GEOFF OAKES (May 20, 1938 – May 30, 2026)

GEOFF OAKES was a homegrown hooker in the talented Wakefield Trinity team of the early 1960s who featured in two Wembley wins and a Championship Final defeat.

That was the first of two spells at the club, which bookended a 48-appearance stint at Warrington, with whom he won the Lancashire Cup to go with a Yorkshire Cup triumph with Trinity, where he turned out 193 times in total.

Oakes, who has died aged 88, was in his third season on the first-team scene when his home-city side Wakefield, inspired by Neil Fox and Keith Holliday, overpowered Hull FC 38-5 in the 1959-60 Challenge Cup Final.

It was the first watched by the late Queen Elizabeth II and drew 79,773 to the national stadium, where Oakes returned in 1962.

That was when Trinity, again coached by Ken Traill and captained by loose-forward Derek Turner, defeated Huddersfield 12-6 before 81,263.

Each of Wakefield’s Wembley trips was followed a week later by a Championship Final at Odsal.

Oakes played in the first, which Wigan won 27-3 in front of 83,190, but missed out on the second as Milan Kosanovic, signed from Bradford Northern the previous close-season, got the nod for a repeat showdown with Huddersfield, who this time won 14-5 with 37,451 watching.

Kosanovic also featured when, in 1962-63, Trinity won the Challenge Cup for the third time in four seasons, defeating Wigan 25-10 with 84,492 in attendance.

Oakes, who worked as a miner, was three times a winner of the Yorkshire League (operated as a sub-section of the overall Championship) – in 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1961-62 – while in 1960-61, he helped Wakefield claim the Yorkshire Cup with a 16-10 victory over Huddersfield at Headingley.

Twice selected by Yorkshire at junior level when coming through the Trinity development ranks (he signed professional forms in 1956 and made his first-team debut in February 1958), he was several times in the Great Britain stand-by squad but never got the call.

Having suffered nose and neck injuries, Oakes contemplated retirement after the 1963-64 season.

But he decided to continue, and after failing to agree terms with Featherstone Rovers, he finally joined Warrington.

The Wire, coached by Ernie Ashcroft, were the 1965-66 Lancashire Cup winners, with Oakes featuring as Rochdale Hornets were seen off 16-5 in the final at Knowsley Road.

His last Warrington outing came early the following season, and he had a spell out of the game before returning to Wakefield for the 1967-68 campaign.

Vying with George Shepherd and Bernard Prior for the hooking berth, he played 27 times before a broken leg ended his campaign and career.

Trinity again made it to Wembley (beaten 11-10 by Leeds in the ‘Watersplash’ Challenge Cup final) and the Championship Final (Hull KR were beaten 17-10 at Headingley), and while Oakes was ruled out of both through the injury, he received the respective medals.    

He was a keen and accomplished golfer and a long-serving publican in Horbury, near Wakefield.

He was also a regular attendee at Wakefield matches and events, a supporter of the club’s foundation and contributor to the Trinity Heritage website and podcast.