MEN 1873-1895
MEN 1895-2026
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Alan Briers

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
31-12-1936
N/A
03 -02-1953
Blackbrook ARL
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
14-04-1959 v Hull
Castleford
1962- Widnes
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1958-1962
71 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
17
0
0
51

Biography of Alan Briers



HERITAGE NO : 764
Alan Briers by Dave Dooley

Alan was one of the first players from Blackbrook ARLFC to join the professional ranks. He spent the majority of his career at St.Helens as a utility back. Alan made his debut against Hull in April 1958 as a stand-off half and played centre to Tom Van Vollenhoven on several occasions. A competent footballer, he became frustrated at the lack of a regular First Team place at Knowsley Road and was snapped up by Widnes. He soon made the right centre position his own and won a Challenge Cup winners medal at the end of his first season with the Chemics in 1964, together with two former Saints - Jim Measures, another Blackbrook alumni and Vince Karalius. Alan subsequently retired from rugby in 1966.

After his debut appearance in the Championship winning season of 1958/9 he had to wait until the next campaign to press for a longer run in the first team. Saints topped the table again in the 1959/60 season with Alan appearing in 19 matches and scoring 6 tries in the process. His first try for the club was against Rochdale Hornets in a 40 points to 4 away victory. He also scored a brace against Warrington in the same campaign. However, more importantly his slick service helped the great Tom Van Vollenhoven amass a stunning 54 tries.

Alan played at stand off and scrum half as well as in the centres and his solid performances progressed the Saints to more trophies over the next few seasons. Despite making 20 and 21 appearances respectively in the 1960/1 and 1961/2 campaigns Alan missed out on Saints` glory finals at Wembley and in the Lancashire Cup and this eventually encouraged him to seek success elsewhere.

Alan passed away in January 2026 and Alex Service penned the following excellent obituary.Reputed to be the first signing from the Blackbrook club, Alan made his debut at stand-off against Hull at Knowsley Road on 14th April 1959. This gave him the Heritage Number #764 and Saints won 37-16 in front of over 18,000 fans. His scrum-half was Alex Murphy, who scored a hat-trick of tries. In the centre was another ex-Brooker, Brian McGinn, who had come through the amateur ranks later.In the late 1950s he was called up for National Service with the 7th Armoured Division in Germany, part of the British Army of the Rhine. He won two inter-unit seven-a-side rugby union championships during his tenure in khaki.Top of the table Saints were League Champions in 1958-59 but it was Alan’s only appearance. He broke into the seniors the following season with 19 starts, essentially in the halves but Alan was a skilful, speedy player with an eye for the gap who could play anywhere in the backline if required, especially as a centre. The squad won the Lancashire League and Alan’s contribution of 6 tries in 19 appearances made the fair-haired flyer a crowd favourite. His last match of the campaign again saw him in the halves with Alex Murphy, against Wigan in the Championship semi-final on 5th May at Knowsley Road in front of 33,000 fans. Top-of-the-table Saints lost Murphy, who was dismissed after tangling with Wigan’s Mick Sullivan and the match, 9-19. A case of what might have been.Alan continued as a squad member, in competition with the likes of Brian McGinn, Ken Large and Wilf Smith for a place in the team. On 3rd December 1960, Alan scored a brilliant try against the visiting Australians from right centre, in a memorable 15-12 success. Yet he was not selected for the Wembley squad in 1961 against Wigan, Large and McGinn getting the nod in the centres and gradually, he began to feel disillusioned with his progress at Knowsley Road.His last match for the Saints was at home to Castleford on 18th October 1962, when he was centre to Tom van Vollenhoven. Although he drifted away from the game briefly, he returned and was snapped up by Widnes, in April 1963. The following season he won a Challenge Cup winner’s medal with the Chemics, together with two other former Saints – Vince Karalius and Jimmy Measures. His winger was another St Helens born player, Bobby Chisnall. Alan scored the first try after 52 minutes as Widnes overcame Hull KR 13-5 which made him very proud indeed.Second-rower Jimmy Measures was a team-mate of Alan at both Saints and Widnes and is fulsome in his praise: “A tough lad, for sure and a real player’s player. Alan was a good footballer who would always look both ways when he broke through the line for support. Alan was born off Park Road, and a quiet lad. I worked with him for a while at the Water Board and other places too, when your weekly wage was more than your football money.”Alan married Pamela in the summer of 1964, and they remained in the same house in Old Nook Lane, off Chain Lane, for 56 years. He played 71 matches overall for the Saints, scoring 17 tries and there were some exciting ones amongst those too! Some of his team-mates, such as Dick Huddart, Alex Murphy, Vince Karalius and Tom van Vollenhoven were some of the greatest in the club’s history. It was a pity that his tenure at Knowsley Road was relatively short, considering his all-round ability and value as a utility player.

PLAYER HONOURS

SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1958~590 0 0 1
1959~606 0 0 19
1960~611 0 0 20
1961~62 7 0 0 21
1962~633 0 0 10
TOTALS:17 0 0 71
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1962~631002
TOTALS:1002

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
14th Apr 1959 1
W
 6 Hull L H 37 16 VIEW
12th Dec 1959 2
W
 7 Rochdale Hornets L A 40 4 1 VIEW
26th Dec 1959 3
W
 7 Wigan L A 19 7 1 VIEW
1st Jan 1960 4
W
 7 Leigh L A 12 4 VIEW
2nd Jan 1960 5
W
 7 Workington Town L A 21 6 VIEW
9th Jan 1960 6
W
 7 Warrington L H 40 6 2 VIEW
16th Jan 1960 7
W
 7 Barrow L A 16 8 VIEW
23rd Jan 1960 8
W
 7 Oldham L H 27 6 VIEW
30th Jan 1960 9
D
 7 Salford L A 2 2 VIEW
6th Feb 1960 10
W
 7 Blackpool Borough L A 26 7 1 VIEW
13th Feb 1960 11
L
 7 Wakefield Trinity CC1 H 10 15 VIEW
20th Feb 1960 12
W
 6 Dewsbury L H 25 4 VIEW
5th Mar 1960 13
W
 7 Warrington L A 19 16 VIEW
19th Mar 1960 14
L
 7 Halifax L A 15 20 VIEW
2nd Apr 1960 15
W
 7 Swinton L H 46 10 1 VIEW
16th Apr 1960 16
W
 7 Whitehaven L H 41 5 VIEW
18th Apr 1960 17
W
 7 Hull L A 10 7 VIEW
23rd Apr 1960 18
W
 7 Hunslet L A 20 8 VIEW
26th Apr 1960 19
W
 7 Oldham L A 10 2 VIEW
7th May 1960 20
L
 7 Wigan ChSF H 9 19 VIEW
13th Aug 1960 21
L
 7 Oldham L A 4 16 VIEW
7th Sep 1960 22
W
 6 Wigan LC2 H 7 4 VIEW
10th Sep 1960 23
W
 7 Leigh L A 28 13 VIEW
21st Sep 1960 24
W
 3 Swinton L A 15 7 VIEW
12th Oct 1960 25
W
 3 Australia Tour H 15 12 1 VIEW
3rd Dec 1960 26
L
 7 Hunslet L A 5 10 VIEW
24th Dec 1960 27
W
 6 Salford L A 17 5 VIEW
26th Dec 1960 28
W
 6 Rochdale Hornets L H 51 4 VIEW
2nd Jan 1961 29
W
 6 Leigh L H 10 4 VIEW
7th Jan 1961 30
W
 6 Warrington L A 8 5 VIEW
21st Jan 1961 31
W
 6 Whitehaven L A 15 11 VIEW
4th Feb 1961 32
L
 6 Warrington L H 7 8 VIEW
11th Feb 1961 33
D
 6 Widnes CC1 H 5 5 VIEW
4th Mar 1961 34
W
 6 Liverpool City L A 52 2 VIEW
21st Mar 1961 35
W
 7 Barrow L H 31 2 VIEW
25th Mar 1961 36
W
 7 Salford L H 45 2 VIEW
1st Apr 1961 37
L
 3 Workington Town L A 11 12 VIEW
3rd Apr 1961 38
L
 7 Swinton L H 3 10 VIEW
8th Apr 1961 39
W
 3 Hull L A 9 4 VIEW
25th Apr 1961 40
W
 7 Blackpool Borough L H 28 4 VIEW
16th Sep 1961 41
W
 6 Whitehaven L H 44 0 1 VIEW
23rd Sep 1961 42
W
 6 Barrow L A 34 2 VIEW
30th Sep 1961 43
L
 6 Hull L H 22 25 VIEW
7th Oct 1961 44
W
 6 Whitehaven L A 10 3 VIEW
10th Oct 1961 45
W
 6 Salford LCSF H 21 2 VIEW
28th Oct 1961 46
L
 6 Warrington L A 7 11 VIEW
6th Jan 1962 47
W
 4 Barrow L H 30 6 VIEW
13th Jan 1962 48
L
 6 Leeds L A 3 20 1 VIEW
27th Jan 1962 49
L
 6 Workington Town L A 7 23 VIEW
17th Feb 1962 50
W
 6 Salford L H 17 12 VIEW
24th Mar 1962 51
W
 6 Widnes L H 13 8 VIEW
31st Mar 1962 52
W
 4 Swinton L H 5 2 VIEW
3rd Apr 1962 53
W
 3 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 27 2 1 VIEW
7th Apr 1962 54
W
 4 Hull L A 12 8 VIEW
9th Apr 1962 55
W
 3 Leigh L H 42 4 2 VIEW
14th Apr 1962 56
W
 3 Blackpool Borough L A 15 2 VIEW
20th Apr 1962 57
L
 3 Wigan L H 16 18 1 VIEW
21st Apr 1962 58
W
 3 Liverpool City L A 14 2 1 VIEW
23rd Apr 1962 59
W
 3 Blackpool Borough L H 37 5 VIEW
28th Apr 1962 60
L
 3 Wigan L A 3 12 VIEW
2nd May 1962 61
W
 3 Huddersfield L A 16 9 VIEW
7th May 1962 --
W
 3 SHAPE Indians* Fr H 43 8 1 VIEW
10th Aug 1962 --
W
 3 Liverpool City* Fr Charity Cup H 33 2 VIEW
18th Aug 1962 62
W
 3 Salford WDC A 35 24 1 VIEW
22nd Aug 1962 63
W
 3 Leigh WDC H 21 3 VIEW
25th Aug 1962 64
W
 3 Blackpool Borough WDC H 21 12 VIEW
30th Aug 1962 65
W
 3 Liverpool City WDC A 16 9 VIEW
1st Sep 1962 66
W
 3 Salford WDC H 59 0 2 VIEW
8th Sep 1962 67
W
 3 Liverpool City LC1 H 22 0 VIEW
15th Sep 1962 68
W
 3 Leigh WDC A 20 10 VIEW
18th Sep 1962 69
W
 3 Blackpool Borough LC2 A 14 3 VIEW
6th Oct 1962 70
L
 3 Warrington L A 13 21 VIEW
13th Oct 1962 71
D
 3 Castleford L H 10 10 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 55 | LOSSES : 15 | DRAWS : 3

GALLERY





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