John Howard "Keith" Bridges (born 2 April 1952) is an English former 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 who played 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 northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and at club level for

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

and

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

, as an occasional

goal A goal 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 a purpose or ai ...

-kicking .

Background

Bridges was born in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and he was a pupil at Normanton Grammar School.

Club career

Featherstone Rovers

John "Keith" Bridges made his début for

on Wednesday 26 August 1970. Bridges played in

' 33–14 victory over

in the

1973 Challenge Cup Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Final during the 1972–73 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, London on Saturday 12 May 1973, in front of a crowd of 72,395, and played in the 9–24 defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1974 Challenge Cup Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

Final during the 1973–74 season at

, London on Saturday 11 May 1974, in front of a crowd of 77,400. He played in

' 0–4 defeat by

in the Captain Morgan Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abunda ...

on Saturday 26 January 1974. Bridges played in

' 12–16 defeat by

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the 1976 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1976–77 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 Headingle ...

on Saturday 16 October 1976, and played in the 7–17 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in the 1977 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1977–78 season, at

on Saturday 15 October 1977. He played in

' victory 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 system ...

during the 1976–77 season, He played his last match for Featherstone Rovers during the

1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season The 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 84th season of rugby league football. Sixteen English clubs competed for the Northern Rugby Football League's first division championship, with Hull Kingston Rovers claiming the title b ...

.Bailey, Ron (20 September 2001). ''Images of Sport – Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Football Club''. The History Press.

Bradford Northern

Bridges played in

's 6–0 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 1979–80 John Player Trophy Final during the 1979–80 season at

on Saturday 5 January 1980. Bridges played in

's victories in the

during the 1979–80 season and 1980–81 season.

Hull FC

Bridges played in

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

's 18–7 victory over

in the

1982 Yorkshire Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

Final during the 1982–83 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

on Saturday 2 October 1982. Bridges played in

's victory in the

during the 1982–83 season, and also in their 12–14 defeat by

in the

1983 Challenge Cup The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

Final at

, London on Saturday 7 May 1983, in front of a crowd of 84,969.

Representative honours

John "Keith" Bridges 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Featherstone Rovers in the

1975 Rugby League World Cup The 1975 Rugby League World Championship (also referred to as the World Series) was the seventh tournament for the Rugby League World Cup. The format differed from that employed in previous competitions; no single country hosted the matches, whi ...

against New Zealand, Australia, Wales, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Australia, in 1975 against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

(non-test), in 1977 against Wales, and won

s for

while at Featherstone Rovers in 1974 against France (2 matches), and Australia. He is one of only eight players who have ever scored a drop goal for

. He won

s for

while at

; during the 1975–76 season against

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and during the 1977–78 season against Cumbria, and Lancashire.

Honoured at Featherstone Rovers

John "Keith" Bridges is a Featherstone Rovers Hall of Fame inductee.

Personal life

Bridges is the son of Keith Bridges, who played rugby league for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

and

between 1954 and 1963. Although born as John Howard Bridges, he is nicknamed "Keith" after his father.

Outside of rugby league

John "Keith" Bridges was the Bar Manager of the Pinnacle Suite Function Room at Dewsbury District Golf Club,

Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield f ...

until 2017.

References

External links

Legendary duo join Featherstone Rovers Hall of Fame
*(archived by web.archive.org
Stats → PastPlayers → B at hullfc.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at hullfc.comPhotograph 'Bridges Out Cold - Northern hooker Bridges "completely out" during tonight's Odsal match. - 27 April 1979' at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph 'Ronnie Firth sprays the champagne - Chairman Ronnie Firth celebrates with the players in the Headingley dressing room after the win against Widnes. - 5 January 1980' at rlhp.co.uk (image upside-down)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, John Keith 1952 births Living people Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Pontefract Yorkshire rugby league team players