A special night as many Saints gathered at the Totally Wicked Stadium on the eve of our 150th-anniversary of St.Helens R.F.C.'s founding.
Hosted by exceptional broadcaster Tanya Arnold, the night was a celebration of the Club’s huge milestone and saw many Saints players across many eras in attendance, such as; our oldest living player Abe Terry, Kel Coslett, Eric Chisnall, Chris Arkwright, Alan Hunte, Ade Gardner, Maurie Fa’asavalu and Louie McCarthy-Scarsrbook to name just a few!
In a packed-out 1873 Lounge, Chairman Eamonn McManus kicked off the night by highlighting the importance of the occasion, our Club’s heritage and history, and thanked and paid respects to all the Saints who are sadly no longer with us.
Charles Nevin, the writer of the book ‘So Long Our Home’ a book which chronicles our history up to leaving Knowsley Road in 2010, gave a beautiful summary of the Saints’ story so far.
Legendary Saints joined Tanya on stage to discuss their eras as players:
- Harry Pinner and George Nicholls spoke about the huge success of the 1960s and 70s
- Bernard Dwyer and Paul Loughlin stole the show with their hilarious stories from the 1980s into the mid-90s
- A trio of iconic Saints, Paul Wellens, Chris Joynt and Sean Long, discussed Super League’s start in 1996 up to 2010
- Then James Roby and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook joined St.Helens Women’s Emily Rudge and Tara Jones to discuss the more recent achievements including this year’s World Club Challenge and Women’s Challenge Cup three-peat.
Special video messages from Australia were shown on screen during the evening too, firstly former Saints player and one of the best players the sport has ever seen, Mal Meninga, and three-time Super League winning coach Kristian Woolf. Both men thanked the Club and congratulated all involved on the 150th anniversary.
Ahead of the end of the celebration Eamonn McManus returned to the stage and invited Harry Pinner to also join him, together they revealed that in a break of tradition James Roby was to be inducted immediately into the Saints’ Hall Of Fame with all in the room giving The Greatest Of All Time a much deserved standing ovation.
CEO Mike Rush closed the evening paying a huge thanks to the long-term serving Club volunteers and staff, many of which were also in attendance for the event.
Take a look below at our gallery of what truly was a wonderful occasion for St.Helens R.F.C.
📸 Photos from our 150 Year Celebration Dinner!
