Fylde travel to The Sycamores, home of West Park Leeds on Saturday (21st Oct) to take on N2(N) leaders Leeds Tykes. The Tykes have recovered quickly from their relegation from National One last season to start this campaign with a perfect 7/7 100% record. So it’ll be a tough assignment for the Fylde squad.
Fylde played many, many games against the two clubs who merged in 1991 to form Leeds RUFC – Headingley FC and Roundhay RUFC. With Fylde, these were three of the stalwarts of Northern rugby in the amateur era. In 1998 Leeds merged with Leeds Rhinos RL to form Leeds Rugby Ltd.
It’s almost 25 years since Leeds Tykes and Fylde met in league competition. At the Tykes’ then home, Headingley Stadium, on 17th January 1999, Fylde were hammered 48-0, following on a well competed 6-26 loss at the Woodlands earlier in that 1998-99 season.
Fylde struggled throughout that season in the Allied Dunbar Premiership 2 division, in what is now called the Championship. These were still early days of professionalism in English rugby and the Lancastrians battled bravely against very famous clubs with big budgets and even higher ambitions such as Bristol, Coventry, Worcester, London Welsh, Exeter, Waterloo and Orrell. Fylde, coached that season by current Chairman of Rugby Mark Nelson, came up against many international players sprinkled through these clubs and were relegated to level 3 at the end of that campaign.
The Tykes line-up that day in January 1999 was full of exceptional players, whilst the Fylde squad also included some fine players. The earlier game in November at the Woodlands featured the debut of Australian international cross codes winger Wendell Sailor who scored a couple of tries to mark the occasion.
Sailor scored 15 tries in just 13 appearances for the Tykes after they signed him in an effort to increase publicity and crowds at home matches. One of those was a long-range effort which saw him shrug off 12 Fylde defenders on an incredible run to the line, still regarded as possibly the club’s greatest-ever touchdown.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RDkyJGslo
Mark Nelson recalls: “It was Sailor’s last home game and I remember it well. Leeds were one of four big sides contesting the league together with Rotherham, Worcester and Bristol. I knew it would be a very tough afternoon so I figured I had to come up with a bold plan to put them off their guard and force mistakes that we could capitalise on .
“One of my genius tactics was to kick the ball behind Sailor, force him to turn and put a big chase on him and drive him into touch . The first part of the plan worked a treat either Ian Barclay or Alan Peacock kicked a beautifully weighted kick forcing Sailor to collect near the touch line. The chase was great we had three men ready to force him into touch … 14 missed tackles later he had made a weaving 70m run to score leaving most of our team in his wake and my tactical genius in tatters.”
C’est la vie!
