RED & WHITE PHOENIX
Описание книги
This remarkable new autobiography recalls the days when rugby league could be brutal and was regularly described as 'The toughest sport in the World.' It follows Keith from his days at Hull KR in the mid-sixties where he packed down with legends such as Peter Flanagan Harry Poole, Frank Foster, and Phil Lowe, alongside the one and only Roger Millward, to the climax of his unique career joining Maitland during the early seventies in Australia, playing in the highly competitive Newcastle league. He matched up against some of the ARL legends the likes of Johny Raper, Dennis Ward, Father John Cootes, Brian 'Chika' Moore, and Allan Thomson. 'We thought he was a god from another planet' said Maitland teammate and later Northern Eagles, Manly Warringah, Hull FC and Cronulla coach, Peter Sharp, after Keith had played and won in two Grand Finals. But 'Red & White Phoenix' is far more than just a sporting memoir. Keith's playing days provide the centrepiece of a finely woven story, containing tales from Hull's illustrious history, memories of youthful exuberance, anecdotes from a fascinating working life and a heart-breaking account recalling the tragic death of his son Jason. Net profits from the sale of this book will be donated to charity.
Оглавление
KEITH POLLARD. RED & WHITE PHOENIX
Dedication
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DISCLAIMER
CHAPTER 1 HULL, HESSLE ROAD & THE FISHING INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 2 EARLY YEARS
CHAPTER 3 SCHOOLDAYS
CHAPTER 4 INTO THE BIG WIDE WORLD
CHAPTER 5 FIRST TEAM BREAKTHROUGH
CHAPTER 6 A TIME OF CHANGE
KEITH WAS VERY MUCH A MODERN DAY TYPE PROP..
CHAPTER 7 FAMILY MAN
CHAPTER 8 A LIFE DOWN UNDER
CHAPTER 9 MAITLAND
TIME WILL REMEMBER HIM AS ONE OF NEWCASTLE RUGBY LEAGUE’S GREAT PLAYERS..
KEITH IS ONE OF THOSE BLOKES YOU WANT IN THE TRENCHES WITH YOU..
ONE OF THE BEST FRONT-ROWERS EVER TO PUT ON THE BLACK AND WHITE COLOURS..
WE THOUGHT HE WAS A GOD FROM ANOTHER PLANET
KEITH SENT FEAR THROUGH THE OPPOSITION RANKS, BUT WE LOVED HIM..
CHAPTER 10 KEMPSEY
KEITH WAS YEARS AHEAD OF HIS TIME
CHAPTER 11 BACK IN THE OLD COUNTRY
CHAPTER 12 HANGING UP MY BOOTS
KEITH WAS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED PROP FORWARDS IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 13 THE GREATEST GAME
CHAPTER 14 ALGERIA
CHAPTER 15 SOUTH AFRICA
Photos
CHAPTER 16 THE OFFSHORE INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 17 LE TUNNEL
CHAPTER 18 A FIRST GOODBYE
CHAPTER 19 GOOD AND BAD TIMES
CHAPTER 20 IT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN
CHAPTER 21 RETIREMENT
ALPHA-1 ANTITRYPSIN DEFICIENCY. WHAT IS ALPHA-1 ANTITRYPSIN DEFICIENCY?
WHAT ARE OUR OBJECTIVES?
Отрывок из книги
In sport, as in life, being in the right place at the right time is so important. Prop forwards mature in the later part of their rugby lives, and Keith Pollard was no exception.
His career at Hull Kingston Rovers probably faltered because the time was not right.
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My old man had a good job but often he did a ‘bit on the side,’ not all of which was quite above board. No-one ever asked questions, and I will not elaborate. I will just say that we had a TV before anyone else in the street, and my Mam was never short of money. My dad was also very strong-willed, to say the least. He smoked about 60 woodbines a day until an x-ray showed a shadow on his lung – he stopped that same day and never smoked again.
He came from a very strict upbringing. His father, who was born in 1867, was an engineer on trawlers and merchant ships. The old man told me that he was a bit of an oddball; he was apparently psychic and was known as ‘Mad Pollard’. On one voyage around the world, he was shipwrecked and subsequently taken into hospital in India, from where he wrote a letter back home. It took the letter two weeks to arrive in Hull from India, and of course when it arrived it was quite a big event. The family sat around my grandma, whilst she read it to them – there was no TV then, of course! According to my dad, part of the letter said that, ‘whilst you are reading this letter, Laurie will come into the house and tell you that your cousin Annie has died’. Dad said that, very spookily, this is exactly what happened.
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