Trevor Skerrett

Trevor Skerrett (born 6 March 1953[2]) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain (Under-24s), Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity (Heritage № 801), Hull F.C. (Heritage №), Leeds (Heritage № 801) and Keighley, as a prop, or second-row, i.e. number 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested scrums.[1][3]

Trevor Skerrett
Personal information
Born (1953-03-06) 6 March 1953
Leeds district, England
Playing information
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1974–80 Wakefield Trinity 203 26 0 78
1980–86 Hull F.C. 160 18 0 57
1986–87 Leeds 27 1 0 4
1987–89 Keighley 57 2 0 8
Total 447 47 0 0 147
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1977 Great Britain (U-24s) 1
1978–84 Wales 7 0 0 0 0
1979–82 Great Britain 10 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Playing career

Wakefield Trinity Career

Hailing from the Belle Isle area of Leeds, Trevor played for Bisons Sports ARL before signing for Wakefield Trinity, as a 20-year-old, in August 1974. He débuted within a few weeks, coming off the substitutes bench in a 12-12 home draw with Castleford. In only his seventh Trinity game, he was in the line up for the 1974 Yorkshire Cup Final, only to suffer defeat by second division, Hull Kingston Rovers, 13-16 at Headingley. Six months later, after a great cup run, Trinity and Trevor were one-step away from Wembley after a 7-13 defeat by Widnes in the RL Challenge Cup semi-final.

In 1977 he appeared for Great Britain under 24s against France, at Hull and a year later he represented Wales against Australia at Swansea, Trevor qualifying for the Welsh through grandparents. His displays for Trinity and two more appearances for Wales, in 1979, got him noticed and the likeable Skerrett deservedly earned a place on the 1979 Great Britain touring squad to Australia. Prior to the tour, he achieved an ambition of playing at Wembley as Trinity lost to Widnes in the RL Challenge Cup Final, earning great praise with a man of the match performance in the 9-7 semi-final victory over St. Helens.

‘Down Under’, Trevor was one of the few players to impress and made his GB début in the first test against Australia at Lang Park, Brisbane. He gained four caps on the tour, playing in the second test at the SCG in Sydney and the second and third tests against New Zealand and Christchurch and Auckland. He played another twelve games on the tour. A fourth Welsh cap followed in January 1980, but within a few months he was transferred to Hull for a record £40,000 fee.

Trevor Skerrett earned a reputation of being one of the hardest forwards in the game in his day, as well as one of the fairest and most well respected. He played 203 Trinity first team games in his six seasons, scoring twenty six tries, and remains one of only eight Trinity forwards to take on the might of the Australian pack in test matches and one of only two in the last 47 years.

He was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2015

Hull F.C. Career

Trevor Skerrett played 160 games for Hull (1980–86), playing in nine finals, winning four, as well as the 1983 Championship and adding to his Welsh and GB caps. He made his début at Featherstone Rovers (August 1980), scoring in a 12-16 Yorkshire Cup loss. Hull reached the Premiership Trophy Final in his first season, losing out to Hull Kingston Rovers, 7-11, at Headingley. This was one of nine finals Trevor was to play in for Hull. Trevor Skerrett played left-prop, i.e. number 8, in Hull FC's 14-14 draw with Widnes in the 1982 Challenge Cup Final during the 1981–82 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 1 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 92,147, and played left-second-row, i.e. number 11, in the 18-9 victory over Widnes in the 1982 Challenge Cup Final replay during the 1981–82 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171.[4] Trevor Skerrett gained revenge against Hull KR, defeating 'The Robins' in the John Player Trophy, 12-4 at Headingley. A second Wembley defeat came in 1983 as well as a third consecutive Premiership Trophy loss, although he gained a Yorkshire Cup winners medal to go alongside his 1983 Championship winners (First Division) medal. In 1984, he gained his greatest honour when he was selected to captain Great Britain on their tour 'Down Under' only for injury to rob him of the honour. Injury would affect him for the rest of his Hull career, causing him to miss the 1985 RL Challenge Cup Final. He gained an extra six GB caps and represented Yorkshire three times, whilst at the Boulevard

Leeds career

Trevor Skerrett was transferred to Leeds in September 1986 in a deal that saw Kevin Dick join Hull FC, Andy Gascoigne also joined Skerrett at Leeds in the deal. In his only season, he played 27 games, scoring one try

Keighley career

In August 1987, he was transferred to Keighley where he made 57 appearances before retiring in 1989

International honours

Trevor Skerrett won caps for Wales while at Wakefield Trinity in 1978 against Australia, in 1979 against France, and England, in 1980 against France, and while at Hull in 1981 against France, and England, in 1984 against England, and won caps for Great Britain while at Wakefield Trinity in 1979 against Australia (2 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), and while at Hull in 1980 against New Zealand (2 matches), in 1981 against France (2 matches), and in 1982 against Australia (2 matches).[1] In addition to these Test Matches, Skerrett played left-second-row, i.e. number 11, in Great Britain's 7-8 defeat by France in the friendly at Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, Venice on Saturday 31 July 1982.[5]

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Trevor Skerrett played right-prop, i.e. number 10, in Wakefield Trinity's 3-12 defeat by Widnes in the 1979 Challenge Cup Final during the 1978–79 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of a crowd of 94,218,[6] and played in Hull FC's 12-14 defeat by Featherstone Rovers in the 1983 Challenge Cup Final during the 1982–83 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 7 May 1983.

County Cup Final appearances

Trevor Skerrett played left-second-row, i.e. number 11, in Wakefield Trinity's 13-16 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1974 Yorkshire County Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 26 October 1974, played left-prop, i.e. number 8, in Hull FC's 18-7 victory over Bradford Northern in the 1982 Yorkshire County Cup Final during the 1982–83 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 2 October 1982, and played right-prop, i.e. number 10, in the 13-2 victory over Castleford in the 1983 Yorkshire County Cup Final during the 1983–84 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1983.

John Player Trophy Final appearances

Skerrett played left-prop, i.e. number 8, and was man of the match in Hull FC's 12-4 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1981–82 John Player Trophy Final during the 1981–82 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 23 January 1982.

Club Honours

RL Challenge Cup: Winners 1982, Runners up: 1979, 1983

RL Championship (First Division): Winners 1982-83

Premiership Trophy: Runners Up 1981, 1982, 1983

Yorkshire Cup: Winners 1982-83, 1983–84, Runners Up 1974-75

John Player Trophy: Winners 1981-82

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References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. "Birth details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  3. Williams, Graham; Lush, Peter; Farrar, David (2009). The British Rugby League Records Book. London League. pp. 108–114. ISBN 978-1-903659-49-6.
  4. "A complete history of Hull FC's Challenge Cup finals". Hull Daily Mail. 22 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  5. "Great Britain 7 lost to France 8". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. Hoole, Les (2004). Wakefield Trinity RLFC - FIFTY GREAT GAMES. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-429-9
Achievements
Preceded by
Phil Hogan		 Rugby League Transfer Record
Wakefield Trinity to Hull F.C.
1980-81		 Succeeded by
George Fairbairn
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