Routy could ghost his way past rugby’s best defences
Last updated 15:47, Wednesday, 12 March 2008
MOST footballers hang up their boots when it’s time to retire, but John Routledge was different. He threw his away – as a symbolic gesture.
The man known as “Casper The Ghost” because of his ability to glide through the best of defences knew his time had come and he wanted to go out on top.
The place: Copeland Stadium. The occasion: A Cumberland amateur cup final featuring the old foes Egremont Rangers and Wath Brow Hornets.
One of the most gifted Cumbrian rugby footballers of his generation in both league and union, the former stand-off star for Whitehaven was representing Rangers – his first junior club – in bringing the curtain down on an eventful, and sometimes momentous, career which saw him play with and against some of the finest players from both codes.
Telling the tale of his swansong, John recalls: “It was our third cup final, my final season in millennium year, and actually the third time that season we’d met Wath Brow in cup finals.
“They had a fantastic side and yet again we were defeated narrowly. We did score a consolation try near the end. Mark Beckwith was going to take the conversion, but I took the ball off him and kicked the goal; it was going to be my last kick.
“I threw my boots away in the middle of the pitch – not in disappointment, I’d more or less planned it.”
Another poignant factor was that one of his best friends, Mark “Tank” Richardson, of Cumbrian rugby union fame, was playing for Rangers, who were coached by Dave Richardson.
“Mark, who had been persuaded by his brother to play a couple of games for us, told me not to be so daft but I’d had enough.”
Do you know what happened to the boots? – “Yeah, I think my nephew sneaked up to the stadium the next morning (it was a Friday night match) and the boots were still there.
“I remember walking down the main street at two o’clock in the morning with Tank – worse for wear and more so me than him – and I think there was a tear in his eye.
“It was quite emotional knowing that was it. I was 35 going on for 36 after all.”
During his RL pomp at Whitehaven, Routy was likened by admirers to Tony Myler – the Widnes and Great Britain stand-off – because of his flair and classical style as a player gifted with silky ball- handling skills and the deceptiveness to ghost almost imperceptibly through the best of defences.
The irony was that John Routledge was chosen to make his professional debut (having first made his name in Cumbrian rugby union with Egremont) against Myler and the fabulous Widnes side of the 1990s.
“For more reasons than one, I’ll always remember my first game for Whitehaven; Widnes were drawn down to The Recre in the Lancashire Cup.
“I’d been on holiday for a fortnight and I came back in the middle of the week and wasn’t exactly match fit, so I didn’t expect Norman Turley (player coach) to throw me right in against one of the top sides in the world, but he did and I ended up playing. It was an honour, really.
“Widnes had all the big stars out – Jonathan Davies, Martin Offiah, Kurt Sorensen, the Hulme brothers etc – and we got murdered, but I managed to score our only try.
“I came off absolutely knackered. Compared to playing for Egremont rugby union, and even county union, it was an unbelievable step up.
“At Whitehaven, Norman Turley was my first coach and I owe him a lot, but the man who brought me into rugby league was Michael Docherty at Egremont.
“Mike introduced mini- rugby at the time and it was something to do with other young lads like Mark Beckwith and Mark Bawden. Highlights were on Friday nights when we played curtain raisers for the Whitehaven games, getting a free pie afterwards.
“Just after leaving school around ’80-81, I went down to the other end of town to Bleach Green to play union for Egremont. To be honest, it was the social side of union that attracted me.
“In my third season at Egremont, I really applied myself and one of the best times was playing for a great Shield (second) team.
“I was a scrum-half, even though I was 6ft 1in, but I enjoyed it and graduated into the first team when Bob McLean was coach.
“John Butler took over in 1995 and Stephen Branthwaite, a good scrum-half, came down and so I was given the chance to go stand-off.
“We started to get noticed as a half-back partnership and we were asked to guest in some representative matches.
“Once, Egremont didn’t have a match and me and him were invited up to the North East to play for Middlesbrough, who were Rob Andrew’s team at the time, although Rob didn’t actually play that day, unfortunately.
“We both had good games, scored a try each, won unexpectedly and were treated like gods. We didn’t have to pay for anything and stayed in one of the committee men’s mansions which had a billiards table. It was like a different world.
“Stephen got the bug for pro rugby and went to Whitehaven, but I was contracting down at Sellafield, and stayed put. Jeff Edgar became coach in 1998 and it was my first season as captain.
“Jeff’s an absolute gentleman but gave me the job of telling people they had been dropped.
“Now me not being the world’s greatest diplomat, the first person I dropped was a great friend of mine, Ian Marr, so when we came out of the selection committee, I said: “George (that’s what we called Ian), you’re not playing Saturday, you are too old we are going to try and bring some of the young lads through. Ian never, ever lets me forget that”.
And Mr Marr just happened to be one of Routy’s future bosses at Sellafield!
John’s RU career continued apace and he made the scouts sit up with his performances for Cumbria in the northern championships, having already starred in the Cumbria Colts side which won the national championship.
“My first senior county game was playing in the centre against Lancashire at Aspatria and the likes of internationals Dewi Morris and Wade Dooley. We beat them and after that we were on a winning streak.
“At Ottley, we played Yorkshire who fielded England wingers Mike Harrison and Rory Underwood. We got beat and afterwards, when I was sitting opposite Rory in the reception, the Yorkshire secretary came up with this envelope and honestly I’d never seen as many £20 notes in my life. It was expenses. Rory must have flown up in his RAF Tornado!
“I thought that would be nice. We got our petrol expenses but this was like another world and it opened my eyes.
“Dave Robinson, who was big in Cumbria rugby union, said: “Don’t sign for rugby league. I will sort you out with a club and I am thinking of putting you forward for the Northern Division.”
“But Willie Maxwell was plaguing my life out to go to Whitehaven; Workington were around and were offering the same kind of money.
“I was happy enough but I asked myself whether I wanted to live in this comfort zone for the rest of my life or did I try and prove myself in league, to see how good I really was.
“Willie came round again and I told him that both clubs were bad payers but if he gave me a lump sum for what I want I’d sign for Whitehaven.
“When I told my mother, she had a good cry about it and said: “What are you doing? You are happy where you are” but I told her that I was 25 and might as well get paid for doing something I like.”
Did any top union clubs want you? – “Well, Tynedale. Stephen Branthwaite had gone to Whitehaven by then, and it was me and Tank who were making all the headlines.
“I was getting 200 points a season from kicking goals and scoring tries, while he was scoring tries from five yards out.
“The Tynedale chairman was telling us: “Listen, £100 a week (unofficial) money in your hand, train once a week, play on a Saturday and we will put you up in a hotel in Hexham.” I was tempted but I was still contracting at the time.
“My workmates at Sellafield were all saying: “You will never make it, rah-rah boy, you can’t tackle.” But I suppose it made me more determined.
“I started off at full-back, getting to grips with the game, as I knew I had to improve my tackling.
“Jackie Davidson came in and moved me to stand-off from the centre. There were money troubles at the club but I was starting to enjoy it a lot more and I was scoring a few tries.
“I got a bad groin injury and, after resting for six months, I came back in my third season with Gordon Cottier as coach and really enjoyed it.
“A few good lads came up from Barrow and ‘Cresta’ (Paul Crarey) was one of them.”
Within two years of John signing in 1990, Haven were in big trouble off the field but a new board pulled the club out of the financial mire.
On the field, Haven started hitting some highspots and one of the big drawing cards for the fans was the half-back partnership of John Routledge and Clayton Friend, the New Zealand Test No 7. Electrifying!
“Clayton was the best player I ever played with. He gave you so much time. There were three of us – Steve Maguire, a brilliant loose forward, Clayton and myself, all with the ability to go through a gap or create a gap, so it must have been horrendous for the opposition to have not one but three of us coming up against them.
“Billy (Fisher) was in centre and then he moved into the second row with Gary Hetherington, they were two of the hardest lads.
“Vince (Gribbin) had just returned after being out of the game far too long, and he was still awesome. We also had the likes of Willie Richardson and Dave Lightfoot, an amazing full-back, so we had the makings of a good side.
“Gordon Cottier was coach but Kurt Sorensen was brought in which was a bit unfair on Gordon.
“Kurt was another Kiwi legend, but he wasn’t used to a part-time environment and I don’t think he knew what to expect. He was hard to deal with. I told him one day I was on back shift, I wouldn’t be able to train and he asked what back shift was.
“He dropped me but, in the second season, Kurt mellowed, and I think it was the best season I had at Whitehaven.
“I got my stand-off spot back and we had some amazing wins at home and away.
“Probably my best game ever for Whitehaven was at York and we hammered them. I must have scored a couple of tries and created half a dozen.”
Among his greatest highlights were his two appearances for Cumbria, both against the best in world rugby league – Australia – on Workington’s Derwent Park in 1992 and 1994.
“It was awe inspiring just to be on the same pitch as the likes of Mal Meninga, Brad Fittler, Bradley Clyde.
“I had the misfortune to play at full-back when Wendall Sailor sidestepped right through us all on a wet pitch and he just left me flat on my backside.
“I thought: “Oh dear, what am I doing here?” I went off for the second half and Lee Anderson came on but he got the same treatment – they were something else.”
By the time John returned to the Whitehaven side after breaking a leg at Carlisle, Stan Martin had replaced Kurt Sorenson.
“I got on great with Stan. He had new systems and also brought in the first Kiwis but then we had a shortened season prior to summer rugby starting in 1996. I still had my social side, I liked going out on a Saturday night, so I decided to give it up.
“I suppose summer rugby would have suited my style on the harder grounds.
“By then I was 31; Bill Madine offered me another contract but my heart wasn’t in it, so I went back to Egremont rugby union for another four seasons to play in winter.
“I wanted to put something back. I had nine years down there, two as captain. It was like one big family.
“Stephen Branthwaite also came back and with Graham Cameron and Willie Burns. We had a very good team, playing and beating sides who were on £40 a man. We were doing it for the laugh, actually paying to play. It didn’t detract from the fact that we always wanted to win but the money other sides were getting was unbelievable.
“With Dave Richardson taking over at Rangers, I fancied one last go at league. We had the second best side at the time behind Brow, but we just couldn’t beat them in any of those cup finals.
“I ended up with most tries in the season in the Cumberland League and I was going on for 36.”
For all his ability, John confesses that he had “a temper to die for” and it got him sent-off once or twice. The first time in his first local derby against Workington Town.
“We were playing Town at home and there was a lot of cheap shots and suddenly it all kicked off as a mass brawl after Billy Fisher coat-hangered Paul Penrice. I must have been 50 yards away and went in arms flying.
“Billy didn’t bother going down to the disciplinary hearing in Leeds – he knew he was going to get another eight matches – but I did and it was like a court of law.
“I said I’d run 50 yards across the field to try and break up this fight, but then they put the video on and the truth appeared. I just put my head between my hands and I got six matches for a first offence!”
Your best asset? – “Going through gaps that weren’t there – Sorensen used to call me Casper The Ghost.”
Big Reg Dunn was one of Routy’s own favourites and would be part of his Whitehaven dream team: His other choices? – Dave Lightfoot at full-back; Les Quirk and Graham Lewthwaite on the wings, David Seeds and Mick Pechey centres; Clayton Friend scrum-half; Reg Dunn and Dave Kendall propping, Peter Smith hooker, second rows Billy Fisher, Gary Hetherington and Steve Maguire loose forward.
How about Routy at No 6? On his day he produced stand-off brilliance not seen at The Recre since the days of Billy Garratt and Phil Kitchin, and but for some bad injuries, there would have been many more of those days to savour.
Today John’s a keen Haven fan. He went to both Grand Finals but, as straight talking as usual, he says: “I dread to think what would have happened if we‘d got into Super League – the infrastructure just isn’t there.”
