THE opportunity for Oldham RLFC to finally bid farewell to the grand old man of Watersheddings will be at the great John Etty’s funeral, which will be on Tuesday, March 19 at The Emmanuel at The Mount Church, Mount Road, Fleetwood , FY7 6RE (tel: 01253 770646)) at 10am.
“It will mean an early start for anyone coming from Oldham, but John was a special man and a special player and it would be nice to see a large representation from our club,”
said Roughyeds vice-president John Chadwick, a friend of the Etty family, who will say “a few words” at the funeral service, which will be followed by a ceremony at Fleetwood Cemetery at 11.15am and then back to Cleveleys Workingmens’ Club.
John (Chadwick), who thrilled to the winger’s wing feats as a young supporter, and became a close friend in later years, will find it hard to cover Etty’s glittering career in “a few words”.
How do you do that when talking of a player who chalked up a total of 210 tries in a club career spanning 17 years with Batley, Oldham and Wakefield; a player who was one of only five in the entire sport to have won all six cups (Challenge Cup, League Championship, Lancashire Cup, Lancashire League, Yorkshire Cup, Yorkshire League); a player who was one of four in Oldham’s original Hall of Fame; a player who represented both Yorkshire and a British Empire side; a player who scored two tries for Oldham in their Championship Final win against Hull at Odsal in 1957; a player who scored 90 tries in 150 games for Oldham , including many length-of-the-field beauties ?
Said John:
“It will be hard, but I’ll do my best for Oldham, as John always did. I first got to know him when Terry Doyle and I used to clean out the Oldham dressing room when we were kids, In later life we both lived in the Fylde and I got to know both he and Cath, his wife, very well indeed. They came to live over here when John became Director of Social Services in Blackpool, coming from a similar post down in Somerset and they never moved away. John was at the Players’ Association annual dinner in Oldham until he was well turned 90. He was that sort of chap – a fabulous bloke.”
The Emmanuel at The Mount Church in Fleetwood has its own website where you an get full details of where it is and how to get there.
