People walking on water

Story of the Watersplash rugby league challange cup final in 1968 They Walked On WaterThis book tells the story of the 1968 Rugby League Challenge Cup final between Leeds RLFC and Wakefield Trinity also famously known as The Watersplash Final as told by Wakefield Trinity supporter David Hinchliffe Hinchliffe has recorded not only his own personal memories of that fateful day but has interviewed other supporters of both Leeds and Wakefield along with memories from players and staff of both teams I personally have heard many detailed tellings of this day from my dad who was a 13 year old child on his first Challenge Cup final trip to Wembley down in London Of course my dad being a diehard Leeds supporter has differing views to those of Hinchliffe However because Hinchliffe has included memories from persons affiliated with both clubs the book gives a fairly well rounded account of what happened on that day in May 1968 The Watersplash final is probably the most famous match to be played in the history of rugby league Wakefield were the favourites to win although it was expected to be a very good game between two fairly matched sides On the day itself the sun was shining and it was said to be very warm people walking around in short sleeves However about an hour before kickoff the sky turned black and the heavens opened causing what can only be described as flash floods Most accounts concur had this game been set to play in any other venue it would definitely have been called off But 80000 people had traveled 200 miles down to London from Yorkshire and other parts of the north of England How could the match official possibly call the game off The referee John Hebblethwaite made the difficult decision that the game should go ahead despite the pitch being so waterlogged that huge puddles had developed in many parts As both teams walked through the tunnel and on to the pitch their feet became quickly saturated as the water was so deep it went over the tops of their boots Nobody could actually believe that the game was to go ahead However it did It wasn t a skilled game as conditions were obviously horrendous Players were conscious of the fact that they could quite easily be drowned in a puddle during a tackle or scrum that s how wet the turf actually was During the 68th minute the referee made a controversial decision which would plague him for the remainder of his life He awarded Leeds a dubious penalty try A Leeds player had been obstructed by a Wakefield player in a race to chase a kick towards the try line Hebblethwaite gave Leeds a penalty try deciding that had the Leeds man not been pulled back by the Wakefield player he would have scored a try He s just made the largest call of his career Leeds were shocked at the decision Wakefield supporters were furiously shouting that they d been robbed by the ref I ve seen the incident myself many times and it s very difficult to say that the Leeds player would definitely have scored a try but the referee gave the penalty If you were superstitious this decision was made in the 68th minute of the 68th cup final in 1968 You d definitely read into that In the final minutes of the game Wakefield were penalised for a stiff arm and Leeds chose to kick for goal The ball went over taking the score to 7 11 to Leeds What happened next was to be the most talked about moment of the game Don Fox Wakefield s kicker restarted the game with a plan choosing to kick it not at the Leeds forwards as was expected but to kick it to the side for his winger He kicked off and his plan came to fruition Wakefield had the ball and the winger went right under the sticks for a last minute try bringing the score to 10 11 with a conversion to come The Leeds players and supporters couldn t believe it In a matter of seconds the game had been turned on its head They thought they d won it but with the Wakefield try it now looked like they d lost it Don Fox lined the ball up ready for the conversion directly in front of the goal posts If he kicked it Wakefield would win Leeds players and supporters alike turned away unable to watch as Fox went for the kick Unbelievable he missed He fell to the floor in absolute devastation Leeds had won Was it the pressure which caused him to miss Was it because the ball was so wet Was it because he slipped We will never know the answer Fox had already been awarded the Lance Todd Trophy which is given to the man of the match in a Challenge Cup final Obviously that was very little consolation for him Wakefield Trinity lodged an official complaint against John Hebblethwaite the referee blaming the loss on his decision to award the penalty try to Leeds under such dubious conditions Unfortunately within the year Hebblethwaite was found dead in his holiday caravan on the Yorkshire coast near Filey He d poisoned himself with cyanide Nobody knew whether this was because of the guilt he felt for that fateful day or if it was because he d retired from the game and missed it or if it was because of the death of his wife a few months earlier His son maintains to this day that it was because of the death of his wife but we shall never know Don Fox never got over that day either He lived with the guilt of that missed goal blaming himself for the loss and the subsequent payments he and his teammates were to receive if they won He slipped into a deep depression and eventually died in hospital whilst he was receiving treatment for his mental health I really enjoyed reading about this chapter in history of my own club Leeds although I did find most of the accounts to be biased towards Wakefield especially where the referee was concerned On reflection if this episode was to take place in the modern game the outcome for Don Fox and for John Hebblethwaite would have been extremely different Rugby League places a huge emphasis on the mental wellbeing of all players and officials and there would undoubtedly be professional help and support for both men It s very sad that the most famous match in the history of our sport is maimed with controversy and sadness The words he s a poor lad uttered by Eddie Waring in the commentary box in reference to Fox when he missed that goal have gone down in history as perhaps the most famous phrase alongside Wide to West that Rugby League will ever have In conclusion this book is an excellent read for anyone who has an interest in RL and the history of this wonderful sport 0957559313 The story of the watersplash rugby league challange cup finalPart social history part sports reporting Hinchliffe the ex wakefield mp does a good job of showing the time and the importance of the game despite its relative fame The sections on wakefield are interesting and the book illustrates the differences between super league and rugby league better than you could hope 0957559313