Speedy back-row man Robinson remembered

GEOFF Robinson, the speedy back-row forward who played 177 first-class games for Oldham RL Club between 1959-1965, has died in his native Cumbria at the age of 77.

His funeral was due to take place today in a village near Penrith where he had lived for several years.

His signing from Whitehaven shortly before the start of the 1959-60 season hit the rugby league headlines because Oldham paid a transfer fee of £9,000 — then a world record for a forward.

Only a few months earlier, in March, 1959, the big-spending Watersheddings outfit had also raided Cumbria to pay Workington Town £10,650 for Test winger Ike Southward, the first five-figure outlay in the history of the sport.

The Oldham committee — it was still a members' club — was striving to rebuild after the break-up of the magnificent team that won the Lancashire Cup in 1956, 1957 and 1958 and lifted the RL championship in 1957, beating Hull 15-14 at Odsal in a thrilling championship final in front of a 62,000 crowd.

Robinson made his debut at loose-forward in a 27-12 win against Leeds at Watersheddings on the opening day of the 1959-60 season and played much of that season as the legendary Charlie Winslade's second-row partner.

Robinson transferred to Warrington before ending his 14-year professional career at Rochdale, where his former Oldham colleague Johnny Noon was player-coach.

Robinson lived in Springhead and worked in Oldham for many years after he retired from rugby.

A lover of the great outdoors, he was part of a British expedition to the Himalayas in 1970.

He was awarded a Royal Humane Society medal for rescuing a young woman from drowning while he was walking in Wharfedale.