BILL PATTINSON (March 31, 1945 – June 30, 2026)

BILL PATTINSON, who has died aged 81, was a fast and hard-running backrower who represented four clubs and ran out at Wembley over the course of a twelve-year career.

His local club Workington Town, Warrington, Swinton, where he had two spells, and Bradford Northern all benefitted from the reliability of a player who became renowned for his one-handed passes out of the tackle. He also featured for Great Britain at Under-24 level and Cumberland.

Pattinson’s appearance at the national stadium was in the Bradford second row in their 33-14 defeat by Featherstone Rovers in the 1973 Challenge Cup final.

He had been signed from Swinton in the January of that year, having played loose-forward for the Station Road side in their 25-11 defeat by Salford in that season’s Lancashire Cup final at Wilderspool, Warrington.

Pattinson helped Ian Brooke’s Bradford beat Whitehaven, Hull KR, Wigan and Dewsbury (in their semi-final at Headingley, Leeds) to reach Wembley.

But Featherstone proved too strong, hitting them with a 17-point blitz in the opening 17 minutes. Bradford mounted a gritty comeback bid, but were always kept at arm’s length.

The league split into two divisions at the end of that campaign, and Bradford found themselves in the second tier.

But they claimed top-flight stats at the first attempt, with Pattinson a regular as the Second Division title was won with 24 victories in 26 matches.

The following season, 1974-75, Bradford won the Player’s No.6 Trophy, with Pattinson coming off the bench to play his part in the final as Widnes were edged out 3-2 on a mudbath of a pitch at Wilderspool.

Having caught the eye with West Cumbrian amateur club Risehow, he had trials with Huddersfield before turning professional at Workington in May 1965.

Pattinson enjoyed four seasons there, playing loose-forward for Great Britain Under-24s in the 7-4 defeat by France at Bayonne in November 1966.

He also won the first five of his six Cumberland caps, helping them win the County Championship in 1965-66.

His last Cumberland outing came after his £5,000 transfer to Warrington for the 1969-70 season, when his teammates includes star Australian stand-off Bob Fulton.

Pattinson’s first spell at Swinton came after he was involved in a swap deal which took centre Bob Fleet the other way during the 1970 close-season.

He also spent the 1975-76 and 1976-77 campaigns at Station Road, ending his professional career with more than 300 appearances.