yorksguy1865 wrote:Seen as we are all so happy at the moment I thought it would be nice for us to share some positive memories of this great club of ours, I'm especially interested to hear about the last time we won the title seen as I wasn't around to witness it. So lets tell some nice stories and really get that feeling of pride and history burning inside us!
As far as the 1983 title is concerned. Seem to recall that it resolved itself into a three way battle in the second half of the season between Wigan, rovers and ourselves. Wigan gradually fell away as Easter approached leaving a straight fight between ourselves and our nearest & dearest to claim the spoils.
The season came to a head one Friday night (I think) in early April '83. The game had been postponed from Good Friday due to Challenge Cup commitments on our part and we were in danger of having our title bid derailed by the type of fixture pile up which were all too prevalent in those days.
Can't quite remember who was top of the pile going into the derby (there can't have been more than a couple of points in it, although we may have had a game or two in hand over rovers), but I do recall the game being effectively billed as a title decider.
In the end, we needn't have worried as we turned in one of our best derby performances ever, winning quite comfortably with something to spare (20-5 ?). Highlight of the game, played in front of more than twenty thousand crammed into a dark Boulevard (HSE was slightly more relaxed in those days!) was an all in fight in the second half which saw Gary Kemble and John Lydiat sent off despite being the only two players NOT to have thrown a punch in the melee!!.
After that, I seem to recall we went to Headingley the following Tuesday/Wednesday and proceeded to score four tries in the opening fifteen minutes in a blistering display of 1980's style attacking Rugby.
The coronation came on the final Sunday afternoon of the season (this of course being before the tv schedulers moved games around willy-nilly to suit their own purposes). In front of another massive Boulevard crowd we ran riot against someone (Possibly Barrow, or possibly someone else!). My memory says that it was a bright sunny spring afternoon as the Championship trophy was paraded around the ground, but then my memory would think that from this distance.
I do remember the Kiwis leading the rest of the side in the Haka with Charlie Stone and Trevor Skerrett trying to keep up.
We've been blessed with watching some outstanding players wearing the Black & White during the last forty years and we've even had the odd decent side or two down the years (we may be witnessing one right now in 2016), but nothing so far has eclipsed my memories of watching the wonderful team from 1981 to 1985, we even came within a hairs breadth of downing the all conquering Australia side earlier in the title winning year.
They remain the best team I've had the privilege to watch in our colours and how they failed to complete the double (or even a treble) that year will mystify me to my dying day.
Let's hope the Fc vintage of 2016 can give us memories to match those from what is, quite frankly, too long ago now to be our last title win.