1970-1971

This was a bitter-sweet season of pomp and cruel circumstance; two cup triumphs; many glorious displays; a sad day at Wembley; and, over all, the shadow cast by the grievous injury sustained by Mick Shoebottom.

Leeds opened the campaign with convincing wins over Featherstone Rovers and Widnes, in readiness for a 1st Round battle with Wakefield Trinity, who had all too frequently dashed our Yorkshire Cup hopes. They might have done so again, too, had Holmes failed to stop Fox in his tracks midway through the second half, when Trinity were bidding to take the lead. As it was, with Ramsey excelling in a pack of unsuspected virility, Leeds fully merited the victory which Cookson sealed with a tearaway 70-yard burst.

September was hectic! Nine matches were played; two players were transferred: Bernard Watson, to Bradford Northern, and Ken Eyre, to Keighley; and four players were blooded: Alan Bence, forward; Barry Parker, winger; Tony Wainwright, stand-off; and Les Dyl, a 16-year-old centre destined for stardom. Well as Leeds played in the League, with an 11-try rout of Bradford Northern at Odsal, and four more wins besides, the highlights came in two tremendous Yorkshire Cup victories. Facing the ?old enemy? at Wheldon Road in the 2nd Round, with four props out injured and young Pitchford pitted against the might of Hartley, we were well beaten in the tight but never gave an inch in the loose, to go in at half-time with the score 2-2. We came out like men inspired, scenting victory: a typical short-passing ploy by Batten, and Dunn was over within minutes of the resumption; a burst from Hynes, support from Holmes, and there was Shoebottom going like the wind, his every try-scoring stride confirming that the Wheldon Road bogey was well and truly laid. Now we faced another in the Semi-Final at The Boulevard, where the second half developed into an absolute cliff-hanger, with Hull four points ahead and the ?threepenny stand? whistling for time, even as Cookson seized on a pass from Hynes to charge between the posts. The conversion was simple, yet so crucial. Holmes made no mistake.

The merry-go-round continued in October, with four games in ten days, so it was hardly surprising that victory at Thrum Hall should be followed, two days later, by a slump at Wigan, but Leeds set their sights on that elusive Floodlit Trophy, with a 1st Round win at Barrow, and then crushed Featherstone Rovers in the League with a devastating 50-point onslaught, Haigh feeding off Batten with ravenous zeal to score three fine tries.

The tempo slackened in November. With Tony Fisher, signed from Bradford Northern, to replace Tony Crosby, who had joined Hull K.R., we made a flying start at Widnes, scoring three tries in the first eight minutes, to qualify for the Semi-Final of the Floodlit Competition, and then boosted confidence for the Yorkshire Cup Final with a 6-try romp at Wilderspool. We need hardly have bothered, as a somewhat hollow victory by 23 points to 7 was there for the taking from the 12th minute, when Morgan, the Featherstone Rovers hooker, was dismissed. The Cup had been won at Wheldon Road and The Boulevard: this was merely an Odsal victory parade! The Leeds team was: Holmes; A. Smith, Hynes, Cowan, Atkinson; Wainwright (Langley), Shoebottom; J. Burke, P. Dunn. Cookson, Haigh, Ramsey, Batten.

December for glorious rugby! In the League, Leeds reached the acme of perfection, scoring 25 tries to record four tremendous wins; in the Floodlit Competition, we ran in six more against Hull K.R., and then triumphed over St. Helens, under Headingley?s reduced emergency lighting, in a magnificent Final. The pace was fast and furious, the tension high, the scoring low: a burst by Chisnall, and Jones swept inside the Leeds cover in the 10th minute; a penalty goal by Hynes; and then, on the stroke of half-time, a reverse pass from Ramsey prised open an oyster-like defence, and Hynes was over in a flash, for Holmes to make it 7-3. The pace never slackened in the second half, the tackling never wilted, each side adding two points. Rugby League was the winner, but Leeds took the Trophy for the first time, and St. Helens shared the glory.

Now for the Challenge Cup! Having released Trevor Briggs and Peter Astbury to Bramley, and Albert Eyre to Keighley, Leeds went into the 1st Round as cup favourites. Poor Oldham! After all, they only had 13 men! Unable to cope with superb Leeds team?work, the Batten-Haigh duo, scything runs, electrifying bursts, and the ubiquitous Shoe?bottom, they died of shame: 49-2. Six days later, Salford suffered a similar fate, but our sequence of 18 wins ended, like that of the 1957 Cup-winners, at The Boulevard. Could this be an omen? Hopes soared when Leeds survived a dour 2nd Round war of attrition with St. Helens, and then ploughed to victory through McLaren Field?s cloying mud, to qualify for an Odsal Semi-Final against Castleford, who were bidding to reach the Final for the third successive year. No way! A surging break by Haigh, and Cowan was over for a try, converted by Holmes; a kick intended for Alan Smith retrieved on the bounce, and Hynes was crossing, to put Leeds eight points ahead and in the road to Wembley after only ten minutes. Nor, as the unflagging Leeds tacklers thereafter made plain, had they any intention of turning back now!

Meanwhile, a scratch team including Alan Preece, substitute Neil Goodwin, and Fred Pickup, back from Australia, had understandably conceded two valuable points at St. Helens, and though we made a gallant bid to retain the League Leaders? Trophy, with Bob Haigh establishing a new try-scoring record for a forward, we had to settle for 3rd place. Then came disaster! In the play-off against Salford, Mick Shoebottom sustained a serious head injury, which was to affect his whole future and terminate his playing career. For Mick, a personal tragedy; for the Leeds Club, and the game in general, an irreparable loss.

Championship dreams faded at St. Helens, and Wembley was to offer no consolation. Weakened still further through the unavailability of Alan Smith and Batten, and with Sea?bourne struggling to regain form after injury, Leeds lacked rhythm and inspiration, and went down to inglorious defeat against Leigh, with Murphy stretchered off and Hynes heading for the tunnel in disgrace. Minutes later, Murphy was back to collect the Lance Todd Trophy. Leeds: Holmes; Langley, Hynes, Cowan (Dyl), Atkinson; Wainwright, Seabourne? J Burke Fisher, Barnard, Hick, Haigh, Ramsey. Referee: Mr. W. H. Thompson (Huddersfieid).

During the season, six Leeds players had taken part in the World Cup series (in England): John Atkinson, Tony Fisher, Bob Haigh, Syd Hynes. Mick Shoebottom, and Alan Smith.