50 Wigan Legends in Their Own Words

[John Drake]

50 WIGAN LEGENDS IN THEIR OWN WORDS
By Richard de la Rivière - Foreword by Green Vigo

Advance Orders Now Being Taken

From Frank Parr, who debuted in 1961, to the current captain Liam Farrell, 50 of Wigan’s most prominent figures from the last seven decades are interviewed by Richard de la Rivière.

Hear from greats of the club – and the game – like Shaun Wane, Shaun Edwards, Ellery Hanley, Kelvin Skerrett, Joe Lydon, Nicky Kiss, Kris Radlinski and Sam Tomkins.

Click here to place an order

 

[Futtocks]

Interesting. Any ebook option?

[Richard de la Riviere]

5 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Interesting. Any ebook option?

Alas, no. 

[Futtocks]

32 minutes ago, Richard de la Riviere said:

Alas, no. 

Thanks. I thought that might be the answer, but it was worth asking.

[Harry Stottle]

Good luck with the sales Richard, to club centric to grab my attention.

[Richard de la Riviere]

22 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Good luck with the sales Richard, to club centric to grab my attention.

Fair enough if you don’t support Wigan, but the interviews cover the players’ entire careers, so Joe Lydon, for example, talks about playing for Widnes, Great Britain & Eastern Suburbs as well as for Wigan. 

[Harry Stottle]

Then that could be of more interest, its just the common denominater that is undesirable

[Richard de la Riviere]

Here are the interviewees: 
Joe Lydon, Green Vigo, Kelvin Skerrett, Henderson Gill, Sam Tomkins, Colin Clarke, Nicky Kiss, Phil Clarke, Brett Kenny, Ray Ashby.
Terry Newton, Danny Sculthorpe, Liam Farrell, Graeme West, Martin Hall, Bill Francis, Denis Betts, George Fairbairn, Terry O'Connor, John Burke.
Kris Radlinski, Graham Lowe, Martin Offiah, Doug Laughton, Jason Robinson, Colin Tyrer, Phil Roberts, Declan Roberts, Andy Platt, Gemma Walsh.
Frano Botica, Frank Parr, Gene Miles, Shaun Wane, Gary Connolly, Dean Bell, Thomas Leuluai, Martin Dermott, John Gray, Andy Gregory.
Mick Cassidy, Sean O'Loughlin, Shaun Edwards, Brian Noble, Steve Hampson, Tony Stephens, John Monie, Henry Paul, Bill Ashurst & Ellery Hanley.

The interviews take into account their entire rugby league careers. They vary in size. The smaller ones are roughly the size of a full page in League Express. 

The book is A4 and 208 pages. There's a lot of reading! Every interview is designed with photos.

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, Richard de la Riviere said:

Here are the interviewees: 
Joe Lydon, Green Vigo, Kelvin Skerrett, Henderson Gill, Sam Tomkins, Colin Clarke, Nicky Kiss, Phil Clarke, Brett Kenny, Ray Ashby.
Terry Newton, Danny Sculthorpe, Liam Farrell, Graeme West, Martin Hall, Bill Francis, Denis Betts, George Fairbairn, Terry O'Connor, John Burke.
Kris Radlinski, Graham Lowe, Martin Offiah, Doug Laughton, Jason Robinson, Colin Tyrer, Phil Roberts, Declan Roberts, Andy Platt, Gemma Walsh.
Frano Botica, Frank Parr, Gene Miles, Shaun Wane, Gary Connolly, Dean Bell, Thomas Leuluai, Martin Dermott, John Gray, Andy Gregory.
Mick Cassidy, Sean O'Loughlin, Shaun Edwards, Brian Noble, Steve Hampson, Tony Stephens, John Monie, Henry Paul, Bill Ashurst & Ellery Hanley.

The interviews take into account their entire rugby league careers. They vary in size. The smaller ones are roughly the size of a full page in League Express. 

The book is A4 and 208 pages. There's a lot of reading! Every interview is designed with photos.

Just as a matter of interest how long did it take to compile the book Richard, and how were some of the interviews conducted considering that quite a few of those mentioned are domiciled on the other side of the planet and some no longer with us, are some from historical texts?

[Richard de la Riviere]

Hi Harry, the book is a compilation of interviews I’ve done over the years: roughly a third have previously been published exactly as they are in the book, about a third have been updated and a third (16 to be precise) are brand new. These tend to be the longest ones. 

Terry Newton’s is from 2005. I’ve updated it with his story from that point onwards, which includes me quoting his biographer, Phil Wilkinson, who told me some great stories about him. 

Bill Ashurst is the other interviewee who is no longer with us. His interview was from 2018 and was part of the Rugby League Heroes series in League Express.  
 

Interviews with those overseas were done on the phone (or video call with Graeme West).
 

I had the idea of putting them into a book about a year ago. LPL agreed to publish it at the end of the 2022, and that’s when I started to track down the 16 new players. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Richard de la Riviere

[Vambo]

This is a good watch with Richard going into a bit more detail about the book and its contents. 

https://youtu.be/TGM9UZtyGXc?si=0T6SY7EtbIsqDo1Y

[Richard de la Riviere]

4 hours ago, Vambo said:

This is a good watch with Richard going into a bit more detail about the book and its contents. 

https://youtu.be/TGM9UZtyGXc?si=0T6SY7EtbIsqDo1Y

Thanks mate. I really enjoyed doing that. Hopefully have a few more coming up. 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

Have ordered the book but it would be even better, from my point of view, if you did something similar Cumbrian legends. May not be as big names as Wigan but I bet you could get/ have got great interviews with the likes of Eddie Syzmala, Boxer Walker etc

[Richard de la Riviere]

9 hours ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Have ordered the book but it would be even better, from my point of view, if you did something similar Cumbrian legends. May not be as big names as Wigan but I bet you could get/ have got great interviews with the likes of Eddie Syzmala, Boxer Walker etc

Thanks for the order mate. I hope you enjoy it.
 

I might look at your idea one day as I’ve interviewed quite a few Cumbrian greats including the two you mention. But if the Wigan book sells well, I’ll probably do another Super League club next. 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

14 hours ago, Richard de la Riviere said:

Thanks for the order mate. I hope you enjoy it.
 

I might look at your idea one day as I’ve interviewed quite a few Cumbrian greats including the two you mention. But if the Wigan book sells well, I’ll probably do another Super League club next. 

I can understand that, from a commercial point of view I'd have thought Leeds, St Helens or Hull would be the obvious choices

[Gerrumonside ref]

Good luck with this - I’ve given Wigan fans I know the heads up.

[JohnM]

On 25/08/2023 at 20:25, Harry Stottle said:

Then that could be of more interest, its just the common denominater that is undesirable

Are you working with the author in a bid to increase sales of the book?

[Richard de la Riviere]

Hi all! I’ll be at Waterstones in Wigan on Thursday between 5.30 & 6.30pm, talking about and signing copies of the book, just in case you’re passing! 

[BroncoFan]

I’ve only just started reading this book but you can already get a feel for it and it’s great.

Excellent cover and fascinating forward by Green Vigo followed by interesting stories.

 

[Richard de la Riviere]

On 06/10/2023 at 21:02, BroncoFan said:

I’ve only just started reading this book but you can already get a feel for it and it’s great.

Excellent cover and fascinating forward by Green Vigo followed by interesting stories.

 

Thanks mate. Hope you enjoy it! 

[Richard de la Riviere]

Edited October 20, 2023 by Richard de la Riviere

[George Watt]

On 28/08/2023 at 22:35, Richard de la Riviere said:

 

Bill Ashurst is the other interviewee who is no longer with us. His interview was from 2018 and was part of the Rugby League Heroes series in League Express.  

 I saw Bill make his debut with Penrith at the start of the 1974 season when he captained the team for a few matches before his fellow debutee Mike Stephenson took over.

In his interview did Bill throw any light on the reason he made a sudden moonlight flit back to England before the start of the 1977 season? A couple of reasons have been put forward with one by Stevo who said it was nothing to do with sickness which was the official reason given.

Always wanted Stevo's story to be true because it was quite funny!

I would put Bill into the greatest Wigan team I have seen since I first saw them play in Hull in the late forties.