LEN HALEY (1930-2023)
By DOUG THOMSON
LEN HALEY was a gifted and durable stand-off who turned to Rugby League after a union snub and stayed loyal to Bradford Northern as the declining club slid towards self-destruction in the 1960s.
Haley, who has died at the age of 93, skippered the Odsal side during his 288 appearances between 1951-52 and 1962-63, the season before Northern disbanded mid-campaign and by which time he was suffering badly through injuries, particularly to his knees.
Bradford were re-formed for 1964-65, largely through the efforts of former players Trevor Foster and Joe Phillips, both of whom Haley played alongside during in his early seasons at the club.
His younger brother Gordon, also a halfback, also had a spell with Northern, but he was not related to Norman Haley, the hooker when Len signed on at Bradford ahead of the 1951-52 campaign.
Len Haley came from Cleckheaton and, having played Rugby League at school, he joined Overthorpe Rangers, forerunners of the current National Conference League club Thornhill Trojans.
He also turned out for his works team Wormalds and Walker, the textile firm from Thornhill Lees, near Dewsbury, who were among the world’s biggest blanket manufacturers.
After his call-up for National Service towards the end of the 1940s, he took up rugby union, the only code played in the Armed Forces at that time, representing the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and, after being demobbed, he joined his hometown club Cleckheaton.
Haley’s talent was clear, and with a number of Rugby League clubs, including Bradford, showing interest, he was picked to play for Yorkshire against Ulster in Belfast – only for the selectors to backtrack after learning of his 13-a-side background.
Union’s loss was Bradford’s gain, for disillusioned after his treatment by the 15-a-side beaks, he accepted an offer from long-serving Northern coach Dai Rees, who had heard about the Yorkshire episode and immediately paid his target a late-night visit.
“It was about ten o’clock when he came to see me,” Haley later recalled.
“Dai had been trying to get me to sign for a while, and he said: ‘You’ll have to play for us now, won’t you?’
“I waited a few weeks just to see if things changed with Yorkshire, but nothing happened, so I told Bradford I’d sign.
“Bradford were canny, and cut their original offer of £1,000 when I was playing union, but Dai made it up to me later, because when I was injured, and I had a few, he always gave me a wage packet, which wasn’t the normal thing in those days.”
Former Halifax, Wales and Great Britain second row Rees’ side, including Kiwi backs Phillips and Jack McLean, versatile captain Ernest Ward and powerful forwards Foster and Ken Traill, were big hitters when Haley arrived.
In the War-affected 1940s, they had claimed the league title three times, and lost in two Championship Finals, been Challenge Cup finalists five times in six seasons, lifting the trophy on three occasions, and won six Yorkshire Cups.
And in Haley’s first season of 1951-52, Northern topped the table for the first time since 1903-04, winning 28 and drawing one of 36 matches, and beat Huddersfield 18-15 at Odsal to make the Championship Final against old rivals Wigan.
But Bradford, with Haley alongside Gwylfa Jones in the halves but without the influential Ward due to a shoulder injury, were edged out 13-6, with their supporters in a 48,656 crowd at Huddersfield Town’s Leeds Road ground irked by a number of controversial decisions by referee Charlie Appleton.
Northern finished third the following season, going down 18-16 at Halifax in the play-off semi-finals, and won the Yorkshire Cup in 1953-54, although injury kept Haley out of the final, in which Hull were beaten 7-2 at Headingley.
However, as the 1950s continued and the team that had enjoyed success started to break up, Bradford’s fortunes started to slide, and in Haley’s last two seasons as a player, by which time coach Rees had departed, Northern finished rock-bottom, with attendances dwindling and the club’s own pools scheme, which had provided a vital source of income, falling off.
“The management of the club had started to change, and they started to sell all the players they could get money for,” he explained in an interview for Phil Hodgson’s 2006 book ‘Odsal Odysseys’.
“They wanted to sell me to Halifax when I was coming up to ten years’ service, but I wouldn’t go, because I was due a benefit, which left me mostly in the second team.
“I had just retired when they folded in (December) 1963. I’d finally got the benefit match, and a cheque for £250. I could see things were getting worse, and I’d done the cartilages in both knees by then.”