HARRY BEVERLEY (April 1947 – March 29, 2022)
Harry Beverley was a rangy, athletic prop-forward whose career took him from his native Yorkshire to Cumbria and London and he twice represented England.
Easy-going off the field but teak-tough on it, his barnstorming runs, enthusiasm and workrate made him a hit with his coaches as well as supporters of Dewsbury, Workington Town, Fulham and Carlisle.
Leeds-born Beverley, who has died aged 74, helped Dewsbury to their greatest success, when in 1972/73 the men from Crown Flatt produced one of Rugby League’s biggest-ever shocks by becoming League Champions.
Going into the 16-team play-offs from a final position of eighth, after beating ninth-placed Oldham, Tommy Smales’ side won at league runners-up Featherstone Rovers, then table-topping Warrington.
That sealed an Odsal meeting with third-placed Leeds in what was to be the last of the old Championship Finals (the league split into two divisions for the following campaign and the use of play-offs to determine the title wasn’t reintroduced until the 1998 Super League season).
Most observers thought winning the showpiece against the defending champions would be a step too far for Dewsbury, who had been beaten 36-9 by Leeds in the Yorkshire Cup Final (it was three points for a try at the time).
But coach Smales, who side also made the first of successive Challenge Cup semi-final appearances (they went down to Bradford Northern, then in 1973/74, Warrington), conjured up a clever tactical masterplan.
The lethal Stephenson duo might have grabbed the headlines, with centre Nigel claiming a try, four conversions and a field-goal (worth two points) and hooker and future Sky Sports pundit Mick crossing twice.
But the spadework for the stunning 22-13 victory, in which sand-off Alan Agar scored the other try, was done by the likes of Beverley, Jeff Grayshon and John Bates.
“Every team wants a Harry Beverley,” said Smales of a player who also featured in a BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final for Dewsbury (they lost at St Helens in 1975/76).
“He was a hard runner with those high knees, a hard tackler, and he did everything you wanted him to do in attack and defence.
“Harry was a gentle man, but very tough. I remember an early training session after he joined, when he asked me to pass him a scrubbing brush. I assumed it was to clean his boots, but he jumped in the bath and started using it on his face!”
Beverley was named in Alex Murphy’s England squad for the 1975 World Cup, in which the five participants played each other home and away over a period of eight months.
While he didn’t feature in any of the eight matches as England finished a point behind Australia in the table, he did play in the post-tournament ‘final challenge match’ at Headingley, where the new world champions won 25-0.
Having also represented Yorkshire (the first of his four games for the county team was in 1975), Beverley left Dewsbury for Workington in 1977, playing in two Lancashire Cup finals for Town, with Widnes winning in both 1978/79 and 1979/80.
He also represented England as a Workington player, in the 15-7 European Championship win over Wales at Widnes in March 1979, when Eric Ashton was at the helm.
In September 1980, Beverley joined the newly-formed Fulham (now London Broncos), where he was to spend four seasons, twice helping them win promotion to the top flight, in 1982/83 as Second Division champions.
The 1984/85 campaign brought a switch to another expansion club, Carlisle, but there were only a handful of appearances before a return to Workington, where he was a regular during the 1985/86 campaign before hanging up his boots. Beverley then continued to live in Cumbria.
He leaves his wife Christine, his children Nicola, Michelle and Mark, and grandchildren Matthew, Katie, Peter, Evie, William, Ruby and Connie.
His funeral service will be held at Holme St Cuthbert Church in the village of Mawbray on Tuesday 19th April at 11.00am, followed by cremation at Carlisle Crematorium.
Dewsbury’s next home game is against Workington on Sunday, March 24, when Beverley’s death will be marked by a minute’s silence.
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