Leigh united for the Cup

The Lancashire town’s pro and amateur rugby league teams never got on but they do now, writes Dave Hadfield ahead of a unique fifth-round weekend

They have had some big rugby league weekends in Leigh, but never one quite like this.

There were the times in 1921 and 1971 when the town’s professional club brought home the Challenge Cup, or the Championship-winning season of 1981-22.

Leigh Centurions, currently in the Championship, have not lost a game so far this year and have their eyes firmly fixed on promotion to the Super League. They get an early opportunity to show that they would not be out of place there when they play Salford at home in the fifth round of the Cup on Saturday.

The following day, the little town’s leading amateur club, Leigh Miners Rangers, have what is arguably an even bigger match, against Championship team York in the same competition. If they win, they will have gone further in the Cup than any amateur side. Even more remarkable to those who know the town’s sporting politics, pros and amateurs are in harmony as they chase a unique double.

Relations were not always so good. Young players used to come out of the hugely productive nursery that is the Miners keen to play anywhere other than Leigh.

“The difference now it that we are happy to see them move on,” says the Miners’ coach, Allan Coleman. “Now there are seven players in the Leigh first-team squad who came through our ranks.”

The difference also shows in the way the two clubs are now eager to co-operate with each other. When the Miners – whose rather unwieldy name comes from merging with the junior club Leigh Rangers several years ago – were preparing for their last tie against Oxford, the Centurions’ coach, Paul Rowley, gave them a video session.

The Leigh professional squad, which now includes recent signings of the calibre of Fuifui Moimoi and Gareth Hock, also turned out to support the Miners, to good effect, as it turned out, as the semi-pros of Oxford were outclassed in the second half.

Coleman knows it will be a different proposition against York, but the Miners are determined to play their part in sustaining the buzz of rugby league success in the town.

Leigh is a distinctive place; despite being on the doorstep of a football town like Bolton and within easy distance of Liverpool and Manchester, it has never shown any real interest in anything but rugby league.

It had a football club for a while, when Horwich RMI were relocated – they got as far as an FA Cup replay against a Kevin Keegan-managed Fulham – but they died of indifference. Leythers, as they pronounce themselves, could not quite see the point

Rugby league, on the other hand, has deep roots and experts can reel off the myriad of players bred on a handful of terraced streets adjoining a town centre where you can still buy a pint for 99 pence.

Times change and it is a long time since any colliery worker played for Leigh Miners. The father of the current captain, Scott O’Brien, did work down Parsonage Pit, but O’Brien describes himself as a part-time window cleaner. There are brickies, builders, electricians and teachers in the squad, but more surprising is the employment status of the front-rower Matt Astley, who is a qualified barrister, having passed his law exams at Oxford University.

He started out with the junior clubs Leyland Warriors and Orrell St James before signing professional forms with Wigan. Astley played there for Shaun Wane in an academy side that included Sam and Joel Tomkins, Lee Mossop and Chris Ashton.

After that, he played in the Leigh first team before deciding that his legal studies took precedence. Having a club like the Miners strategically placed means there is somewhere for a player like him to go back to and pick up the threads.

“The facilities here are better than at a lot of professional clubs,” says O’Brien, who had a glimpse of the bright lights or at least the annual Illuminations when he played for Blackpool Panthers. “There are players who would rather play here than play professionally.”

Their squad includes a number of players who have picked up a wage packet for playing the game they love. The majority are local, but Shaun Dowie is an Australian who played in the Under-20s for their champions, South Sydney.

The Miners’ training facilities, changing rooms and video equipment certainly compare favourably with some of the lowlier pro clubs and, earlier this year, they became the first amateur club to take their players away to an army boot-camp for pre-season training.

The days of an early shift down the pit, a few pints of mixed and a pitched battle with the likes of Wigan St Pats or Pilkington Recs are long gone.

“This weekend could be massive for us and for Leigh,” says O’Brien. “It would be even better if we were drawn against each other.”

Others try to take a balanced view. “If we do manage to win, we could be playing one of the top Super League clubs in the next round,” says Astley, carefully weighing the evidence. “That would be exciting, but at the same time daunting.”