St. Helens

I’m Dave, an avid Saints and Rugby League supporter for well over 55 seasons. Where do I start putting it into words how I feel about the game of Rugby League, its players, its fans? Excuse the pun, but I would like to “sing the praises” of our great sport and how much it means to me as a supporter.

In 1955, I was perched on my dad’s shoulders in the famous Popular Stand at Knowsley Road – my very first experience of seeing a live game. There I was, surrounded by thousands of people, all shouting, cheering, happy, sad, up and down – all while I was sitting on my dad’s shoulders trying to make sense of who was winning!

Thinking back to that game over fifty years ago, I can’t remember who won, but I can recall how the experience affected me as a young boy. Like lots of other children in the 1950s, I remember playing ‘goodies vs baddies’ – the ‘goodies’ always won didn’t they? Now I had been to my first Saints game I didn’t see any ‘baddies’ – they were patting each other on the back and showing so much respect for each other after battling on the pitch.

That’s what stuck in my mind as a child and now my respect for the athletes who still do battle is immense. After more than fifty years of being entertained, the agony and ecstasy or losing and winning – ours is truly the greatest game!