THE Widow of Warrington Rugby League legend Harry Bath – one of the club’s greatest ever servants, took a trip down memory lane during a special visit to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Visiting England for the first time since the 1970s, Gwen Bath was joined by her son Harry Junior and grandson David and teamed up with members of the Past Players Association to relive the memories of Warrington’s Golden years in the 1950s.
Gwen recalled with great fondness her “very special” 10 years in Warrington, where she lived in Grappenhall, as well as running the old Britannia pub.
Gwen visited the hall of fame and special trophy cabinet at the Halliwell Jones seing many photographs of her husband who is recognised as one of the club’s greatest ever players who was also a former World Cup-winning coach.
Harry died in his native Australia nearly three years ago aged 83.
Bath was recognised as one of the two greatest players never to have played for Australia – another Warrington favourite, Brian Bevan, being the other.
Before his death Harry donated his treasured Championship medal to help raise funds for another club Captain Mike Gregory, who was suffering from a muscle
wasting disease.The medal, which now sits proudly in a display case at the stadium helped raise thousands of pounds for the Mike Gregory Trust Fund.
Bath won Premierships with Brisbane Souths and Balmain before arriving in England in 1947.He started out at Barrow before going on to enjoy tremendous success with Warrington, winning the Challenge Cup in 1950 and 1954.
He was also a vital component of the Warrington team that completed the impressive League and Cup double in 1953/54, contributing more than 300 points to the cause and kicking goals in all the important matches.By the time he returned home to Australia in 1957, he was the most prolific try-scoring forward, most prolific points scorer and second greatest goalkicker in the club’s history. For many years he held the club points record for scoring 363 points in the 1952/53 season, only surpassed by Lee Briers.
One of Gwen’s most memorable moments during her time in Warrington was seeing Harry lift the Challenge Cup in 1954 before a then world record crowd of 102,569 at Bradford’s famed Odsal Stadium.
“That was one of the stand out moments of our time at Warrington,” said Gwen. “It was unbelieveable seeing all those people pack into the stadium.
“It is something I shall never forget.
“I will always remember with great fondness the people of Warrington who made us feel so welcome. Warrington will always have a special place in my heart and it has been a wonderful experience visiting the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
“But the town has changed so much since my last visit and a lot of the history has gone and I could hardly recognise the town centre which is quite sad.”
Harrry was the only man to top the pointscoring table in both England and Australia.
He returned to Australia in 1957, finishing off his career with the Dragons. Aged 32, he helped St George to three Premierships in a row before enjoying similar success with Balmain and Newtown and also coached Australia to success in the 1968 and 1972 World Cups.
Pictures show Gwen Bath with her son Harry and grandson David and with members of the Warrington Past Players’ Association
For an exclusive video interview with Gwen Bath see below
1 Comment
Great to see Harry’s family in Warrington. Harry patted me on the head outside the Britannia pub when I was a lad. Never washed my hair for weeks. Best man I ever saw to get over the line bursting through tackles. Great goal kicker also. Honoured to have watched him and his fellow Aussie, the great Bevan, happy days.