Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
361	361	0	5	2	0	19

There is a strange consistency and longevity about the players who have worn the number 8 jersey at Featherstone, in that Ernest Barraclough was the first player to wear it in the opening league fixture in August l921. From then until 1934, Barraclough made 304 appearances in that jersey. When he retired, Frank Hemingway took over and had 293 appearances until 1950 and was followed by Ken Welburn with 241 appearances until 1958.  So, in a - thirty-year span, three players dominated the position, which must be a record of its own.

Hemingway might have had the record of most appearances to himself but for the Second World War and injury. Signed from Streethouse Inters, he was immediately enlisted into the senior team making his debut v Keighley (at home) on 10 November 1934 and instantly became a permanent fixture. When war was declared in 1939, he was working at Sharlston Colliery and was exempt from war service and so continued to play. However, later in the war he came out of the pit on the grounds of ill health and was then passed fit for war service and served in India. On a rare appearance at Christmas in 1946 he broke his leg at Castleford, which meant that he was only able to make 11 appearances between 1945 and 1949.

He was not a try scorer. It took him 68 games before he scored his first at Hunslet in October 1936 and he only scored five tries in a career which lasted 15 years and 11 months a club record until surpassed by Willis Fawley in 1967. He was, however, an outstanding prop and, according to the needs and demands of the game at that time, was the anchor-man of the scrum. Arthur Wood, Rovers, first international hooker, benefited from his experience and skill and very few players enjoyed propping against this gentle giant. He had enormous hands with which he bound his scrum opponents. He was particularly adept in loose play in bringing the ball away from his own line and, although not fast, he always managed to be in the right place at the right time. He was granted a testimonial in 1949/50, one of his best seasons, and he cherished the Yorkshire Cup final medal won in June 1940. He played six games in season 1950/51 and retired after playing against Barrow at Post Office Road on 9 September 1950.

Biography by Ron Bailey