John Donovan | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of John Donovan |
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HERITAGE NO : 772 John Donovan by SHS John Donovan was born in St.Helens and was a county representative at amateur level before he signed for the Saints. He can be regarded as the archetypal utility back. Wherever he played in the threequarter or half-back line he would always do a good job. John had pace and a deceptive sidestep and made his debut in front of over 33,000 fans at Knowsley Road in the St.Helens versus Wigan League match on 15th April 1960, which was won 12-4 by the home side, with John at stand-off. His best season was in 1960-61 when he made 18 appearances, scoring 7 tries. Although he played in the Championship semi-final at Knowsley Road against Leeds, the Saints lost 4-11 and John was unlucky not to be in the Wembley squad for the Challenge Cup final against Wigan. John did pick up a winners medal after the 1962 Lancashire Cup final against Swinton at Central Park, when the Saints won a tight match 7-4. We are grateful to Johns daughter Linda for providing further details of her dads sporting career after leaving St.Helens. "Dad moved to Oldham and played there until 1969 before moving to Bradford Northern where he played for a year before he retired from first team rugby league. He moved to Yorkshire shortly before moving to Northern and still lives in Halifax, after playing veterans rugby union for the Old Brodleians until the age of 65. His birth date is 7/12/1940 and he left Saints at the start of 1963. His signing date for Saints was St Patricks Day in 1960." |
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
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Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1959~60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1960~61 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
1961~62 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
1962~63 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
TOTALS: | 12 | 4 | 0 | 34 |
Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
1961~62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1962~63 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
TOTALS: | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
ALL MATCHES |
Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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15th Apr 1960 | 1 | W |
6 | Wigan | L | H | 12 | 4 | VIEW | |||
21st Sep 1960 | 2 | W |
6 | Swinton | L | A | 15 | 7 | VIEW | |||
26th Sep 1960 | 3 | W |
6 | Halifax | L | H | 32 | 4 | VIEW | |||
12th Oct 1960 | 4 | W |
6 | Australia | Tour | H | 15 | 12 | VIEW | |||
22nd Oct 1960 | 5 | W |
6 | Wigan | L | H | 11 | 6 | 1 | VIEW | ||
5th Nov 1960 | 6 | W |
3 | Whitehaven | L | H | 18 | 8 | VIEW | |||
12th Nov 1960 | 7 | W |
6 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 38 | 5 | 1 | VIEW | ||
19th Nov 1960 | 8 | W |
6 | Barrow | L | A | 29 | 15 | 1 | VIEW | ||
26th Nov 1960 | 9 | W |
6 | Workington Town | L | H | 47 | 2 | 1 | VIEW | ||
3rd Dec 1960 | 10 | L |
6 | Hunslet | L | A | 5 | 10 | VIEW | |||
4th Mar 1961 | 11 | W |
5 | Liverpool City | L | A | 52 | 2 | 2 | VIEW | ||
11th Mar 1961 | 12 | W |
5 | Swinton | CC3 | H | 17 | 9 | VIEW | |||
18th Mar 1961 | 13 | W |
6 | Halifax | L | A | 19 | 12 | VIEW | |||
21st Mar 1961 | 14 | W |
6 | Barrow | L | H | 31 | 2 | 1 | VIEW | ||
1st Apr 1961 | 15 | L |
6 | Workington Town | L | A | 11 | 12 | VIEW | |||
8th Apr 1961 | 16 | W |
6 | Hull | L | A | 9 | 4 | 1 | VIEW | ||
25th Apr 1961 | 17 | W |
6 | Blackpool Borough | L | H | 28 | 4 | 3 | VIEW | ||
29th Apr 1961 | 18 | W |
3 | Featherstone Rovers | L | H | 38 | 0 | VIEW | |||
6th May 1961 | 19 | L |
3 | Leeds | ChSF | A | 4 | 11 | VIEW | |||
12th Aug 1961 | -- | W |
6 | Liverpool City* | Fr Charity Cup | H | 29 | 14 | VIEW | |||
25th Nov 1961 | 20 | W |
4 | Workington Town | L | H | 16 | 7 | 1 | VIEW | ||
16th Dec 1961 | 21 | L |
5 | Oldham | L | H | 8 | 9 | 1 | VIEW | ||
2nd May 1962 | 22 | W |
1 | Huddersfield | L | A | 16 | 9 | VIEW | |||
7th May 1962 | -- | W |
1 | SHAPE Indians* | Fr | H | 43 | 8 | 1 | VIEW | ||
10th Aug 1962 | -- | W |
4 | Liverpool City* | Fr Charity Cup | H | 33 | 2 | 1 | VIEW | ||
18th Aug 1962 | 23 | W |
4 | Salford | WDC | A | 35 | 24 | 1 | VIEW | ||
22nd Aug 1962 | 24 | W |
4 | Leigh | WDC | H | 21 | 3 | VIEW | |||
25th Aug 1962 | 25 | W |
6 | Blackpool Borough | WDC | H | 21 | 12 | VIEW | |||
15th Sep 1962 | 26 | W |
4 | Leigh | WDC | A | 20 | 10 | VIEW | |||
18th Sep 1962 | 27 | W |
4 | Blackpool Borough | LC2 | A | 14 | 3 | VIEW | |||
22nd Sep 1962 | 28 | W |
4 | Liverpool City | WDC | H | 32 | 3 | VIEW | |||
20th Oct 1962 | 29 | W |
3 | Huddersfield | L | A | 22 | 9 | 1 | VIEW | ||
27th Oct 1962 | 30 | W |
3 | Swinton | LCF | N | 7 | 4 | VIEW | |||
3rd Nov 1962 | 31 | L |
3 | Leeds | L | A | 7 | 14 | VIEW | |||
10th Nov 1962 | 32 | L |
3 | Warrington | L | H | 2 | 4 | VIEW | |||
17th Nov 1962 | 33 | W |
3 | Castleford | L | A | 8 | 7 | VIEW | |||
1st Dec 1962 | 34 | L |
2 | Workington Town | L | A | 5 | 8 | 1 | VIEW |
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
WINS : 30 | LOSSES : 7 | DRAWS : |
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GALLERY |
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