Bull Masters - Trevor Foster MBE
October 29th 1999 marked a very special day in the history of the Bradford club, for it was on that day, sixty years previously, that Trevor Foster made his debut for Bradford against Hull at Odsal. It was the start of a sixty year unbroken association between Trevor and the club and is an anniversary that is not likely to be repeated in modern day Rugby League. Since that day Trevor gave great service to Bradford as player, coach, director, timekeeper, President of the Supporters Club and Chairman of the Floodlight Fund.
Trevor was born in 1916 in Newport, Wales, where his father was a publican. His early Rugby was at Holy Cross R.C. school and he represented Newport schoolboys. When he left school he joined Pill Harriers where he made a name for himself as a wing forward before joining Newport. Trevor was selected as reserve for Wales against Ireland in 1937 and there is no doubt that he would have had many Welsh caps but for his decision to 'Go North' in 1938.
Trevor's reputation had spread throughout the Rugby League world and several clubs were chasing his signature but it was Bradford who managed to secure his services for the princely sum of £400. Rarely can such an amount of money been better spent and Trevor paid back that £400 many times in the ensuing years.
Trevor was to earn many Welsh caps during his time in Rugby League but there is no doubt that the war cost him dearly in terms of Gt. Britain appearances. He would have been an automatic choice for the 1940 and 1944 tours so Trevor, a physical training instructor in the Army, had to make do with inter service rugby during the war.
It was during this period that Trevor was to appear in two of the most famous Rugby games ever staged. In 1943 at Headingley a game was arranged, under Union rules, between Rugby League Players and their Union counterparts. 8000 saw the game at Headingley, won by the League men and 15000 were at Odsal the following year to see Trevor captain the Rugby League side to another victory.
Trevor's memory of the game was still vivid even years later.
"They were great occasions and it was nice to be able to see the skills of such as Haydn Tanner, with whom I played for the Welsh Services. Bob Weighill, of Waterloo, played in the game and he later became secretary of the Rugby Football Union. But my abiding memory is of the officials of the Rugby Union, military men, veterans from the First World War, they were very uneasy about being at Odsal and couldn't wait to get back to their hotel or wherever they were staying!"
Trevor finally made it to Australia with the 1946 touring team and was in the back three of the pack together with the star of the tour and fellow Welshman, Ike Owens.
"Ike was a fabulous player, very fast," recalls Trevor. "He scored plenty of tries on that trip, mostly from Tommy McCue's passes."
Bradford Northern were a dominant force just after the war and Trevor, alongside such as, Ernest Ward, Alan Edwards and Billy Davies, was the cornerstone of their success. Wembley beckoned three times in succession in 1947,48 and 49 with Trevor picking up two winners medals scoring a try in each of the two victories.
Trevor retired in 1955 after playing 428 game for Bradford, scoring 128 tries. The Daily Herald had this to say of Northern's greatest servant.
"When youngsters talk of forwards in the days to come, older folk will talk of Trevor Foster - one who had hands as misleading as a gifted half back; one who kept his head when the going was fierce and gave science preference when strength alone might have been just as successful; one who was universally admired as the shining example of the scheming and spectacular school as compared with the "bull-at-a-gate" type'
A fitting tribute to a man who never troubled the referee throughout his career and was the epitome of the ball handling forward of that period.
Thus ended the playing career of one of the most popular players to grace the Odsal turf but for Trevor Foster there was still another forty plus years of service to give to Bradford.
After he finished playing, Trevor took over as Coach to Bradford, a position that he held for two years, before he took a back seat to concentrate on bringing junior players through the ranks at Odsal.
In 1964 Trevor gave probably his greatest service to the club: He made sure that it survived. Trevor remembered the events vividly,
"In December 1963 Bradford Northern folded. They had severe financial problems and resigned from the Rugby Football League. I was working at the time for Bradford Education Department as Schools Welfare Officer and I had access to local councillors and other influential people in the city. I felt that we couldn't let this great club die and I organised a meeting, which took place at the Bay Horse Inn at Dudley Hill. Significantly there were thirteen people at that meeting and we formed a committee aimed at getting the club re-formed."
"We met on a regular basis and gradually got support from all over the country. Eventually we called a Public Meeting at St George's Hall to see what backing we had in the city for reforming the club. Depending on the outcome of this meeting, the club would either die completely or be resurrected. At that time I got in touch with former Bradford player Joe Phillips. Joe was a New Zealander who had played for Bradford. He was a very eloquent speaker and had a great passion for the club. He chaired the public meeting and the outcome was that we raised £1000 on the night. St George's Hall was packed and gave us the backing that we needed to save the club. I then wrote to Bill Fallowfield at the Rugby Football League and asked to be included in the fixtures for 1964 and we were accepted. I still have the letter and I have been offered quite a lot of money for it but I will treasure it always! Our efforts to save the club were fully justified when 13500 people attended the opening fixture against Hull K R."
Trevor held various positions with the club over the years and as Chairman of the Supporters Club he helped to raise £9000 for the Floodlight Fund.
"I had played in the first game under floodlights at Odsal against New Zealand in 1951. It was a superb occasion and all the players stood in their positions on the field in the dark. When they switched the lights on it was a fantastic sight and the crowd erupted in applause. I felt that we should again have floodlights and we held various fund raising efforts to get the money and eventually we raised the money needed and the first game under the new lights was against St Helens."
In his later years Trevor was Timekeeper for the club a position he really enjoyed.
"I was delighted when I was asked to be Timekeeper for the club. Bradford Northern and now Bradford Bulls are in my blood and I love my association with the club."
Trevor was associated with many great people during his time at Odsal and he remembered two of them with much fondness.
"Dai Rees was the manager when I came here. He had an astute mind and was a great man manager. He was manager when we went to Wembley three years running, a marvellous man. Harry Hornby was the man who brought me here. He was the man who made Bradford Northern and Odsal Stadium. He was a great visionary. He brought the Harlem Globetrotters to Odsal and was the first person to introduce floodlight football to Rugby League. Harry Womersley too, was a great man who brought some wonderful players to Bradford.
For many people Trevor WAS Bradford Bulls. There was no prouder man at Murrayfield when the Bulls took the Trophy for the first time in 51 years and he was proudly showing his grandson his name on the famous trophy immediately after the game. But perhaps the greatest moment for him after he finished playing was when he led the Bulls side out at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium prior to the first ever Challenge Cup Final played in his home country. A victory over Leeds that day was the icing on the cake for a man who had dedicated his life to the Bradford Club.
He was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen, in her 2001 New Year's Honours List, something he really deserved for his work in the community of his adopted city as well as his work for the sport.
Trevor died in April 2005 within a week of his autobiography being published and is still very much missed by everyone at the club and in the city.
Stuart Duffy