KEN GREATOREX (August 16, 1936 – December 12, 2025)

KEN GREATOREX was a Rugby League rookie when he signed for Featherstone Rovers in 1957 but ten years later he ran out at Wembley and featured in a Challenge Cup-winning team.

That was when the Yorkshire side, having seen off county rivals Bradford Northern, Wakefield Trinity, Castleford and Leeds en route to London, beat Barrow 17-12 in the 1966-67 final.

Prolific try-scorer and Featherstone Hall of Fame member Greatorex, who has died aged 89, played left wing under the twin towers, and also included three Yorkshire Cup finals among his 286 appearances for the club, during which he crossed the line 101 times.

He played right centre, his main position, when Hull FC were defeated 15-14 at Headingley in the 1959-60 final, right wing in the 10-0 loss to Halifax at Belle Vue, Wakefield in 1963-64 and right centre in the 25-12 defeat by Hull KR back in Leeds in 1966-67, seven months before Wembley.

Born in August 1936, Greatorex grew up playing football, and was a regular with his local side Crofton Welfare, based between Wakefield and Featherstone, when in 1957 he was invited to take part in a sevens tournament by the village’s Rugby League side.

His pace, power and raw talent were evident as Crofton took the title, and Featherstone Rovers, looking on and liking what they saw, invited him for a trial.

He was soon signed, but a back injury put his blossoming career on hold, and it was the following season, 1958-59, before Greatorex played again, initially for the second team.

He continued to shine, and was handed a first-team debut in October in the home win over Wigan, whose side included star winger Billy Boston.

“I was playing against Billy, but it didn’t worry me – in for a penny, in for a pound,” he  told Rugby League World magazine in a 2017 interview.

Greatorex soon established himself as an effective threequarter with an unorthodox but effective long, loping stride, and he was also a purposeful tackler.

He helped Featherstone finish third to make the Championship play-offs in 1961-62 and Rovers reached the Challenge Cup semi-finals in 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1961-62.

While Featherstone have lifted the Challenge Cup three times, many consider the 1967 triumph by Laurie Gant’s side, the first of the trio, to be the biggest achievement.

While their own league form was patchy (they finished 20th in what was then one division), each opponent on the way to Wembley was in the top four when the draw was made, with Greatorex scoring important tries at Bradford and at home to Wakefield.

Featherstone broke new ground by preparing for the big match at the Crystal Palace National Recreation Centre, prompting future final teams to stay there, and the final was the first to be played under limited (at that time four) tackles.

Barrow, including former England rugby union stand-off Tom Brophy and Great Britain winger Bill Burgess on the right, were the favourites, and with the Queen and Prince Philip watching on, Featherstone, captained by prop Mal Dixon, started sluggishly.

But they recovered to win through tries by second rower Arnie Morgan, right winger Vaughan Thomas and loose-forward Tommy Smales, who also kicked two conversions and a penalty-goal, with scrum-half and Lance Todd Trophy winner Carl Dooler weighing in with a field-goal.

“Featherstone’s strength lay in their super tackling,” reported the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“Rovers started unhonoured, unsung and outplayed, but outstayed the lot to bring the cup home.”

Greatorex, who lived close to the club’s Post Office Road ground, was at that time a greengrocer (he later ran the Railway Hotel, a popular local pub), and used his van to take the trophy on a lengthy local tour.

“I decided the nicest thing to do for the people who lived in Featherstone would be to take the cup to them,” he told RL World.

“We were out all over. It took us eleven months to complete all the venues. I always made sure I went to them.”

Unfortunately, his career was to last only a few more matches, with an injury sustained early in 1967-68 proving too bad to overcome.

Greatorex was awarded a testimonial the following season.

During their tenure at the Railway, he and his wife Beryl developed a beer garden that earned the Best Beer Garden award from John Smith’s Brewery.

They also secured first place in the Wakefield area competition for Christmas pub decorations, which remains a testament to their achievements as landlord and landlady.