WHITEHAVEN presented the club’s first heritage numbers during the half-time break of their home derby defeat against Workington.
A project started by the late Brian Sharples, continued by his successor and club statistician Bob Sewell, involved spending hundreds of hours collating and checking records, as well as local and trade press reports, to produce details of every first-team player and game in Whitehaven’s 77-year history.
Those efforts show that in total, 885 players have figured. Each has been given a heritage number corresponding with the date of their Whitehaven debut.
Legendary fullback John McKeown (above), the club’s record appearance holder and points-scorer, was allocated heritage number one having played in the first game against Hull FC on August 21, 1948.
He went on to make 417 appearances, scoring eleven tries and kicking 1,046 goals for a total of 2,125 points.
McKeown is a Whitehaven hall of game inductee and the clubhouse at the Ortus REC (Recreation Ground) is named after him.
His career included leading Whitehaven to a 14-11 win over Australia during the Kangaroos tour of 1956, played in front of a crowd of 10,917 at the Recreation Ground. He also featured once for Great Britain in a non-Test match against France. His granddaughter Suzanne collected his heritage certificate.
Former stand-off Phil Kitchin, who played and coached both Whitehaven and Workington and twice moved between the clubs as a player for a transfer fee, was present.
Also there was former Great Britain forward Eddie Bowman, another to have played for both clubs, and who went on to play for Leigh and Wigan.
Peter Donnelly and Ralph Calvin also collected their certificates, whilst Gordon Cottier’s daughter Leanne collected his.
Meanwhile current Whitehaven hooker Luke Collins had to spend the night in hospital following the recent defeat to Goole.
The club reported that Wakefield Hospital found a small crack in his cricoid (part of the voice box) and bruising and swelling around his vocal cords.