Alan Hardisty (born 12 July 1941), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "Chuck", is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, and at club level for

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

) and

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

(

) as a , and coached at club level for

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Background

Alan Hardisty's birth was registered in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

district,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England. He attended Ashton Road Secondary School (now the site of Smawthorne Henry Moore Primary School),

, where he played alongside Clive Dickinson and Johnny Ward in the school

team.

Playing career

Castleford

Hardisty made his debut for

in September 1958 against

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

. His first honours with the club came in the 1964–65 season, helping Castleford win the Yorkshire League. Hardisty played in

's 4–0 victory over St. Helens in the 1965 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1965–66 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St. Helens on Tuesday 14 December 1965, played in the 7–2 victory over Swinton in the 1966 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1966–67 season at Wheldon Road,

on Tuesday 20 December 1966, and played in the 8–5 victory over

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

in the 1967 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1967–68 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Saturday 16 January 1968. Hardisty played , scored a try, and was

in Castleford's 11–6 victory over

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

in the

1968–69 Challenge Cup The 1968–69 Challenge Cup was the 68th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Castleford Tigers, Castleford and Salford Red Devils, Salford at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley in fro ...

Final during the 1968–69 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 17 May 1969, in front of a crowd of 97,939, played (replaced by substitute Danny Hargrave following a shoulder injury), and was

in the 7–2 victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the

1969–70 Challenge Cup The 1970 Challenge Cup was the 69th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Castleford and Wigan at Wembley in front of a crowd of 95,255. Castleford won the match 7–2. The winner o ...

Final during the 1969–70 season at

on Saturday 9 May 1970, in front of a crowd of 95,255, Hardisty played , and scored 2-

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

s in

's 11–22 defeat by

in the 1968–69 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1968–69 season at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

on Saturday 19 October 1968. Hardisty's

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place in 1968. With 401 appearances, Hardisty is fourth in Castleford's all-time appearance list behind

John Joyner John Joyner (born 15 March 1955) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yorkshire, and at cl ...

(613 appearances), Artie Atkinson and Dean Sampson (who both have 431 appearances). He is also Castleford's highest all-time try scorer with a club total of 206.

Leeds

Hardisty played , and was

' 9–5 victory over St. Helens in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Final during the 1971–72 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 20 May 1972, and was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

' 13–22 defeat by

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in the

Final during the 1972–73 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Saturday 19 May 1973. He played in Leeds' 13–16 defeat by St. Helens in the 1971–72 Challenge Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495. Alan Hardisty played in

' 12–7 victory over

in the 1972–73 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1972–73 season at

Fartown Ground The Fartown Ground or just simply Fartown is a sports ground located in the Huddersfield suburb of Fartown, Huddersfield, Fartown in West Yorkshire, England and is predominantly famous for being the home ground of Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfi ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 24 March 1973. He played , and scored a try in Leeds' 36–9 victory over

in the

1972–73 Yorkshire Cup The 1972–73 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-fifth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds winning the trophy by beating Dewsbury by the score of 36–9 in what would be Dewsbury's last appearance in a Yorkshire Cup f ...

Final during the 1972–73 season at

on Saturday 7 October 1972, and played in the 7–2 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

in the 1973–74 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at

on Saturday 20 October 1973.

Later career

Hardisty briefly moved to

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

after being allowed to leave Leeds. He played for Central Queensland against the touring Great Britain Lions team in 1974.

Representative honours

Hardisty won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Castleford in 1964 against France (3 matches), in 1965 against France and New Zealand, in 1966 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, in 1967 against France (2 matches), and in 1970 against Australia. He was selected to playing in the Great Britain Lions touring team in 1966 and 1970. Hardisty won

s playing for

while at Castleford in the 8–23 defeat by Cumberland at Belle Vue,

on 11 September 1961, the 14–6 victory over Cumberland at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

on 9 September 1964, scoring 3- tries in the 33–10 victory over Lancashire at the Boulevard,

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

on 23 September 64, the 3–19 defeat by Cumberland at

Craven Park Craven Park may refer to: * Craven Park (Barrow), home of Barrow (rugby league) * Craven Park, Hull, current home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Old Craven Park, former home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Craven Park (London), a ...

(old),

on 8 September 1965, and scoring 1-

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kick ...

in the 34–8 victory over Lancashire at Wheldon Road,

on 24 February 1971.

Coaching career

Hardisty was appointed as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

in December 1970, following the departure of

Tommy Smales Thomas Smales (born 19 December 1938) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at club level for Wigan, Barrow and Featherstone Rovers as a , an ...

. At the end of the 1970–71 season, he was informed that he would not be retained as coach, and was subsequently released. In May 1982, Hardisty began coaching at

York Wasps The York Wasps (known simply as York from 1868 to 1989, Ryedale-York from 1989 to 1996 and York Wasps from 1996 to 2002) was an English professional rugby league club based in York. At the start of the 2002 season, the club was dissolved. A ne ...

, replacing

Bill Kirkbride William Kirkbride (born 28 January 1944) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Cumberland, and at club level ...

. He resigned in January 1983. Hardisty also briefly coached Halifax for the remainder of the 1988–89 season following the resignation of

Ross Strudwick Ross Strudwick (born 1950) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian international, New South Wales and Queensland representative halfback of the 1970s, he played club football in the New South Wales Rugby Footba ...

Honours

Hardisty is a

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

Hall of Fame inductee.

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

honoured 13 rugby league footballers on Thursday 20 August 2009, at a ceremony at

the Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a novel by American author and muckraking-journalist Upton Sinclair, known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information ...

, the home of the

. 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'' is a dedicated rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams o ...

. The "Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team" is;

Trevor Foster Trevor John French Foster MBE (3 December 1914 – 2 April 2005) was a Welsh rugby footballer, and coach. He played rugby union for Newport and rugby league for Bradford Northern. Trevor Foster was a Sergeant Physical Training Instructor in ...

MBE, Neil Fox MBE,

Albert Goldthorpe Albert Edward Goldthorpe (3 November 1871 – 8 January 1943) 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. Career One ...

, Alan Hardisty, Stan Kielty, Lewis Jones,

Roger Millward Roger Millward (16 September 1947 – 2 May 2016) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. A goal-kicking , he gained a high level of prominence in the sport in England by ...

MBE, Malcolm Reilly,

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most- ...

Keith Senior Keith Andrew Senior (born 24 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Sheffield Eagles and the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain and Engla ...

, David Topliss,

Dave Valentine David Donald Valentine (12 September 1926 – 14 August 1976) was a Scottish representative rugby union and World Cup winning rugby league footballer, a dual-code rugby international who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1960 ...

and Adrian Vowles.

References

External links

Hardisty delighted as Tigers turn back the clock

Memory Box Search at archive.castigersheritage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardisty, Alan 1941 births Living people Castleford Tigers captains Castleford Tigers coaches Castleford Tigers players Dewsbury Rams coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Halifax Panthers coaches Leeds Rhinos captains Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Pontefract York Wasps coaches Yorkshire rugby league team players 20th-century English sportsmen