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It was particularly sad to hear of the death of Don Fox at the age of 73, after a long illness.

Don was born in 1936 and was the middle of three brothers each of whom made a considerable impact in the sport as players and coaches. The others were Peter (1933) and Neil (1939).

Don joined Featherstone Rovers in 1952-53 – like his father before him – and became an integral member of the side at scrum-half, a position he filled with distinction for over ten years at Post Office Road, earning him a joint benefit with his stand-off Joe Mullaney.

Born in the village of Sharlston, Don was a brilliant player. He had a good eye for the gap and had superb handling ability. He was a natural footballer, in fact - a great tactician and a match-winner on his day. His kicking game alone would have made him a most valuable asset in the modern Super League era.

If you remember the skills displayed by the likes of Shane Cooper and Harry Pinner, you would have appreciated what this guy was really capable of! Perhaps more Shane than Harry…maybe. Don was a little bit of a maverick and unpredictable at times, which was one of his strengths!

Don was at scrum-half when ‘home-grown’ Featherstone inflicted their second successive defeat of St.Helens in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup in 1959 (he missed the first clash as a result of injury) to the tune of 20-6, in front of more than 17,000 shoe-horned into Post Office Road.

Operating as a loose forward, he joined his brother Neil at Wakefield in 1965/66 and Saints’ fans will no doubt recall his part in Trinity’s 21-9 victory in the re-played 1967 Championship Final at Swinton.

He is universally remembered for his missed conversion in the 1968 ‘watersplash’ Challenge Cup final against Leeds, but people forget he won the Lance Todd trophy after a particularly brilliant display beforehand. He finished his career with Batley in the early 1970s, where he was also coach.

His achievements were considerable at club level (367 appearances for Featherstone Rovers; 162 tries and 503 goals) and he also played representative football for Yorkshire, together with a Test Match appearance against Australia in 1963. He was selected for the GB Tour to Australia in 1962, but was hampered by injury and returned home early.

Don enjoyed golf and cricket after his rugby finished and was a joiner at Sharlston Colliery for many years. A link in one of Yorkshire’s most famous sporting families has been broken and we send our sympathy to Don’s relatives and friends at this sad time. My only regret is that we didn’t see enough of him in Lancashire.

A tremendously well-respected player, Don was a rugby league legend and will be truly missed by followers of The Greatest Game.

Everyone at the Club would like to pass on their condolences to Don’s family.

By Alex Service