Geoff Fletcher (10 December 1943 – 9 November 2017) was a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, coach and chairman. Fletcher in his younger years played for

Thatto Heath Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

and later with

Pilkington Recs The Recs Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby league team based in St Helens, Merseyside. History In 1949 a group of Pilkington Glass employees submitted an application to the Pilkington Recreation Club Committee at Grove Street to form a ...

where he played as a back and also as a winger. He later turned professional with

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, Staf ...

. Geoff Fletcher also had stints with

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

. He joined

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it f ...

in 1978 and went on to become player / coach and later manager. He died in November 2017, aged 74.

Playing career

County Cup Final appearances

Fletcher played right- in

's 13–16 defeat by

in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1966–67 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 29 October 1966, played left- (replaced by substitute Dennis Maders) in the 2–30 defeat by St Helens in the

1968 Lancashire Cup The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

Final during the 1968–69 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Friday 25 October 1968, and played left-, and scored in

's 15–8 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

in the 1971 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, 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 a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 August 1971.

Coaching career and chairmanship

Fletcher joined

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. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in August 1977. He stayed on as coach after his playing career was over and eventually became the club's chairman. Fletcher remained involved with the club until its demise as Prescot Panthers in 1997.

Personal life

In addition to his rugby career, Fletcher owned a

pig farm Pig farming or pork farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins. Pigs are amenable to ...

situated close to St Helens former ground,

. He was the son of the rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s for

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

; Bill Fletcher.

References

External links

Once in a Lifetime: Another Bloody Sunday
at Yorkshire Film Archive, featuring Fletcher as player-coach at Huyton in 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Geoff 2017 deaths English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Liverpool City coaches Liverpool City (rugby league) players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league props Wigan Warriors players Workington Town players 1943 births