Banner, Peter

Featherstone Rovers sold star scrum-half Steve Nash to glamour club Salford in 1975, which left Rovers relatively cashed up, an almost unique situation in the club’s history. But they also needed a new scrum-half and had to break their own transfer fee record by paying £4750 in an attempt to find an adequate replacement.  After exploring their junior options, they went back to The Willows and spent some of the Nash money on Welsh international scrum-half Peter Banner. He had been Salford’s erstwhile number seven before Nash’s arrival. He had been with the Salford club since signing as a junior in 1966 and had played for Wales in the same 1975 World Cup tournament where Nash had played for England, so was undoubtedly talented. Eyebrows were raised at Rovers’ need, indeed one journalist described the idea of Featherstone Rovers buying in a scrum-half as ‘like carrying coals to Newcastle’. Club historian Irvin Saxton remarked that in the club’s entire history only Joe Kirkham (from Dewsbury in 1921) and Cyril Gilbertson (also from Dewsbury in 1948) had been brought in by the club from outside to play at seven.

 

In February 1976 he was admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary for a suspected ruptured spleen and collapsed lung.  Thankfully it did not prove to be that serious and he was playing again by March. His place in the side was also under constant threat throughout the season from the talented Phil Butler. Although a good player, Banner never really settled at Post Office Road managing just 21 appearances in 1975/76, before transferring to Leeds where he played his part in defeating Rovers in the 1976 Yorkshire Cup final.