This is about my grandad, William (Billy) Thornton who played for Hunslet back in the '30s, a time when Hunslet were up there with the top teams of the era.
As scrum half, he played many times for the club winning many honours, most notably when he appeared in the '35 Challenge Cup Final, beating Widnes at Wembley.
Clearly I never saw him play 'live'. However I have seen a brief Pathe news clip from the above final and have the memories and memorabilia passed down by him, my dad and other family members. One of my favourites is a picture of him playing at Headingley against Leeds.
The picture was taken from the South Stand looking towards the now Carnegie Stand. In those days the back drop to that end of the ground was St. Michaels church spire. Ball in hand he had just handed off a Leeds player (unknown) leaving him sprawling on the ground and was taking off down the South Stand touchline ... I like to think he may have gone the full length of the field to score in front of the away support! I hope he did.
As a present day South Stander and keen Rhinos supporter, I often look to the area of the pitch where he made that run and have a little smile ...
Steve Thornton
Memory added on September 19, 2012
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