Bill Garner | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Bill Garner | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 481 Bill Garner by SHS It is potentially confusing to have had, at one stage, two players on the flanks at Saints both called Garner [no relation!] playing on the flanks during the same era, but we believe that any anomalies have now been sorted out successfully. It appears that Bill was going to make his debut for the seniors in the cauldron of Central Park on Boxing Day 1937, but it was not to be. Another Garner, Les, essentially a [fast] front or second-row forward was once again selected and young Bill had to wait until the game against Rochdale Hornets, at Knowsley Road, on 30th April 1938, for his chance. In fact, Bill was quite powerful and fast himself and was considered to be a fine prospect at the club. Recorder in the St. Helens Reporter gave him a fair write up: 'If young Garner had been a little more experienced and looked inside for the ever-alert Fearnley, near the end of the game, he would have sent him in for a try under the posts. On this occasion Garner tried to sell a dummy to his opposite winger and then tried actually to swerve outside on the touch line side. It very nearly came off, too ' on the strength of its audacity ' but it was a mistake all the same. Garner should have played at Wigan on Good Friday, but Powell decided at the last minute to play and deprived him of a chance to show his paces in good company. The company wasn't so 'class' versus Rochdale and his winger was neither fast enough nor clever enough to hold him. He failed to get enough work to show his power to score and especially his power to sidestep. This is rather exceptional, for his try he took an inside pass and swerved and side-stepped his way past half a dozen players to land under the posts'. Bill's career, like so many, was interrupted by the outbreak of war and his appearances at that time were spasmodic. His last game was at Dewsbury, on 26th September 1942, when he was right wing, with the great Jimmy Stott as his centre. Saints lost 17-26, which was no disaster against Eddie Waring's 'all-star' team of the time! There is a W. Garner playing for Featherstone Rovers in the latter stages of the war [1944-45]. In 1921 Bill was living in Stanhope Street, St. Helens with his parents and three siblings. His step-father, Walter Bromilow, was general labourer with Pilkington’s Bros Glass Works. The Player Register has Bill living in Waterdale Crescent in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Fast forward to 1974 and Bill was now Headteacher at Rivington Road Comprehensive School. The school has always had strong links with St Helens RFC and it was no surprise to learn that Bill could count on the expertise of legendary Saint John Mantle in the Physical Education Department. Bill died in Eccleston Nursing Home, Holme Road, St Helens on January 31st 1995 at the age of 81. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1937~38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1938~39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 1939~40 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1941~42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1942~43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS: | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30th Apr 1938 | 1 | W |
2 | Rochdale Hornets | L | H | 36 | 13 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 27th Aug 1938 | 2 | L |
2 | Widnes | L | A | 0 | 29 | VIEW | |||
| 31st Aug 1938 | 3 | L |
2 | Warrington | L | H | 7 | 20 | VIEW | |||
| 17th Sep 1938 | 4 | L |
2 | Barrow | L | A | 2 | 23 | VIEW | |||
| 24th Sep 1938 | 5 | W |
2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | H | 11 | 8 | VIEW | |||
| 28th Sep 1938 | 6 | W |
2 | Keighley | L | H | 23 | 0 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 1st Oct 1938 | 7 | W |
2 | Swinton | L | A | 10 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 8th Oct 1938 | 8 | L |
2 | Liverpool Stanley | L | H | 7 | 9 | VIEW | |||
| 29th Oct 1938 | 9 | L |
2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 5 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 2nd Jan 1939 | 10 | W |
5 | St. Helens Recs | L | A | 5 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Jan 1939 | 11 | L |
2 | Salford | L | A | 0 | 37 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Jan 1939 | 12 | L |
2 | Salford | L | H | 5 | 32 | VIEW | |||
| 2nd Mar 1940 | 13 | W |
5 | Broughton Rangers | LC1 (1) | H | 26 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 9th Mar 1940 | 14 | L |
5 | Broughton Rangers | LC1 (2) | A | 3 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 22nd Mar 1940 | 15 | L |
5 | Wigan | WEL | A | 0 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 23rd Mar 1940 | 16 | W |
5 | Leigh | WEL | H | 11 | 5 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 29th Mar 1940 | 17 | W |
2 | Wigan | LC2 (2) | H | 10 | 4 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 13th Apr 1940 | 18 | L |
5 | Widnes | LCSF (2) | A | 0 | 13 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Apr 1940 | 19 | L |
5 | Barrow | WEL | A | 15 | 17 | VIEW | |||
| 27th Apr 1940 | 20 | W |
5 | Leigh | WEL | A | 16 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 4th May 1940 | 21 | W |
5 | Oldham | WEL | H | 12 | 5 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 18th May 1940 | 22 | L |
5 | Widnes | WEL | H | 11 | 20 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Sep 1941 | 23 | W |
5 | Hull | WEL | H | 11 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Sep 1942 | 24 | L |
2 | Dewsbury | WEL | A | 17 | 26 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 11 | LOSSES : 13 | DRAWS : |
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GALLERY |
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