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| Born | (1936-04-20)20 April 1936[1] Leeds,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 23 May 2019(2019-05-23) (aged 83)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Maurice Bamford (20 April 1936 – 23 May 2019) was an English professionalrugby league footballer andcoach.[4] He also went on to write several books on rugby league.[5]
Bamford was born inLeeds,West Riding of Yorkshire, England.[6] He attended Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School in Leeds. He was introduced to rugby league in 1945 when he played for his school immediately after the end of theSecond World War.
He signed professional forms forHull F.C. in 1953,[7] but never played in the first team. He was transferred toDewsbury in 1957. His professional playing career was cut short due to injuries, eventually retiring in 1963.[8]
After retiring as a player, Bamford moved into coaching. In 1972, he joinedDewsbury as assistant coach toTommy Smales, and was part of the coaching staff when Dewsbury won the championship in the1972–73 season. Bamford was appointed as head coach when Smales left the club in 1974, but was only in charge for a few months before being replaced byAlan Hardisty.[8] After spending time atBradford Northern as an assistant toPeter Fox, he joinedHalifax in March 1978, who were bottom of theSecond Division and hadn't won a game all season.[9] He dramatically turned around the club's fortunes, missing out on promotion by one point in the1978–79 season. In the following season, Halifax finished second in the league, winning promotion to theFirst Division. The club also reached theYorkshire Cup final, but were defeated 15–6 byLeeds.
Bamford left Halifax in May 1980 to joinHuddersfield for the1980–81 season, taking them to a 5th place finish in the Second Division. He then coachedWigan during the1981–82 season, who had just returned to the First Division after being relegated two seasons ago. After the club finished in 11th, five points above the relegation places, Bamford was sacked and replaced byAlex Murphy. Bamford was then appointed head coach atBramley. Between November 1983 and February 1985, he was coach at Leeds, and won the1983–84 John Player Special Trophy 18–10 againstWidnes.
In 1985, Bamford was the first ever appointed full-time Development Officer for rugby league in theUK when he served for the Leeds City Council Leisure Services for two and a half years.
He returned to Leeds for a second coaching spell between December 1986 and April 1988. He reached the final of the John Player Special Trophy again in the1987–88 season, but were this time beaten finalists, losing 14–15 toSt Helens. In his later years, he had additional spells at Dewsbury and Bramley, as well as coachingWorkington Town,Prescot Panthers andLancashire Lynx.
His career also included a three-year stint asGreat Britain coach between 1984 and 1987 with test series againstAustralia,New Zealand andFrance. His term as coach of the national side also included the formation of the Great Britain under-21 team. He was succeeded as Great Britain coach byMal Reilly.
During the 1986Ashes series between Great Britain and Australia on their1986 Kangaroo tour, Bamford came in for heavy criticism from a number of former Great Britain and England internationals for his selections of both the first and second test teams. After the Lions lost the first test 38-16 atOld Trafford inManchester, many expected mass changes to the team for the second test. However, the only change came when centreEllery Hanley was ruled out with injury and was replaced bySt. Helens wingerBarry Ledger. The Lions lost the test and the series as the Kangaroos ran riot, running in six tries to one in a 34-4 hiding atElland Road inLeeds.Garry Schofield scored the only try for the home side which came whenMichael O'Connor dropped a low pass from fullbackGarry Jack. At no other time in the game did the Lions look like scoring. Five changes were made to the team for the third test atWigan'sCentral Park with the result being closer than many predicted, though the Australians completed a clean sweep defeating Great Britain 24-15. Many English fans believed that French referee Julien Rascagneres giving a penalty try to Australian wingerDale Shearer as well as allowing a contentious try to Kangaroos captainWally Lewis midway through the second half ended any hope of the Lions snatching an unlikely victory.
After retiring from coaching, Bamford made regular appearances on radio and television, and wrote a column for theManchester Evening News.[10] He also wrote a number of books on rugby league, including biographies of former playersGeoff Gunney,Arthur Clues,Jeff Grayshon,Vince Karalius,Jim Mills andFrank Myler.
Bamford died on 23 May 2019, aged 83, after being ill from cancer for some time.[11][12][6]
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