Frank Foster (rugby league)

Frank Foster (25 April 1940 – 20 December 2019) born in Maryport^[5] was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Cumberland, and at club level for Workington Town, Hull Kingston Rovers, Bradford Northern, Barrow and Oldham, as a loose forward and coached at club level for Barrow and Whitehaven.^[3]

Frank Foster

Personal information
Full name	Frank Foster
Born	1939 or 1940 Maryport, Cumbria, England
Died	20 December 2019 (aged 79)[1]
Playing information
Position	Loose forward
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1960–64 Workington Town 111 1964–69 Hull Kingston Rovers 135 7 7 0 35 1968–69 Bradford Northern 35 1969–71 Barrow 53 1971–73 Oldham 47 2 25 0 56 Total 381 9 32 0 91 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1959–73 Cumberland 8 1967 Great Britain 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1973–83 Barrow 1983–85 Whitehaven Total 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4]

Playing career

Workington Town

Foster started his professional career with Workington Town, who signed him in 1958.^[6] He played for the club until 1965, when he was signed by Hull Kingston Rovers for a fee of £6,500.^[7]

Hull Kingston Rovers

Frank Foster played at second-row in Hull Kingston Rovers' 25–12 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1966 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 15 October 1966, and played as an interchange replacing John Hickson) in the 8–7 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1967 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley on Saturday 14 October 1967.^[4]

Later career

In 1968, Foster was sold to Bradford Northern for a fee of £5,000, with Geoff Wriglesworth and Terry Clawson transferring from Bradford to Hull KR as part of the deal. A year later, Foster was signed by Barrow for a transfer fee of £6,000.^[8] He finished his playing career with Oldham.

Representative honours

Frank Foster won a cap for Great Britain while at Hull Kingston Rovers in 1967, against Australia.^[2]

Frank Foster represented Cumberland on 8 occasions.^[4]

Coaching career

1973 saw Barrow appoint their former player, Foster as coach. He built a side which won the Second Division championship in 1975/76, and reached a John Player Trophy Final in 1981, only to lose 5–12 to Warrington. Phil Hogan was transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers in 1978 for a then world record fee of £33,000. Barrow fluctuated between divisions and Foster was eventually replaced by Tommy Dawes in April 1983.^[9] The same year Foster was appointed coach at Whitehaven where he remained in charge until the summer of 1985.^[10]