Robert Angus Valentine (22 February 1941 – 11 June 2024) was a Scottish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and 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 rugby league in the 1970s. Valentine played representative level rugby union (RU) for South of Scotland, and at club level for Hawick Wanderers RFC,

Hawick Linden RFC Hawick Linden RFC are a rugby union team based in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders. They compete in the East Regional Leagues (Rugby Union), East Regional Leagues in the . In the 2008–09 season, in which they were undefeated, they won all 12 g ...

and

Hawick RFC Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro rugby union side, currently playing in the Scottish Premiership and Border League. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Splinter from Hawick and ...

as a flanker, and representative level rugby league (RL) 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 Other Nationalities, and at club level for

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 ...

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

and

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 ...

(

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 ...

), as a or , and coached at club level rugby league (RL) for Britannia Works in 1975 in

's Pennine League, and formed the

colts team in 1976.

Background

Bob Valentine was born in

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

, Scotland, and he worked as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

. He died in Melrose on 11 June 2024, at the age of 83.

Playing career

International honours

Rob Valentine represented South of Scotland (RU) while at Hawick RFC, his last match being the 0–8 defeat by

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the 1963–64 New Zealand rugby union tour match at

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by the English author Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton (publisher), Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray, st ...

on Saturday 16 November 1963, and represented Other Nationalities (RL) while at Huddersfield, he played in the 2–19 defeat by St. Helens 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 Wednesday 27 January 1965, to mark the switching-on of new

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornament ...

County Cup Final appearances

Rob Valentine played at in

's 2–7 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1973–74 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1973–74 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 20 October 1973.

Player's No.6 Trophy Final appearances

Rob Valentine played at and scored a try in

's 11–22 defeat by Halifax in the 1971–72 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1971–72 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 22 January 1972.

Club career

Rob Valentine transferred from

in 1963 for a signing-on fee of £4,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £160,800 in 2016), he made his début for Wakefield Trinity during October 1970.

Genealogical information

Rob Valentine is the younger brother of the rugby union, and rugby league footballer; Dave Valentine, and the rugby union footballer; Alec Valentine.

References

External links

Blast from the Past: 1963: It's Valentine's Day in mid-November!Rugby league's Borders greats are honouredWe turn the clock back to November 1963 when the New Zealand All Blacks played the South of Scotland at Hawick’s Mansfield Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Rob 1941 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Scottish sportsmen Great Britain national rugby league team players Hawick Linden RFC players Hawick RFC players Huddersfield Giants players Keighley Cougars captains Keighley Cougars players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Hawick Rugby league second-rows Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Hawick Scottish rugby league coaches Scottish rugby league players Scottish rugby union players South of Scotland District (rugby union) players Wakefield Trinity players