The town of St Helens has travelled the road to Wembley numerous times, but mostly for Rugby League. Their first visit was in defeat in 1930, although until 1929 the Challenge Cup final had been played at a variety of venues with Saints losing the first to Batley in 1897 at Headingley in Leeds. It wouldn’t be until 1956 that they’d lift the trophy, doing so another eleven occasions.
In the 1990s Rugby League was my preferred sport to football. I was a regular at the London Broncos for many years, especially when their home games were played at either the Stoop in Twickenham or Brentford’s Griffin Park. It was the latter groundshare that inspired me to go and watch the then League 1 Bees in 2006. As a Broncos fan I made many away trips north, with one night in St Helens remaining my favourite.
In 2006 St Helens were the dominant force winning the league and cup double, adding those trophies to the World Club title won earlier in the year. The surprise came in December as they won the public vote to be named BBC Sport Team of the Year, much to the obvious disappointment of those who thought that prize was nailed on for the European Ryder Cup golf team. So it was with some trepidation that a coach load of London fans made the journey to St Helens for the first match of the 2007 season, not least because we felt at any moment in our eight hour slog the snow would mean the game would be called off. The match took place in a blizzard with London (then temporarily branded as Harlequins Rugby League) ran out 14-6 winners. The length of the drive back to London meant we spent more hours on the road than saw our team score points, but we didn’t care.
It was rare for London to take more than 100 fans to any away match and whilst this meant we were often looked down on, it’s that community of supporters where togetherness feels strong which I imagine is special to fans of non-league football teams too.
As an outsider looking from several hundred miles away it’s difficult to know what sort of cup run it would take for St Helens Town to be a big local story. The sports section of the St Helens Star certainly reflects that this is overwhelmingly a rugby league town. The football team have enjoyed success under the twin towers of Wembley too, winning the FA Vase in 1987 beating near-neighbours Warrington. Their best run in the FA Cup came in 1985 when defeat to Morecambe meant they missed out on an appearance in the first round proper.
Glory Hunting 