Here are some of the past players who have worn the famous Sharks colours and gone on to earn themselves legend status in the professional game. Not only do players deserve to be in the Hall of Fame but so do people who have given so much time to the club and made the club into the famous Shaw Cross Sharks.
Do not be offended if you are missing! Let us know, as there are so many we cannot keep tabs on them all! If you have any ideas on Past Players then leave your entry in the blog below and we will add it to our "Hall of Fame" along with any comments you have about that person and the era they played etc, any help or info is great as we want to build this for visitors to look at.
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Hull KR, Oldham, Wakefield Trinity
HONOURS: Played for Great Britain.
OTHER:
Derek Turner was one of the great Loose forwards of the game who went on to play for Hull KR, Wakefield and Oldham. He also represented Great Britain at international level and went on to become an all time legend of the game.
Michael Stephenson
NAME: MICHAEL STEPHENSON
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Dewsbury, Penrith
HONOURS: Captain of the Dewsbury side, led them to the Championship in '72
OTHER:
Penrith payed the £20,000 world record fee at the time - recorded in the Guinness Book of Records at the time. Mick is now not only a huge part of the broadcasting team at Sky Sports and part of the famous duo "Eddie & Stevo" but he is also involved with the Rugby League heritage centre.
Gillette Rugby League Heritage Centre is the largest collection of rugby league memorabilia ever presented under one roof, all superbly displayed in the building where it all began - http://www.rlheritage.co.uk
Mick also opened the new Clubhouse in 1998 at Shaw Cross.
Michael Sullivan
NAME: MICHAEL SULLIVAN
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Huddersfield, St Helens, Wigan, York, Dewsbury
HONOURS: 351 tries in 48 test matches, appeared at Wembley with Wigan and St Helens, record sequence of appearances for Great Britain, scored a hat-trick four times for GB
OTHER:
Michael was new to the game when he joined Shaw Cross but he took to the game like a duck to water. He trained hard, he was usually the first to arrive for training, and the last to leave, and it was soon evident that this 10 stone lad would be a "star" in the making. He revelled in the keen atmosphere of Test football; the greater the occasion the better he performed. In 1957 he signed for a then record fee for Huddersfield but within hours Wigan swooped to sign him. When talking to Dougie Hird recently he was such an admirer and was adamant that he had never seen a player with as much speed as Mick.
John Dalgreen
NAME: JOHN DALGREEN
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Halifax, Warrington
HONOURS: Played for Great Britain
OTHER:
He played for Fulham when they started up in London and as Juniors we played together, I have played with and against some tough blokes but he was without a doubt the toughest I ever came across (glad he played for us)I saw him play for GB AT Wigans old Central Park Ground and he had the tough Aussie Les Boyd in his pocket, Boyd eventually "lost it" and was sent off for striking John who was smiling from ear to ear as Boyd got his marching orders, he was a skillfull player as well but he never took a backward step and would bash you hard in the tackle then beat you with a pass or his speed of thought, his best days were at Warrington but he was a popular player for all his clubs and a teamate you you could rely on in a tough game
Douglas Hird B.E.M
NAME: DOUGLAS HIRD B.E.M
CLUB POSITION: Founder Member / Secretary / P.R.O / Committee Member
HONOURS: Awarded by the Order of the British Empire with British Empire Medal, RFL volunteer award, Heavy Woollen Life Time Award.
OTHER: I think we all realise the tremendous amount of work he has done to keep Shaw Cross at the forefront of the game, he leads by example and has always looked to the future, he is Mr. Shaw Cross and his after match presentations are legendary, all in all he is a great bloke who has driven our club forward ever since it was founded in 1947. Received a Keystone Gold Award for his service over 30 years in 1979 - now has done over 60 years!
Alan Lancaster
NAME: ALAN LANCASTER M.B.E
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: : Bradford Northern, Huddersfield, Doncaster / Treasurer, Founder Member
HONOURS: Founder member of Shaw Cross Boys Club
OTHER: Alan Lancaster was a scrum half who made the professional ranks and was also one of the founder members of the Shaw Cross Boys Club. He was also a foudner member of the Shaw Cross French Exchange in 1970, which still takes place today. Alan was awarded an MBE for his services to sport in the 2008 New Year's Honours list.
Nigel Stephenson
NAME: NIGEL STEPHENSON
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Dewsbury, Bradford Northern, York, Wakefield Trinity
HONOURS: Captain of successful Dewsbury side,
OTHER: Broke the Shaw Cross goal kicking record, landing 138 goals, before he left to join Dewsbury. He became captain of Dewsbury and completed 20 years as a professional player. In his first class career he kicked 959 goals and scored 205 tries. Nigel also played for Bradford, Carlisle, Wakefield Trinity and York, as well as for his country and England.
One of Dewsbury’s greatest and fairest players was centre Nigel Stephenson(no relation to Mike Stephenson) who wasa Crown Flattfavourite for many seasons. Nigel had skipperedhis Shaw Cross side beforejoining Dewsburyand was one of the most promising youngstersto leave the Shaw Cross nursery. He made his debut for Dewsbury at the age of 16 in 1966 and his career in the Dewsbury colours was one of the greatest. and between l966 and 1978 when he joined Bradford Northern, he had made 330 appearances, scoring 820 goals, 39 drop goals and 124 tries.
But Nigel will always be remembered for his part in Dewsbury’s League Championship win in 1973 when he scored a try and kicked five goals in the final against Leeds. He was undoubtedly an outstanding player and is surely one of the best never to have been capped by Great Britain. However, he did play for England against Australia in 1975, but no caps were awarded. He gained county recognition and was capped l0 times for Yorkshire
Lee Gilmour
NAME: LEE GILMOUR
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Wigan Warriors, Bradford Bulls, St Helens
HONOURS: Made over 14 appearances for Great Britain, Won every honour at club level with St Helens, won Super League with Bradford and Wigan, represented Scotland in 2000
OTHER: Lee has to be one of the best players ever to leave the club and is a true legend. An established international and our current first team coach. Gilmour's usual position is second row, but he has played on the wing and in the centres when a back-line player suffered an injury. Lee Gilmour has in the past played for Bradford and Wigan. Gilmour is also a Great Britain and Scotland international. Gilmour gained true international repute when during the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations he scored the decisive try in the Lions’ 23-12 win in Sydney in 2006. Lee made his Wigan debut in 1997 and spent four years there before moving onto Bradford in 2001. After two seasons there Lee moved to his present club, St Helens winning major hounours and becoming one of the most succesful players ever to leave the club.
David Ward
NAME: DAVID WARD
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Leeds
HONOURS: 12 Caps for Great Britain, member of Australian tour in 1979, World Cup 1977, Leeds captain.
OTHER: Shaw Cross have produced several hookers for the professional game and one of these was David Ward who had an illustrious career, playing for Leeds and Great Britain in the number nine shirt.
David played in the Shaw Cross Hornets side asa teenager before he was snapped up by Leeds in 1971.He was first selected for the first ever English Schoolboys Tour to France in 1968---two years before the Shaw Cross Exchange with Villeneuve, France was started---and played in the Test side at Perpignan. A dedicated player, David soon established himself as a firm favourite with the Headingley crowd and his spirit and leadership was rewarded when he became captain in l976/1977 season, taking over from John Holmes.
Hemade his Great Britain debut in the l977 World Cup in Auckland when the side beat France 23 – 4and also figured in the games against New Zealand and Australia.He was also a member of the Australian tour in l979 and captained the Lions to a 37 – 0 victory over France at Hull in
December 1981.He made 12 appearances in the Great Britain shirt.
His playing career finished in 1986, but then he became a successful coach at Hunslet and at Batley.
Austin Kilroy
NAME: AUSTIN KILROY
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Huddersfield, Bradford Northern
HONOURS: Made the NABRU team (England U18's Rugby Union side)
OTHER: Austin was a great athlete who played mainly in the centre. Made the National Association Boys Rugby Union side along with another Sharks player.
Carl Gibson
NAME: CARL GIBSON
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Batley, Leeds
HONOURS: Made the Leeds regular first team
OTHER: Tuesday 7th July 1981 was a significant day in the career of Carl Gibson, the speedy threequarter who turned professional on that day. Gibson was a product of the Shaw Cross junior club, and he did not have far to travel for his first professional appointment, for it was with his local club, Batley. Several of the so called ‘more fashionable’ clubs sought the signature of Gibson, but he preferred to remain with a number of his former amateur colleagues who had joined Batley around that time. During his five seasons at Mount Pleasant, Gibson made 120 appearances for the Gallant Youths, and scored 81 tries. He also gained international recognition with Batley, making the first of his ten Test appearances whilst with the club. Gibson also played eight times for Yorkshire in ‘War of the Roses’ matches, the first two as a Batley player. However, in January 1986, Gibson was lured away from Mount Pleasant, although it took a club record £50,000 transfer fee from Leeds to prise Gibson away from his beloved Mount Pleasant.
David Bradshaw
NAME: DAVID BRADSHAW
CLUB POSITION: Coach
HONOURS: Coach of Shaw Cross Rovers who were one of the most successful teams in the clubs history
OTHER: David was coach of the Shaw Cross Rovers side and has been connected with the club for more than forty years.
Norman Wainwright
NAME: NORMAN WAINWRIGHT
PROFESSIONAL CLUBS: Huddersfield
HONOURS: Made the NABRU team (England U18's Rugby Union side)
OTHER: Norman was a great athlete who played mainly in the centre. Made the National Association Boys Rugby Union side along with another Sharks player.
Hall of Fame. 
NAME: DOUGLAS HIRD B.E.M
NAME: LEE GILMOUR
NAME: AUSTIN KILROY
NAME: DAVID BRADSHAW
NAME: NORMAN WAINWRIGHT
