Chris Sanderson Remembered

Today would have been Chris Sanderson's 70th birthday.  In 1977, Leeds RLFC suffered the blackest day in its history when young half back Chris Sanderson was tragically killed during a game at Salford.

Born on 27th July 1954, Chris signed for Leeds in 1971 from the York Juniors. His clever displays in either half back role earned him occasional appearances until 1974-75. Roy Francis gave him his chance at scrum half that season and hsi wonderful support play earned him tries in vital cup ties against Bradford and Salford. He appeared in the Cup semi final against Warrington in 1975 and was substitute in Leeds' Yorkshire Cup wins of 1975 and 1976.

Peter Banner's departure to Australia in March 1977 left Chris with a chance of a Wembley place and his superb displays looked to have clinched one – until he was tragically killed against Salford, two weeks from the Final. The incident happened seven minutes into Leeds' final league game of the season at the Willows when he collapsed in a tackle. The match was abandoned at half time as news of the 23-year-old's death at a nearby hospital reached a stunned Willows.

Chris' widow Sally was the first guest invited in to the Leeds dressing room after the Cup win two weeks later, when the victory over Widnes was dedicated to the memory of Chris. Just five days after the Wembley victory a crowd of 11,000, Headingley's biggest of the season, flocked to a hastily-arranged testimonial game against Great Britain, which raised £7,000 for Sanderson's family.

A talented soccer player and athlete, in all Sanderson started 55 games for Loiners with another 26 appearances as a substitute, scoring 21 tries. An inquest later recorded a verdict of misadventure, with the coroner describing Sanderson's death as a tragic one-in-a-million accident. Neither Leeds nor Salford wanted the fateful game replayed and it was deleted from that season's records.

Our thoughts are with Chris' family and friends today especially.