MEN 1873-1895
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Coach: Stan McCormick

Honours: Lancashire Cup winners 1962-63, 1963-64. Western Division Championship winners 1963-64.

Stan was born in Oldham and began his professional rugby career with Belle Vue Rangers before a record-breaking £4,000 move to St Helens in 1949. He was a superb winger, fleet-footed, elusive and with pace to burn. Yet his most striking asset was his uncanny ability to make interceptions, which he did with regularity. A county and international representative, he would often wear gloves in the depths of winter and he became a key component of Coach Jim Sullivan’s plans to transform the Saints into one of the rugby league’s elite clubs.

Stan played at Wembley and won a League Championship medal in 1952-53, followed by a Lancashire Cup winner’s medal in 1953-54 before sensationally joining Warrington half way through the campaign. He went on to help the Wires to success in the Lancashire League, League Championship and Challenge Cup – a remarkable four medals for the former Powderhall sprinter, who scored 99 tries for the Saints in 161 appearances.

Stan finished his career at Liverpool City and was appointed coach at Knowsley Road in succession to his former team-mate Alan Prescott, after the loss to Oldham on 16th December 1961 prompted the Board to take action.

Stan stabilised the team and was at the helm during a period of rebuilding, when the club engaged several new signings form Rugby Union, such as Len Killeen, Kel Coslett and Cen Williams. He coached the team to success in two consecutive Lancashire Cup finals, against Swinton and Leigh, before beating Swinton once more in the final of the Western Division Championship [replacing the Lancashire League] in 1963-64. Ray French scored the winning try in that match and recalls the aftermath in his book ‘My Kind of Rugby’ [1979] as follows: “We all turned to mount the steps of the stand for our medals, only to see Stan being carried away from the trainer’s dugout, his face covered in blood. At the moment of my try he had leapt up in the air, forgetting the concrete roof”

Ray had great affection for Stan. “He maintained a high team spirit with his quick wit and was certainly instrumental in helping many of the younger players to develop,” he added. Yet in the somewhat cut-throat world of professional sport, he was told that his services were no longer required after the final game of the 1963-64 season at Castleford.

A shopkeeper in Haresfinch, Stan went on to coach Salford for a spell in the later 1970s before eventually becoming a Club Ambassador on match days at Knowsley Road. A real character, he became an entertaining after dinner speaker and was inducted into the St Helens RFC Players Association Hall of Fame.

Coach from : Aug 01st 1962 to Jul 31st 1964
DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
1962-08-10 --
W
 Liverpool City* Fr Charity Cup H 33 2 VIEW
1962-08-18 1
W
 Salford WDC A 35 24 VIEW
1962-08-22 2
W
 Leigh WDC H 21 3 VIEW
1962-08-25 3
W
 Blackpool Borough WDC H 21 12 VIEW
1962-08-30 4
W
 Liverpool City WDC A 16 9 VIEW
1962-09-01 5
W
 Salford WDC H 59 0 VIEW
1962-09-08 6
W
 Liverpool City LC1 H 22 0 VIEW
1962-09-15 7
W
 Leigh WDC A 20 10 VIEW
1962-09-18 8
W
 Blackpool Borough LC2 A 14 3 VIEW
1962-09-22 9
W
 Liverpool City WDC H 32 3 VIEW
1962-09-29 10
D
 Blackpool Borough WDC A 12 12 VIEW
1962-10-02 11
W
 Oldham LCSF A 10 8 VIEW
1962-10-06 12
L
 Warrington L A 13 21 VIEW
1962-10-09 13
L
 Widnes WDCSF H 9 10 VIEW
1962-10-13 14
D
 Castleford L H 10 10 VIEW
1962-10-20 15
W
 Huddersfield L A 22 9 VIEW
1962-10-27 16
W
 Swinton LCF N 7 4 VIEW
1962-11-03 17
L
 Leeds L A 7 14 VIEW
1962-11-10 18
L
 Warrington L H 2 4 VIEW
1962-11-17 19
W
 Castleford L A 8 7 VIEW
1962-11-24 20
W
 Huddersfield L H 36 3 VIEW
1962-12-01 21
L
 Workington Town L A 5 8 VIEW
1962-12-08 22
W
 Leeds L H 13 6 VIEW
1962-12-15 23
L
 Wakefield Trinity L A 7 10 VIEW
1962-12-22 24
W
 Hull L H 27 14 VIEW
1963-03-09 25
L
 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 2 3 VIEW
1963-03-11 26
L
 Halifax CC1 A 2 9 VIEW
1963-03-23 27
W
 Bramley L H 38 0 VIEW
1963-03-26 28
W
 Wigan L H 20 11 VIEW
1963-03-30 29
W
 Featherstone Rovers L A 17 10 VIEW
1963-04-01 30
W
 Workington Town L H 29 0 VIEW
1963-04-06 31
W
 Halifax L H 33 3 VIEW
1963-04-12 32
W
 Wigan L A 24 4 VIEW
1963-04-13 33
L
 Swinton L A 8 9 VIEW
1963-04-15 34
L
 Swinton L H 9 24 VIEW
1963-04-20 35
W
 Featherstone Rovers L H 18 5 VIEW
1963-04-27 36
L
 Hull L A 7 15 VIEW
1963-04-29 37
L
 Wakefield Trinity L H 15 16 VIEW
1963-05-04 38
W
 Widnes L A 25 2 VIEW
1963-05-06 39
W
 Oldham L H 22 8 VIEW
1963-05-13 40
W
 Widnes L H 14 6 VIEW
1963-05-18 41
W
 Bramley L A 21 9 VIEW
1963-05-25 42
W
 Halifax L A 33 5 VIEW
1963-05-27 43
W
 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 16 15 VIEW
1963-05-30 44
W
 Oldham L A 24 9 VIEW
1963-08-17 --
W
 Liverpool City* Fr Charity Cup H 34 8 VIEW
1963-08-24 45
L
 Huddersfield L H 7 10 VIEW
1963-08-28 46
W
 Castleford L H 20 11 VIEW
1963-08-31 47
W
 Keighley L A 18 6 VIEW
1963-09-02 48
W
 Hunslet L A 15 7 VIEW
1963-09-07 49
W
 Swinton LC1 A 12 2 VIEW
1963-09-14 50
W
 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 40 5 VIEW
1963-09-16 51
W
 Workington Town LC2 H 28 4 VIEW
1963-09-21 52
L
 Halifax L A 5 13 VIEW
1963-09-23 53
W
 Warrington LCSF A 21 14 VIEW
1963-09-28 54
L
 Australia Tour H 2 8 VIEW
1963-10-05 55
W
 Barrow WDC H 19 15 VIEW
1963-10-12 56
W
 Leeds L A 10 2 VIEW
1963-10-19 57
W
 Hull L H 11 10 VIEW
1963-10-26 58
W
 Leigh LCF N 15 4 VIEW
1963-11-02 59
W
 Warrington L H 19 8 VIEW
1963-11-16 60
D
 Featherstone Rovers L H 11 11 VIEW
1963-11-30 61
W
 Liverpool City WDC H 16 0 VIEW
1963-12-07 62
W
 Wakefield Trinity L A 8 7 VIEW
1963-12-14 63
L
 Halifax L H 12 13 VIEW
1963-12-28 64
W
 Workington Town L A 5 0 VIEW
1964-01-01 65
L
 Swinton L H 6 8 VIEW
1964-01-04 66
W
 Salford WDC A 15 5 VIEW
1964-01-11 67
L
 Hunslet L H 10 12 VIEW
1964-01-25 68
W
 Keighley L H 28 3 VIEW
1964-02-01 69
W
 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 9 5 VIEW
1964-02-08 70
L
 Castleford CC1 H 6 13 VIEW
1964-02-15 71
W
 Barrow WDC A 14 10 VIEW
1964-02-22 72
L
 Leeds L H 6 14 VIEW
1964-02-29 73
W
 Warrington L A 17 10 VIEW
1964-03-07 74
W
 Huddersfield L A 16 11 VIEW
1964-03-14 75
W
 Workington Town L H 14 8 VIEW
1964-03-21 76
W
 Whitehaven WDC H 50 7 VIEW
1964-03-27 77
W
 Wigan L H 11 5 VIEW
1964-03-28 78
W
 Salford WDC H 24 13 VIEW
1964-03-30 79
W
 Swinton L A 10 7 VIEW
1964-04-04 80
L
 Widnes L H 6 10 VIEW
1964-04-08 81
L
 Featherstone Rovers L A 12 19 VIEW
1964-04-11 82
W
 Wakefield Trinity L H 24 10 VIEW
1964-04-15 83
W
 Whitehaven WDC A 3 0 VIEW
1964-04-18 84
W
 Liverpool City WDC A 32 7 VIEW
1964-04-22 85
W
 Wigan L A 22 13 VIEW
1964-04-25 86
W
 Widnes L A 19 8 VIEW
1964-05-01 87
W
 Oldham WDCSF H 22 11 VIEW
1964-05-06 88
W
 Hull L A 17 9 VIEW
1964-05-16 89
W
 Swinton WDCF N 10 7 VIEW
1964-05-27 90
L
 Castleford L A 10 11 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 66 | LOSSES : 23 | DRAWS : 3




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