Frank Beesley | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Frank Beesley |
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HERITAGE NO : 665 Frank Beesley by SHS A former pupil at Cowley Grammar School, Frank Beesley was signed by the Saints from St. Helens RUFC, or the Old Boys, as they were known, in 1947. He had played for Lancashire whilst at Moss Lane. Somebody who remembered him well was former St. Helens Star journalist Denis Whittle: “He was quicksilver around the scrum and unlike scrum-halves from rugby union, he would actually run with the ball rather than pass it out to the stand-off. It might be a cliche, but he was pencil slim and not a very big man, but a good player nonetheless, who shared the half-back duties with the likes of Eric Hesketh, Jimmy Honey and Welshman Steve Morris.” Frank made his debut at home to Hull KR on 27th October 1947, when Saints won 14-9. He was 22 years of age and was partnered at stand-off by another local lad, Jimmy Myers. Frank went on to play 26 matches during the campaign. He was a member of the team that famously beat Wigan 13-6 at Knowsley Road on Boxing Day 1947, when there was a packed crowd to witness one of the great games of the early post-war era. His final game for the club was against Carcassonne at Knowsley Road at the start of the 1950-51 campaign, during one of their popular tours to the UK. Jimmy Honey was his stand-off. He made over 40 appearances for the First Team and was highly regarded by the fans. Frank worked in the office at Greenalls Brewery in Hall Street, before taking up a post as an Area Manager with John Smiths for the Wirrall area. A long-time resident of O’Sullivan Crescent in Blackbrook, he met his wife Irene soon after leaving school and volunteered to join the RAF during the war. Frank went to train as a pilot in Texas, but fortunately, before he could finish his training, hostilities had ceased. He declined to further his flying career in civil aviation. Irene, who once taught Commerce at Grange Park Technical School, recalled that the Saints at one stage wanted to transfer him to Leigh, but the company could not guarantee him time off with training and matches for his prospective new club and so he retired after about five seasons as a professional. Frank passed away on 3rd December 2014 at the age of 90. He had been retired for thirty years and his great-grandchildren Ben and Alex Yoxall went on to play for Blackbrook ARLFC. |
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
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Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1947~48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
1948~49 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
1949~50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
TOTALS: | 3 | 0 | 0 | 46 |
Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1947~48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1948~49 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
1949~50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1950~51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
TOTALS: | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
ALL MATCHES |
Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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25th Oct 1947 | 1 | W |
7 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | H | 14 | 9 | VIEW | |||
8th Nov 1947 | 2 | L |
7 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | H | 0 | 9 | VIEW | |||
15th Nov 1947 | 3 | W |
7 | Liverpool Stanley | L | H | 23 | 8 | VIEW | |||
22nd Nov 1947 | 4 | L |
7 | Liverpool Stanley | L | A | 7 | 10 | VIEW | |||
29th Nov 1947 | 5 | W |
7 | Salford | L | H | 31 | 10 | VIEW | |||
25th Dec 1947 | 6 | W |
7 | Leigh | L | H | 22 | 3 | VIEW | |||
26th Dec 1947 | 7 | W |
7 | Wigan | L | H | 13 | 6 | VIEW | |||
27th Dec 1947 | 8 | D |
7 | Wakefield Trinity | L | H | 5 | 5 | VIEW | |||
1st Jan 1948 | 9 | L |
7 | Leigh | L | A | 3 | 8 | VIEW | |||
3rd Jan 1948 | 10 | W |
7 | Swinton | L | A | 6 | 3 | VIEW | |||
17th Jan 1948 | 11 | L |
7 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 10 | 17 | VIEW | |||
24th Jan 1948 | 12 | L |
7 | Rochdale Hornets | L | H | 8 | 9 | VIEW | |||
31st Jan 1948 | 13 | L |
7 | Workington Town | L | A | 0 | 20 | VIEW | |||
7th Feb 1948 | 14 | W |
7 | Bustlingthorpe Vale | CC1(1) | H | 48 | 0 | VIEW | |||
14th Feb 1948 | 15 | W |
7 | Bustlingthorpe Vale | CC1(2) | A | 13 | 2 | VIEW | |||
28th Feb 1948 | 16 | L |
7 | Oldham | CC2 | A | 0 | 5 | VIEW | |||
6th Mar 1948 | 17 | L |
7 | Warrington | L | A | 3 | 21 | VIEW | |||
13th Mar 1948 | 18 | W |
7 | Bramley | L | H | 13 | 7 | VIEW | |||
26th Mar 1948 | 19 | L |
7 | Wigan | L | A | 11 | 22 | VIEW | |||
27th Mar 1948 | 20 | W |
7 | York | L | H | 44 | 10 | VIEW | |||
28th Mar 1948 | 21 | L |
7 | Barrow | L | A | 8 | 12 | VIEW | |||
6th Apr 1948 | 22 | W |
7 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 15 | 10 | VIEW | |||
8th Apr 1948 | 23 | L |
7 | Widnes | L | H | 8 | 9 | VIEW | |||
17th Apr 1948 | 24 | W |
7 | Halifax | L | H | 20 | 7 | VIEW | |||
22nd Apr 1948 | 25 | W |
7 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | A | 21 | 2 | VIEW | |||
24th Apr 1948 | 26 | W |
7 | Bramley | L | A | 19 | 11 | VIEW | |||
15th May 1948 | -- | W |
7 | Roanne* | Fr | H | 36 | 19 | VIEW | |||
14th Aug 1948 | -- | W |
7 | Barrow* | Fr Ward Cup | A | 38 | 2 | VIEW | |||
21st Aug 1948 | 27 | W |
7 | Widnes | L | H | 6 | 2 | VIEW | |||
23rd Aug 1948 | 28 | L |
7 | Workington Town | L | A | 11 | 15 | 1 | VIEW | ||
28th Aug 1948 | 29 | L |
7 | Oldham | L | A | 11 | 15 | VIEW | |||
18th Sep 1948 | 30 | W |
7 | Workington Town | L | H | 8 | 2 | VIEW | |||
12th Mar 1949 | 31 | W |
7 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | H | 18 | 0 | VIEW | |||
19th Mar 1949 | 32 | L |
7 | Salford | L | A | 6 | 7 | 2 | VIEW | ||
26th Mar 1949 | -- | L |
7 | Batley* | Fr | H | 10 | 12 | VIEW | |||
31st Mar 1949 | 33 | L |
7 | Wigan | L | H | 8 | 13 | VIEW | |||
9th Apr 1949 | 34 | W |
7 | Halifax | L | A | 8 | 3 | VIEW | |||
15th Apr 1949 | 35 | L |
7 | Wigan | L | A | 5 | 19 | VIEW | |||
16th Apr 1949 | 36 | L |
7 | Huddersfield | L | A | 0 | 34 | VIEW | |||
18th Apr 1949 | 37 | L |
7 | Keighley | L | H | 2 | 4 | VIEW | |||
23rd Apr 1949 | 38 | L |
6 | Swinton | L | A | 3 | 16 | VIEW | |||
25th Apr 1949 | 39 | W |
7 | Barrow | L | H | 16 | 5 | VIEW | |||
21st May 1949 | -- | L |
7 | Huddersfield* | Fr Tour | A | 16 | 25 | 1 | VIEW | ||
13th Aug 1949 | -- | W |
7 | Barrow* | Fr Ward Cup | H | 34 | 22 | VIEW | |||
20th Aug 1949 | 40 | L |
7 | Widnes | L | A | 2 | 15 | VIEW | |||
25th Aug 1949 | 41 | W |
7 | Wakefield Trinity | L | H | 22 | 12 | VIEW | |||
15th Oct 1949 | 42 | W |
7 | Belle Vue Rangers | L | H | 28 | 5 | VIEW | |||
24th Dec 1949 | 43 | W |
7 | Whitehaven | L | A | 14 | 7 | VIEW | |||
26th Dec 1949 | 44 | W |
7 | Wigan | L | H | 15 | 8 | VIEW | |||
27th Dec 1949 | 45 | W |
7 | Swinton | L | H | 10 | 5 | VIEW | |||
4th Mar 1950 | 46 | W |
7 | Warrington | L | H | 12 | 3 | VIEW | |||
5th Oct 1950 | -- | W |
7 | Carcassonne * | Fr | H | 24 | 22 | VIEW |
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
WINS : 29 | LOSSES : 22 | DRAWS : 1 |
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GALLERY |
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