Last updated 16:53, Thursday, 06 November 2008

YOU don’t have to be a superstar in sport to become a legend; such is the case with Willie Richardson in Cumbrian rugby league.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

“The Silver Fox” earned legendary status not only for his prolific scoring achievements, mainly at Whitehaven and Carlisle, but for the never-say-die spirit and will to win displayed up to the ripe young age of 38.

Willie had already built up a sporting reputation as a crack rally driver and county badminton star before turning (accidentally!) to the rough and tumble of league – a late developer at 24.

Fate lent a hand, a bad crash in his rally car in Scotland took Willie to Gillfoot Park, the home of Egremont Rangers, who launched him to Great Britain amateur status with a tour of Australia before the professional code beckoned.

Three Cumbrian clubs – but notably Whitehaven and Carlisle – profited from his wholehearted services, Willie was a points machine particularly by virtue of a trusty boot – 508 goals at Carlisle and 286 at Whitehaven from the mid 1980s.

Today Willie Richardson is a firefighter – one of the watch managers of the Whitehaven brigade – but you could say he did more than his share of firefighting on the field of play. A switch from wing to full-back probably made him the Gary Broadbent of his day, plus that prodigious goalkicking ability.

“I liked to lead from the full-back position, you could see more of the game and general the defensive line.

“At Carlisle, Gary Charlton was captain, I was always vice-captain but on the field I was normally the oldest and tended to mentor the guys.”

Recalling his grass roots start at Egremont Rangers, Willie says: “Most rugby players started at a very young age, but I was 24 before I even touched a ball and it’s all down to fate.

“I crashed my rally car, it was going to be away for some time being repaired, so I ended up going down to Egremont Rangers on a Tuesday night and eventually got a game in the second team and scored a hat-trick on my debut.

“Jackie Davidson said: ‘This guy can run’ and he put me on the wing. The following season, we were short of a first team winger but by then the car came back and Jackie wasn’t too happy – I walked away from the rugby club and went back to rallying.

“I just didn’t realise the amount of time and effort Jackie and everyone else put into the game, the commitment level, the passion. For me, it was a bit of fun, but I did go back and it got serious.

“There’s been a ridiculous amount of coincidences and events. In the space of 18 months I was in the Great Britain team playing against France at Halifax in a pre-tour warm-up game.

“Another coincidence came when Tony Solarie signed for Whitehaven from Wath Brow. It freed up one of the wing positions in the Copeland district team. Next thing I knew, I was in the county team – on the wing.

“The Barla tour of Australia was coming up but I didn’t give it much thought, having played no more than 20 games of amateur rugby.

“Against Lancashire at Askam, I was on the wing and scored a couple of tries and kicked six goals. As I was walking off the field, a guy in a Barla suit whispered into my ear: ‘You’ve just booked your ticket to Australia.’

“I got picked and was very fortunate; Egremont had a lot of players who had played since the age of seven and I was the only one from the club making the trip, surprising because John Brocklebank at the time was the best uncapped scrum-half in the country. Roger Blair and Gary Messenger were also selected from our part of the world,

“I just seemed to walk in and everything fell for me. Egremont were fantastic, raising money for me to go out there.

“It was more of a development tour, very successful in spreading the game around Australia to places like Alice Springs, Broken Hill and Melbourne. We played three Tests against state sides, winning two to one.”

Richardson played in all three and was top points scorer with most tries and goals.

“When I came back, the Cumbrian professional clubs were wanting to talk to me. I spoke to Warrington as well but went to Whitehaven.

“Workington Town were also interested. I sat for ages in Tom Mitchell’s study (at Salmon Hall); apparently I was the only one to get out without signing the papers. Tom asked me to sign and sort out the details later. Maybe he didn’t like what I had to hear but, at the time, Whitehaven were a far stronger outfit and because of my late age I was looking for a quicker return.

“One of my main reasons for going to Whitehaven was the capture of Rob Ackerman, the Wales and British Lions rugby union international.

“Playing outside him could only enhance my performance.

“BNFL put up the money to bring in Rob; both of us made our home debuts against York but it was a baptism of fire for me; I got stretchered off and taken to hospital in the second half with a head injury; the mark’s still there! I woke up in the hospital, which is the first and last thing I remember.”

Willie’s 208 first team goals for Whitehaven, with 46 tries to boot, made him a real Recre favourite.

Goalkicking seemed natural for a comparative greenhorn.

“Against Sheffield in the play-offs, I kicked a goal from the touchline to win it. I remember being carried off the field by supporters. Two weeks later, we went to Swinton in the semi-final which would have taken us to Old Trafford but we got beat 14-8. I think I missed four kicks at goal.

“There was always a lot of commitment at Whitehaven, but I could never understand why we were all doing the same amount of training regardless of our positions. At 13 or 14 stones, I needed to be quick, but we were all doing the same work. Training methods have moved on and you can see the difference on the field now.”

There were a few ex-Egremont Rangers in the team – “Yeah, Dave Lightfoot, the likes of Steve and Phil Burney, and Mark Beckwith.

“It was a fabulous Rangers team and the only surprising thing at the time was that we never won the National Cup but, of course, the club were to do so later on.

“I wasn’t even kicking goals for Egremont until one afternoon at Broughton Red Rose. It was 6-4 with a few minutes to go and we got a penalty 38 yards out and slightly to the left of the sticks. John Brocklebank was the captain, he looked round for John Taylor, our regular kicker, but he was missing. I said to John: ‘I’ll kick’.

“Brocky gave me the ball and said something like: ‘If you miss it you won’t be kicking again!’

“I kicked and it was probably missing the sticks by about five metres but a gust of wind knocked it through the centre. We drew the game 6-6. It was a Cup match, and we beat Broughton in the replay back home.”

Willie’s 286 goals at Whitehaven were superseded by 508 at Carlisle where he never missed a game in six seasons.

At Whitehaven, Richardson had the distinction of playing

against the Australian Kangaroos.

“Our only points were from a try I scored but Graham Cameron kicked the goal.

“I was still celebrating scoring the try when Graham picked up ball and converted. We were just so happy to score against Aussies. We were beaten about 44-6 but it was the best losing scoreline for any English team on that tour.

“From all the help I got at Egremont, and also from Whitehaven, Cameron Bell at Carlisle was the biggest single influence on my career.

“Cameron was brilliant. He made you be your own man and changed the way I played. With no disrespect to anyone, I just wish I’d had him at Whitehaven where I felt as if I had unfinished business. The Recre crowd were fantastic but I went in very green, not doing the things most players did naturally.

“When I caught the ball at first I was thinking what I was going to do with it whilst someone like John Brocklebank had already passed the ball before catching it. Later on, it clicked.

“Cameron Bell said full-back was the best position for me. I was strong at running into the line and I had good ball carrying and retention skills. I knew at 32 years old I wasn’t going to get any quicker but I put on some weight and Cameron was the first to get me to target opponents who had done a lot of work and were getting tired.

“Dean Bell had gone but we still had a good influx of Antipodean players. Danny Russell was fantastic, not forgetting Tane Manihera, who amazingly is still at Whitehaven now.

“Tane walked into the club when he was about 17 years old and just had these wide eyes and this big smile.

“Gary Charlton came to shore things up and he sure did. Alan McMullen was there for a time along with some great stalwarts like Steve Brierley and Kevin Pape in the centre. We also had the influence of George Graham, from Scottish rugby union, along with Hugh Waddell who played prop for Great Britain.

“Carlisle was a fabulous time, an intimate family type place. We were always in the top few in our league but never actually got into the Super League as it were. We had a small but terrific support and win, lose or draw, the supporters always congratulated us from the field to the changing rooms.

“The strapping bill was probably quite expensive judging by the number of times we turned out with broken fingers and the like, due to the small number of players we had,” he laughed.

When Cameron Bell left, Willie reckoned Paul Charlton was the right man to take over.

“This was the first time I’d come across Paul but he was an absolute legend. So with him coming to the club and being a Great Britain full-back himself, I’m thinking that this man is watching me and wondering what he would have done in the same situations. But Paul was a very good coach and helped me a lot.”

Bemoaning the bizarre amalgamation with Barrow that ended professional RL in the city, Willie said: “Carlisle should have had the same kind of help as Gateshead. We could have continued to draw from Scottish rugby union and developed the game.

“It was very sad, none of us had seen this coming. We couldn’t believe our ears when we were told we were going to merge with Barrow and play none of the matches at Gillford Park. I was 37 and there was no way I could travel down to Barrow three days a week.

“As I was still fit enough, I went back to Egremont Rangers and played a bit more. After that, I finished up playing 10 games for Town. Rob Tew, the coach, wanted me to become assistant coach but I still had some rugby left in me.

“Rob said: ‘You’ll walk away at the end of the season and you won’t come back.’ I told him not to be ridiculous, but he was right. I walked away and I didn’t go back.”

Willie did have one swansong, a guest appearance for Moresby rugby union in a match to celebrate the opening of the new clubhouse.

“I’m probably not a watcher but today I do acknowledge commitment and the fitness levels of modern day players.”

You were called the Silver Fox?

“Yeah, I wish it was elusiveness but it was more to do with the hair which went grey at 21 – all good fun.

Is rugby league more dangerous than rally driving?

“Absolutely. In a car it’s like having a big cage around you but rugby was a very quick learning curve.”

Why did you leave Haven?

“The only reason was that I just wanted to play first team rugby because Mark Beckwith and ‘Stormin’ Norman Lofthouse were occupying the regular wing spots. I was 33 years old and couldn’t afford to sit it out. Carlisle came at just the right time – at my age.”

Willie was brought up on a farm in Ennerdale, went to Wyndham School at Egremont, didn’t play any rugby there but got into badminton and became a county player as well as playing a bit of soccer with Cleator Moor Celtic.

“My family had always been involved in rally driving. I thought it might be my profession, especially when I got a sponsorship from a local car company.

“I hoped winning The Malcom Wilson Rally in the Lakes would be the platform to push me on but regrettably the car was taken away. We didn’t have the finances. Malcolm’s dad, Kenny, was co-driver for a couple of years but I have to say my brother, Dion, was my main co-pilot and mentor.

“The car that crashed got damaged and caused me to go to Egremont Rangers was in the Jim Clarke Rally up in Scotland. It was on Malcolm Wilson’s corner actually, so called because Malcolm had a massive accident on it.

“Without a doubt I wanted to go back to rallying, but it was down to finances. You needed a ridiculous amount of money. I probably wrote a hundred letters to local and national companies for sponsorship but it was very hard to come buy.”

And the badminton?

“Junior sport again. I was brought up in Moor Row and the local club was run by Sandy McMillan who was a fabulous coach. He coached his own son, myself, Christine Dickinson and others all the way through to being county players.

“My career in rugby league was like a whirlwind. Any success I had in rugby league was mainly down to pure effort. I didn’t have the skills of some of the players but I always tried to make up for it in commitment.

“I’ve seen myself in ice all over after matches because I knew that would be my best chance of being ready for next week.

“It was once said ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’ – that was me in name and nature.

“I was christened William but I was always Willie until I started selling for Steve Williams. I was general manager for the family business (Steve’s Paints) during the whole time I was playing. Steve, the owner, was chairman of Workington Town so every day I was going to work as a Whitehaven player while I was working for the boss at Town. He adored RL and wasn’t bothered where I played. I never got injured or missed a day’s work.”

It was on the return to his roots from Carlisle that Willie enjoyed one of his great highlights, helping Egremont Rangers KO Workington Town in the RL Challenge Cup under floodlights at the Recre.

“What a night. It was the whole occasion, not just beating Town but the fact that an amateur club had turned over a professional side but it also had its painful side for me.

“I broke my elbow for Egremont in only the second minute, but I played on for the whole game.

“Our physio had just been seconded to the orthopaedic ward at the West Cumberland Hospital and he said: ‘Don’t have anything done ‘till Monday morning’. This was a Friday night game so I went to the hospital on the Monday morning and the following day I was operated on and was out for five weeks, missing the next round of the Cup at Sheffield.”

As a last line of defence, Willie Richardson had to stop some of the game’s lethal finishers for club and county.

Any nightmares?

“Well, there’s Jonathan Davies but, to be honest, I didn’t see much of him. He just sidestepped and was gone.

“Kurt Sorenson hit me very hard and that hurt for a few days, but it was a job to do. I was as honest as I could be to myself and everyone else.”