Trevor Foster
Encyclopedia
Trevor J. F. Foster MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

 (1916 – 2 April, 2005), was a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 footballer and coach. He played rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 for Newport and rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 for Bradford Northern
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

. Trevor Foster was a Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 Physical Training Instructor
Physical Training Instructor
Physical Training Instructor is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness.-United Kingdom:...

 in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Early years

Trevor Foster was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, but is best known for his association with the Bradford Northern
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

 rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 club having joined them as a player in 1938 for £400 from Newport RFC, his home town's rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club.

He made a name for himself playing for Newport Schoolboys and Pill Harriers
Pill Harriers RFC
Pill Harriers RFC are a Welsh rugby union club based in Newport in South Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons..-Club origins:...

 as a teenager, before joining Newport. He was also chosen to play for invitational team Crawshays
Crawshays RFC
Crawshays Welsh RFC is an invitational rugby union team.In 1922 Captain Geoffrey Crawshay was invited by the Engineer Commander of Devonport Services, SF Cooper, to bring a team of Welsh rugby union players to play Devonport Services RFC...

.

Bradford career

In all he played 428 games for Bradford, usually as a second row forward and occasionally a loose forward. During this time he scored 140 tries (an incredible return for a forward) including 24 in the 1947-48 season and 6 in 1 game. Trevor was the key forward of an outstanding Bradford side in the post war period which won the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 in 1947 and 1949 with Trevor scoring in both games.

Great Britain and Wales caps

Trevor Foster won caps for Wales
Wales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...

 while at Bradford Northern 1939…1951 16-caps, including 7 as captain, and won caps for Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

 while at Bradford Northern in 1946 against New Zealand, and in 1948 against Australia (2 matches)

It is certain he would have won more caps had it not been for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

In 1946 he was selected for the winning Ashes tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, but was injured before being able to play a game.

Other notable games

Trevor Foster played Left- and was captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

 for Northern Command XIII against a Rugby League XIII at Thrum Hall
Thrum Hall
Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax RLFC.-Stadium:The site, measuring 55,000 square yards and included a cricket pitch, greyhound track and bowling greens...

, Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...

 on Saturday 21 March 1942.

Unblemished disciplinary record

Remarkably for a forward of the time Trevor was never sent from the field of play or even cautioned during his 17 years of top flight rugby.

Retirement and coaching

After his retirement in 1955 he remained a servant of the Bradford club successively as Coach, Director and Chairman of the Supporters Club and timekeeper for Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 home games.

Club saviour

It was in 1963 when he secured his place in Bradford and Rugby League history when he was the central figure in a campaign to save his beloved Bradford Northern club who had disbanded due to financial problems. He led efforts to reconstitute the club which was then able to rejoin the league the following season. Without his work it is unlikely that the club would exist today.

Honours

In 2001 Trevor Foster was awarded an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, in 2004 was inducted into Welsh Sports Hall of Fame
Welsh Sports Hall of Fame
The Welsh Sports Hall of Fame is a charitable organization created to commemorate the sporting achievements and preserve the artifacts of Welsh athletes. It was established in 1980 from the memorabilia collection of Welsh radio announcer G. V. Wynne-Jones...

.

Honoured at Bradford

Trevor Foster, has been included in Bradford's; 'Millennium Masters', 'Bull Masters', and in August 2007 he was named in the 'Team Of The Century'. Only six players have been included in all three lists, they are; Karl Fairbank
Karl Fairbank
Karl Fairbank is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and at club level for Bradford Northern, playing at , or , i.e. number 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12...

, Trevor Foster, James Lowes
James Lowes
James Lowes is a British former rugby league player and assistant coach for the Leeds Rhinos. He played for Hunslet Hawks and Leeds Rhinos, but his best years were with the Bradford Bulls, where he won many trophies...

, Keith Mumby
Keith Mumby
Keith Mumby is a former rugby league player, who most famously played for the Bradford Bulls between 1973 and 1993 as a , or .-Bradford Northern:Keith Mumby began his Bradford Northern professional playing career at the age of sixteen...

, Robbie Paul
Robbie Paul
Robert Rawiri 'Robbie' Hunter-Paul is a New Zealand rugby league player. He currently plays for Leigh Centurions in England. He played for the New Zealand national team 27 times. He is the younger brother of Leeds Carnegie player Henry Paul.-Early years:Born in Tokoroa, New Zealand, his junior...

, and Ernest Ward
Ernest Ward
Ernest Ward was a rugby league player who most famously played for Bradford Northern. He also made 20 test appearances for Great Britain, and at club level has coached for Castleford...

.

Honoured by Arriva Yorkshire

Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva Yorkshire is a division of Arriva which operates bus services around West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and the southern areas of North Yorkshire in England.-History:Arriva Yorkshire was formed as a combination of mergers of previous...

 honoured 13 rugby league footballers on Thursday 20 August 2009, at a ceremony at The Jungle
The Jungle (Wheldon Road)
The Jungle is the former name of Wheldon Road, a stadium in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. This is the home of the Castleford Tigers rugby league team....

, the home of the Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers
Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...

. A fleet of new buses were named after the 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team'. Members of the public nominated the best ever rugby league footballers to have played in West Yorkshire, supported by local rugby league journalists; James Deighton from BBC Leeds, and Tim Butcher, editor of Rugby League World
Rugby League World
Rugby League World is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper Rugby Leaguer & League Express and the annual Gillette Rugby League Yearbook.-History:Rugby League World began...

. The 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team' is; Trevor Foster MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, Neil Fox
Neil Fox (rugby league)
Neil Fox MBE is an English former rugby league footballer and player-coach of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. A goal-kicking , he is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the sport because he holds the all-time points record, scoring 6,220 points during his career...

 MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, Albert Goldthorpe
Albert Goldthorpe
Albert Goldthorpe was an English rugby footballer from the period around 1895's schism in English rugby, which led to the formation of rugby league football around the turn of the century.One of five brothers , Goldthorpe made his first...

, Alan Hardisty
Alan Hardisty
Alan 'Chuck' Hardisty is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1950s, '60s and '70s and coach of the 1970s, who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and Yorkshire, and at club level for Castleford, and Leeds, playing at , i.e...

, Stan Kielty
Stan Kielty
Stan Kielty was an English rugby league footballer. A member of the Halifax Hall of Fame, Stan began his professional career at Wakefield Trinity before signing for Halifax in 1946. He later went on to represent Yorkshire and England, playing at , i.e...

, Lewis Jones, Roger Millward
Roger Millward
Roger Millward MBE is an English former rugby league footballer and coach of the mid to late 20th century. A goal-kicking , he gained a high level of prominence in the sport in England by playing for Hull KR and Castleford, as well as representing Great Britain...

 MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, Malcolm Reilly
Mal Reilly
Malcolm J. Reilly is an English former rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain international representative , Reilly played club football for Castleford Tigers in England and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Australia...

, Garry Schofield
Garry Schofield
Garry E. Schofield OBE is an English retired professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s. At the time of his retirement he was the most-capped Great Britain player of all time along with Mick Sullivan, with 46 appearances. He also won three England caps, making him the highest...

, Keith Senior
Keith Senior
Keith Senior is an English professional rugby league or who most recently played for the Leeds Rhinos in Super League. He has won every honour in the English domestic game. He holds the record for the most Super League appearances & the most Super League tries...

, David Topliss
David Topliss
David Topliss was an English Rugby League World Cup winning footballer and coach. He played and coached with Wakefield Trinity in the late 1970s and early 1980s....

, Dave Valentine
Dave Valentine
David Donald Valentine was a Scottish representative rugby union and Rugby League World Cup winning footballer, a dual-code rugby international of the 1940s and '50s.-Rugby union:...

, and Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles
Adrian Vowles is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent the majority of his career in the European Super League...

.

External links

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