt, the ‘56-57 side which beat Australia and got to the Challenge Cup semi. It’s just a pity John Tembey didn’t play in the centre, if he had I think we would have beaten Leeds and gone on to Wembley.

“At Whitehaven, my great hero was John McKeown. Our daughter was born the day he retired and Mac always promised me his shirt, he was true to his word.”

What about Dick Huddart? – “A legend, best in the world. The Tiger would walk into any team today, just like Brian Edgar. I don’t think there was anybody to touch these two. you can’t find money to buy players like this today, they would be worth a bomb.

“Bill Holliday was another outstanding forward, the late Alan Burns, for his ball distribution, John Tembey, Geoff Robinson and in the backs Tommy Keen and Billy Banks at scrum half, Syd Lowdon and Billy Garratt.

“Ellery Hanley of the modern era would also have ‘walked into any team’ and the lad whose made the big time in rugby union now – Shaun Edwards, he’s a gem.

“Our biggest problem has been in the forwards, we haven’t really had anybody to stand up to the Aussies and the Kiwis.”

Sam, now in his 82nd year and with a pacemaker fitted, will never part with the treasure chest of memorabilia which is the envy of collectors all over the globe – “it’s all for my daughter,” he says.

But if you had to go to a desert island what three things would you take with you? – “John McKeown, Reg Gasnier and Sol Roper jerseys of course.”

When Whitehaven in 1998 celebrated its 50th anniversary, Sam, Harry Edgar and myself got together for the unenviable task of selecting The Immortals from the club’s best ever players. We didn’t all agree all the team, it was a consensus of opinion!

Eleven years on Sam, for one, would find it difficult to make any changes?

David Seeds? – “Well only in place of Vince (Gribbin) but then how could you leave Vince out? He was an outstanding centre, sheer class but to my mind he packed in too early. Geoff Robinson was a brilliant loose forward but he only made the subs. Maybe I’d have Billy Banks at scrum half, no disrespect to Arnold Walker – “Boxer” was a great No.7 in his own right.

“Others such as Clayton Friend didn’t get in, that’s how tough it was to make the final choices.”

Anybody else really excited you on The Recre in recent years? – “Well, the young winger today, Craig Calvert, I think he’s outstanding, his defence is poor at times but brilliant in attack. I also liked Sam Obst before he left for Wakefield, a great la’al player.”

Super League? – “I’d like to think so but we’ve nothing really around here to make a Super League side as things stand, it’s the old story: no backing, no money to fetch players in of the required standard, we wouldn’t get a strong one out of all three Cumbrian teams at present.

“A lot of these Australians are just coming over here for the money, they might shine against our lot but they’re not top notch.”

Sam – 82 in a few weeks – will be happy to see West Cumbria have another 60 odd years of professional rugby league, with two decent clubs, giving the lifetime enjoyment he’s had. “I’m just sorry I’ve missed my matches at Whitehaven this season, I really have,” regrets the man very much conspicuous by his Recre absence.