GEOFF CREWDSON (June 27, 1938 – February 5, 2022)
Geoff Crewdson was a stalwart of the Keighley pack in the sixties who toured Australia and New Zealand with Great Britain and later went on to captain Hunslet.
And while the Yorkshire representative player, nicknamed ‘Skin’, didn’t feature in any of the five Tests on the 1966 trip – the Lions lost a tight Ashes series 2-1 before a couple of wins over the Kiwis – there were 13 appearances in the other 25 matches spread over almost three months.
Crewdson, who has died aged 83, was in exalted company in a squad skippered by Hull KR backrower Harry Poole, who having moved into coaching, signed him for Hunslet in 1969, by which time he was aged 31.
His senior career started at 17, Keighley recruiting him from the Leeds Intermediate team in December 1955 and handing him a debut later that season, when they finished 16th in a 30-string single division.
Crewdson, playing in the backrow, had an extended run in the side in the following campaign, but like many of his generation, his progress was interrupted by National Service (he was in the Royal Artillery).
When he was available to play on a more regular basis, he was sidelined by injury and, despite some sterling comeback displays in the ‘A’ team, was unable to dislodge his first-team replacement, ex-Halifax man Jack Holmes.
That led to talk of Crewdson leaving the club, but a strong display in a narrow 5-4 Yorkshire Cup semi-final defeat by Wakefield at Odsal in October 1960 put him back in the spotlight, and the 13.
The Rugby League split into two divisions for two seasons in 1962, and he was a key member of Keighley’s promotion-winning side in the first of them, when the Lawkholme Laners won 21 of their 26 league games.
Having returned from a broken arm, Crewdson produced some of the most consistent form of his career in the mid-sixties, when former Wigan and Great Britain player Harry Street became coach.
That led to his county and international recognition before the last of his 288 games for Keighley in 1968. His move to Hunslet in a swap deal also involved Alan Bancroft coming the other way in August 1969.
Crewdson made 128 appearances for the South Leeds club, many alongside current Chairman Kenny Sykes, who said: “He was a good player and a great team-mate.”
As well as being in Keighley’s inaugural Hall of Fame group in 1999, he was a member of the Hunslet RL Ex-Parkside Players’ Association.
Geoff Crewdson’s funeral will take place at 3:15pm this Wednesday, February 16 at Lawnswood Crematorium, Otley Road, Adel, Leeds, LS16 6AH.
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