Coach: Oliver Dolan

Honours: None. Northern Rugby League position: 19/28 Lancashire League: 9/14

Henry Oliver Dolan first played rugby for Windle school in the forwards. After finishing his education, however, the First World War was raging and Oliver saw distinguished service with the 21st and 29th Divisions of the British Army. His selfless courage under fire earned Sgt Dolan, of the 64th Field Ambulance the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal and bar at Paschendale Ridge. He was later torpedoed in the Dardanelles in 1915, whilst sailing for Gallipoli and lived to tell the tale.

His father, originally from Ireland, had played for the Recs during their rugby union days and his son duly followed him, this time into the professional ranks, as a hooker, in 1919. Oliver was one of seven players with St Helens clubs to be selected for the 1928 Australasian tour, when England came back with the Ashes. After a stalwart career with Recs, he helped out at Saints during the war years, with training and coaching duties, together with Peter Lyons from Widnes.

Oliver was appointed coach for the 1946-47 season at Knowsley Road and took charge of a team very much in the development stage, with many players returning from their wartime duties. His first match was on 31st August 1946, when Saints lost 2-10 to Widnes at Knowsley Road. Alas the going was not going to be easy, as an article in the Daily Mirror [4th October 1946] illustrated: 'With all their cracks back from the forces - Welsh Guardsman full-back Pimblett, RAF and Army threequarter line Doyle, Bowen, Stott and Balmer; half-backs ex POW Myers and serving soldier J. Ball - St Helens have a smashing back division behind an Army and Navy pack of forwards, but they keep on losing. Oliver Dolan, the coach, is as baffled as Joe Carson, ex-Powderhall winner, the trainer.'

In what became one of the coldest winters on record, flying winger Sonny Doyle was the main threat with 20 tries during a campaign in which the team never looked like challenging for major honours. Early exits from the Lancashire and Challenge Cups added to the disappointment. The team won 14, drew 1 and lost 21 of their league matches, although one highlight came on Good Friday, with a 12-7 success against future Champions Wigan at Central Park.

Oliver's last game in charge was a 26-4 victory over Rochdale Hornets at Knowsley Road on 7th June 1947, when the season had to be extended to fit in a raft of bad weather postponements. The Directors appointed Alf Frodsham as first team coach for the 1947-48 campaign, a former Saints threequarter who had been a team-mate of Dolan's on the 1928 tour. Despite bumper post-war crowds, he too would find the role a challenging one.

Coach from : Aug 31st 1946 to Jun 07th 1947
DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
1946-08-31 1
L
Widnes L H 2 10 VIEW
1946-09-07 2
L
Leigh LC1(1) H 5 14 VIEW
1946-09-14 3
L
Leigh LC1(2) A 4 17 VIEW
1946-09-21 4
L
Widnes L A 10 17 VIEW
1946-09-28 5
L
Leigh L H 7 11 VIEW
1946-10-05 6
L
Warrington L A 10 19 VIEW
1946-10-12 7
W
Workington Town L H 12 7 VIEW
1946-10-19 8
W
Salford L A 11 2 VIEW
1946-10-26 9
W
Halifax L H 15 8 VIEW
1946-11-02 10
W
Oldham L A 7 3 VIEW
1946-11-09 11
L
Swinton L H 11 15 VIEW
1946-11-16 12
D
Belle Vue Rangers L A 10 10 VIEW
1946-11-23 13
L
Bramley L A 0 10 VIEW
1946-11-30 14
W
Huddersfield L H 18 10 VIEW
1946-12-07 15
L
Leigh L A 3 10 VIEW
1946-12-14 16
W
Salford L H 9 8 VIEW
1946-12-25 17
L
Liverpool Stanley L H 16 17 VIEW
1946-12-26 18
L
Wigan L H 9 11 VIEW
1946-12-28 19
L
Huddersfield L A 12 19 VIEW
1947-01-01 20
L
Liverpool Stanley L A 7 8 VIEW
1947-01-04 21
L
Leeds L A 5 20 VIEW
1947-01-11 22
L
Leeds L H 7 8 VIEW
1947-01-18 23
W
Featherstone Rovers L A 11 7 VIEW
1947-01-25 24
W
Hull Kingston Rovers L H 29 16 VIEW
1947-03-08 25
W
Keighley CC1(1) H 17 7 VIEW
1947-03-11 26
L
Keighley CC1(2) N 5 8 VIEW
1947-03-22 27
L
Warrington CC2 A 2 24 VIEW
1947-03-29 28
L
Hull Kingston Rovers L A 3 11 VIEW
1947-04-04 29
W
Wigan L A 12 7 VIEW
1947-04-05 30
L
Warrington L H 6 10 VIEW
1947-04-07 31
L
Belle Vue Rangers L H 10 12 VIEW
1947-04-12 32
L
Oldham L H 7 18 VIEW
1947-04-19 33
L
Workington Town L A 2 13 VIEW
1947-04-26 34
W
Swinton L A 15 6 VIEW
1947-05-06 35
L
Rochdale Hornets L A 5 7 VIEW
1947-05-10 36
W
Bramley L H 29 0 VIEW
1947-05-17 37
W
Featherstone Rovers L H 35 0 VIEW
1947-05-24 38
L
Barrow L A 9 15 VIEW
1947-05-26 39
L
Halifax L A 9 10 VIEW
1947-05-31 40
W
Barrow L H 36 7 VIEW
1947-06-07 41
W
Rochdale Hornets L H 26 4 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 15 | LOSSES : 25 | DRAWS : 1




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