Rugby League marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day at the sport’s annual Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.
Representatives of the clubs involved in the three senior Cup Finals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, and of the Match Officials, joined the UK Armed Forces Rugby League, the RFL President Adam Hills MBE and David Baines and Lord Jonathan Caine from Rugby League’s All-Party Parliamentary Group – and there was another surprise special guest in Peter Sterling, the great Australian scrum half who is in England to support his former Hull FC team-mate Lee Crooks.
The ceremony, unique to Rugby League, dates back to 1930 and was revived in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War.
The wreaths were laid after two minutes of silence which followed the sounding of the Last Post on the last of Big Ben’s chimes for 11am.
Before that the Padre, Reverend (Major) Tom Wilde CF, had reflected on Rugby League’s links and contribution to the Armed Forces exactly 81 years on from the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944 - highlighting Private Bill Forrest, a former Halifax and Warrington hooker who served in the first battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment, who was killed in action in Normandy 15 days after the landings, and is remembered with honour at the La Delivrande War Cemetery at Douvres.
A wreath was laid on the Cenotaph on behalf of each of the six clubs with Hull KR handing the honour to Phil Stow, the long-serving head of operations at Sewell Group Craven Park who served in the military for more than two decades, and was joined by their Chief Executive Paul Lakin and Chief Operating Officer Craig Franklin.
Warrington’s Chief Executive Karl Fitzpatrick laid a wreath on behalf of the Wolves, accompanied by Chairman Stuart Middleton, Director of Rugby Gary Chambers and Leon Hayes, the homegrown half-back who is battling back after a number of injury blows.
Craig Richards, the Head Coach of St Helens Women, was joined by Michael Coleman from the club’s Board of Directors, and it was an especially poignant ceremony for the Wigan captain Vicky Molyneux, who represented the Warriors with team-mate Georgia Wilson and Chief Executive Kris Radlinski MBE – Vicky having lost her elder brother, Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux, in 2011 after a tragic incident on board a nuclear submarine for which he was posthumously awarded the George Medal.
York Knights were represented by their Chair Clint Goodchild and Ben Jones-Bishop, who will be denied his fifth Wembley appearance in this weekend’s AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers because he played in the early rounds of the competition for Sheffield Eagles.
Martin Coyd OBE, a member of the RFL Board, Community Board and the UK Armed Forces Rugby League, laid a wreath on behalf of Featherstone.
Liam Moore, who will referee his third Challenge Cup Final on Saturday, laid a wreath on behalf of the RFL Match Officials, accompanied by two female trailblazers, Julia Lee and Tara Jones.
Nigel Wood OBE, who has returned to the RFL as Senior Non-Executive Director, laid a wreath on behalf of Rugby League Commercial, and Adam Hills MBE laid a wreath as RFL President – and also as Chief Guest for the 2025 Betfred Challenge Cup Finals.
Tony Sutton, the RFL Chief Executive, said:
“The Service of Remembrance is one of the highlights of any Rugby League year, and to be involved in it is one of the greatest privileges.
“The sport remains indebted to Damian Clayton MBE RAF for the leading role he played in reviving this special tradition in 2014, and to Lt Col David Groce OBE, the current Chair of the Armed Forces Rugby League, and his colleagues for maintaining it.
“It’s humbling to see Rugby League supporters lining Whitehall, with replica shirts from the competing finalists and a variety of other clubs from the UK and Australia, as the sport pays respect to those who have gone before us.”
