STEVE Prescott MBE and Apollo Perelini were named as the Hall of Fame 2013 class this week.
They were induced into the Ty-Phoo Hall of Fame at a special ceremony at Langtree Park as the Lounge was officially opened.
Ray French told the guests that it was a special night to open the Lounge and that the club goes out of its way to help past players.
“The club has the strongest Past Players Association in the game,” he added.
Representing the Hall of Fame, he ushered in Apollo and Steve for their outstanding contributions to the Club.
Apollo, who made 193 appearances for the Saints, said: “I wasn’t expecting to be inducted into such a prestigious Hall. My best memory has to be the 1996 Challenge Cup Final.
“We hadn’t won it for a while and when Bernard Dwyer scored for Bradford we were behind the sticks looking at each other. We thought we were done. In my mind I remembered we had done a reading from the Bible in the morning.
“Then Bobbie Goulding made those kicks and I started to believe. Later on Vila Matautia turned to me and said let’s finish it off and I asked God to do it through me. I then scored. It was the best occasion of my career.”
Steve Prescott was also emotional when he received his citation.
“I didn’t expect this to happen,” he said. “I thought I was coming to help open the Lounge. It is a brilliant occasion and to be in the Hall of Fame, I am moved by it all.
“I still have a long battle ahead but I have so many great memories of this club and my career. That game Apollo mentioned, I thought we were dead and buried but we came back.
“I scored two in the first 18 minutes and then got one chance late on – but Simon Booth scooped the ball up in front of me. We really wanted to win that day for the club and fans and I remember jumping on Apollo’s back when he went over.
“This club has great history and is going places.”
