RUGBY LEAGUE’S QUALITY STREET GANG 11 – ALAN GRICE (PT4)

Part 4 – HIS POST SALFORD CAREER

After a decade of regular appearances in the first team, things started to take a downward turn for Alan, as new coach, Alex Murphy, looked elsewhere for his blindside front-rower, and Alan suddenly found himself with virtually no game-time.

β€œI was neither in the first team nor the β€˜A’ team, even though I was still training with the first team, so I went to speak with him and made it clear that I just wanted to play, no matter which of the two sides I best fitted. Β It seemed to make little difference and I still remained side-lined because he was looking around to replace many of the players who had been with the club for any great length of time.

β€œIt was he, who had first given us the name of the Quality Street Gang, and he used it to refer to players of my generation as being one of those.

β€œI was fortunate that David Watkins had recently moved to play for Swinton, and he recommended me to them.Β  Moving there, at that particular time, however meant that I would have to miss out on my Salford testimonial, later in the season, but I just wanted to get back playing so I went there, and the new contract compensated me to some extent for what I had missed out on at Salford.

β€œI never had any regrets about doing so, because I got treated extremely well when I got there, though I had very mixed feelings when we knocked Salford out of the John Player Trophy.Β  Despite having left there, I still always looked to see how Salford had gone on, each week, so it was quite an uncomfortable situation, which got worse for me when I made a break to their line, and from the play-the-ball Green Vigo went over for the winning try in the corner, but I felt quite awful about it.”

Unsurprisingly therefore, he stayed for four more seasons, which gave him the magnificent professional playing career total of fourteen years, which is quite incredible for a prop forward.

β€œIt was eventually down to a knee injury, which led to my finishing, at the age of thirty-six, because at that age I couldn’t really get over it.”

Not that it was to be an end to his links with rugby league; far from it in fact, as a whole new avenue opened up before him, at first in his home locality of St Helens, within the local amateur club set up.

β€œI went back to Blackbrook after I finished playing, and coached all the aspiring young coaches around the local district, to get their first step on the coaching ladder, before going onto the National coaching setup, at Loughborough.

β€œI also took over the coaching of the team, but despite successes on the field, and winning a number of trophies, because they were amateurs they didn’t share my whole-hearted commitment to the game.Β  Playing had to take its place within each person’s individual priorities in life, and that was something which I found so frustrating that I decided to finish, once the season was over.”

The news of his pending withdrawal quickly came to the ears, of Salford’s chief scout and director, Albert White, who wasted absolutely no time in contacting him.

β€œThe very next day Albert was on the phone to me inviting me to a meeting, the following week, with the Chairman, John Wilkinson, from which I came to work alongside Albert as a scout.

β€œThe very first person whom I drew to their attention to was Gary Connelly, and they made a strong offer to him to come to Salford, but unfortunately he hung out for more money from Saints.”

After a few years away from the club, it was to a different set-up to which Alan returned, with Andy Gregory at the helm, supported by Steve O’Neill and John Foran.

β€œI had played against John Foran, when he was with Widnes, and he had become a really good coach, since then, so much so that he soon took over as head coach.Β  After that, we would keep in touch with each other so that I knew exactly where priorities were and also keep him informed as to ensuing progress.

β€œOne of the players I did bring in was Alan Hunte.Β  I had heard he hadn’t been offered a new contract at Warrington so got in touch with him to come down.Β  We had to swallow our pride in doing so after he had knocked us out of the Cup with a last-minute try, two or three seasons before.”

Although he no longer has the degree of input to the club that he has had over the decades now past, Alan is not only still a regular attender at all Salford home games, he is also extremely willing to fly the flag for the club in a number of other capacities.Β  Indeed, it was at the unveiling of The Willows Memorial on the site of the old ground, back in 2015, that his remarks at the conclusion thereof became the inspiration and catalyst to this writer, for the Rugby League’s Quality Street Gang series.

It is only fitting therefore that, the first of our seventies stars to be highlighted in this, our hundred and fiftieth anniversary season, should be Alan Grice, the player who was a mainstay of the club on the field for almost a decade, and who then returned to continue a lifetime’s contribution right through to the present day.

β€œFor the whole of the time I was at the club I thoroughly enjoyed playing for Salford.Β  It was such a nice environment with really great guys who were fabulous players.”

RUGBY LEAGUE’S QUALITY STREET GANG (9) – ERIC PRESCOTT PT 2

Part 2 – MEMORIES OF HIS TIME WITH SALFORD

The abundance of talent within the St Helens team, during the first couple of years of the 1970s had reached levels that were almost an embarrassment with highly ambitious players vying with one another for places within the team, the back couple of rows in the scrum being of particular concern, as Eric discovered.

β€œWe had players like Eric Chisnall, John Mantle, and Kel Coslett, all of whom would have commanded places within any team, so I was finding myself confined to the bench, where a position in those days would not necessarily mean you would get a game.

β€œSubstitutes back then were there solely to cover for injuries, and if no-one actually got injured, the two bench players might go for weeks without getting onto the field.Β  I began to become frustrated at not getting much game time, so went to the St Helens Chairman to request a transfer.

β€œHe didn’t want me to leave at all, and to this end he put me on the list but at the price of Β£15,000.Β  That didn’t deter Salford, though, and chief scout, Albert White, came and asked whether I would join Salford to which I readily agreed knowing the quality that was present in the rest of the team.Β  The whole backline, from one to seven, were internationals, and with the likes of Mike Coulman and Colin Dixon in the forwards I knew I was joining a great team.

β€œI already knew one or two of the players, but turning up for my first training session, I was made really welcome.Β  The whole group of players was more like a family than a sports team.

β€œI already knew coach, Cliff Evans, from his days at St Helens, and I knew the way he wanted his teams to play, which was particularly helpful, because there was certainly a similarity in what he was advocating at Salford.”

Salford had brought Eric to the club with the firm intention of playing him at loose forward.Β  There was, however, already a regular incumbent of that position.

β€œColin Dixon had been playing there for quite a while, and I really felt sorry at moving him from his position, but he was a real gentleman – you couldn’t wish to meet anyone better – and he just accepted the situation with the utmost grace.Β  For me, having players like him alongside me was just absolutely marvellous.

β€œMy first game with them all was against Rochdale, which we won, 46-18, at The Willows, all within the same week as my signing for them.Β  When you sign for a new team, there is always a settling-in period as you get to know everything, and there is no way that you can possibly acquire all that in only two training sessions.

β€œSalford had a lot of moves which they would deploy at various times in the game, which made for a really good setup.Β  They would call these moves out and everyone really needed to know their part in them.

β€œDefending teams, at that time, were kept only three yards back, which meant that they were able to get up onto the attacking team very quickly, and so having their practised moves enabled them to fox the defence in some way.Β  Nowadays, being up to ten metres apart moves are rather less effective as there is so much time for defences to read what is happening.

β€œSalford played really good football and the ball always went through a lot of hands in every match.Β  We were always at our most dangerous in our own half of the field because when the other team were lying up on us, Kenny Gill or John Butler would put a kick through for Keith Fielding, and there was no-one going to catch him.

β€œEveryone had their own job within the team.Β  I liked tackling.Β  I liked the physicality involved, and also in aiming to get my technique just right on each occasion.Β  There was also the benefit of limiting the effectiveness of the opposition’s attack.

β€œTackling round the legs was probably the best way of tackling in those days, because you can’t go without your legs.Β  Nowadays, it is regarded as more important to stop an offload, so tackling has drifted to the upper body.Β  Elbows, back then, were far too discouraging to make that type of tackle worthwhile.

β€œI got my nose broken in my early days, in a match against Warrington.Β  I was just getting up from a tackle to play the ball, when someone came in and smashed me across the face breaking my nose.Β  You have to learn from those incidents.”

As with many of his teammates, Eric still regrets the fact that the team never managed to fulfil its promise of winning trophies, and having come from a club like St Helens, this sat a little more uneasily on his shoulders.

β€œWe should have won a whole lot more than we did, considering the talent that we had in the team, and having left St Helens to come to Salford, I had to sit and watch their success from afar.Β  They went to Wembley in 1976, and against all the odds won the Challenge Cup, and I remember thinking to myself that I’d missed out on that one.

β€œOne of the reasons for my coming here was that, with the team packed with all those internationals, I was expecting much the same from us, but we just couldn’t get through those early rounds of the Challenge Cup to get to the final.Β  One season we were knocked out by St Helens themselves in what was, for us, a home match.Β  That really hurt.”

Invariably, though, it was a trip into Yorkshire, to face Leeds or Castleford, around Rounds two or three, which put Salford out of the competition.

β€œAnother problem was that, then, virtually all the teams were of a similar playing standard, so whilst we were one of the top sides, and, on our day, probably the most entertaining of them all, the remaining fifteen teams in the first division were not far behind.Β  If we had an β€˜off’ day, any one of them could have won.Β  I remember Rochdale coming to the Willows and beating us, on one occasion.Β  That sort of thing hardly ever happens nowadays.

Wembley may have had a hoodoo cast over it as far as the Salford team was concerned, but the calibre of the side was twice reflected in their winning the First Division Championship, in 1973/4 and 1975/6.

β€œThat was certainly handsome compensation and probably worthy of greater notoriety than it received at the time because the equality in standards throughout the league made it all the more challenging and difficult to achieve.Β  Doing it twice, and so quickly after each other was a tremendous achievement.

β€œThe first time was at the expense of St Helens, for once.Β  It was a late Easter Weekend at the end of the season, and we needed to win at Wigan, on the Easter Monday, and then for Widnes to beat St Helens, later that evening, in order for us to lift the Trophy.Β  We did all we could for ourselves in defeating Wigan, and then we all went over to Naughton Park, Widnes, which was so packed that we had to stand behind the posts to watch.

β€œIt was quite absorbing because the game was so tight, with Saints in front at half time, but Widnes, with nothing but pride to play for, came back in the second half to win.Β  Saints were such a good team at that time we couldn’t really have expected anything other than for them to win, but they came unstuck and we became Champions.

β€œWe also won other trophies.Β  We lifted the BBC2 Floodlit Cup, in 1972, with a win over Warrington, at Wilderspool, after drawing with them the week earlier at the Willows.Β  That came very shortly after I had moved to Salford and was a real reward for my having done so.

β€œThe Lancashire Cup and the John Player Trophy were other competitions in which we also had successes, at least in reaching the final and semi-final.Β  I think it is a loss to the game that these competitions have gone by the board, because they brought a bit of variety to the season, whilst as a player you always wanted to win something, and there was something there to be won.

β€œThe Lancashire Cup win was one of my best memories.Β  I had been injured just before, and came back to play in the final, against Swinton, at Warrington.Β  We controlled the game well, and apart from the first twenty minutes of the second half, when they really came at us, we were on top throughout, and fully deserved the win.”

By the later years of the seventies, there was a fairly noticeable deterioration in the team, as players got older, some retired, and others moved elsewhere.

β€œThe mid-seventies were extremely good, but standards did start to decline over the coming seasons. Β I still had the hankering to play at Wembley and still felt we had a good team then, but we just couldn’t get past those three or four clubs which had always been our downfall.Β  As time moved on, I began to realise this was not going to happen at Salford, so I started to look round for another club.

β€œWorking, as I did, for Widnes Council, I sounded out the possibility of my moving there, because it was a club which was making significant progress, by then.Β  The response from them was that they were quite willing to take me on board, if I were willing to play in the second row, which I was, and so I made the move to join them.”

Nothing is for ever, though, and a couple of seasons later he returned for one more spell, with prop, John Wood, transferring over to Widnes, in exchange.

β€œSalford approached me with a view to returning, and because I had been so very happy there, for so long, I agreed.Β  Coming back again rekindled the memories of all those good times, and even though it was different this time around, I had absolutely no regrets in having done so.

β€œI liked the type of rugby Salford have always played, and alongside that, the people who were there were all so very friendly and approachable.Β  I also still believed that we could have made up for the lack of trophies previously, by winning something this time around, but sadly this was not to be.”

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