Career Record for Featherstone
Appearances			Tries	Goals	Drop Goals	Points
Total	Start	Sub
349	349	0	28	7	0	98

Of the many famous Featherstone families who have contributed to the Rovers cause, the most prominent would have to be the Dentons. Jim Denton was a legend in his own right, but his brother Sid, who played with him for most of his career, made his own mark in the history of the club. Both were members of the all-conquering Rovers junior team of 1919 to 1921 which was admitted to the senior league in 1921 and both played in the opening game at Bradford on27 August - one on each wing.

Although playing all his football on the wing in that first season, Sid's true position was full-back and from the start of the 1922/23 season through to his retirement ten years later, he reigned supreme at number 1 for most of that period. He only missed four games in his second season, but one was the famous Cup-tie with Wigan. Yet Sid was to the fore in the famous first-round encounter with Halifax in 1925. Two drawn games at Halifax and Featherstone led to a further replay at Leeds where the Rovers finally triumphed 6-2. No tries were scored in any of the games and the reports highlighted Denton's fielding and kicking as well as his defence. Twice he saved certain tries with outstanding tackles' and in the third game it was reported that 'a feature was the kicking duel between Denton and Garforth which Denton won'.

There were many exploits to applaud from this stylish full-back. Two games against the mighty Huddersfield team when Sid's defensive stint helped the Rovers produce shocks were in October 1924, when Rovers won 7-4 at Fartown in the second round of the Yorkshire Cup, and at Featherstone in April 1929. In the latter game, Rovers were second from the bottom and Huddersfield were the league leaders. Sid was selected on the wing to give young Bill Warrington a chance at full-back. Playing out of their skins, the Rovers were hanging on to a 10-7 lead in the second half, when “Sid Denton was moved to full-back with Warrington under pressure and this proved a great move because Denton had to repel Huddersfield attacks in the last twenty minutes using all his experience”.

Being the complete full-back, he had his moments in attack and scored 21 tries, the most famous of which was in April 1928 in the League Championship semi-final play-off at Leeds. With eleven minutes to go, the Rovers were hanging on to a surprising 10-7 lead when Leeds mounted another attack. “Showing great anticipation, Sid Denton intercepted on his own 25, raced to half way, kicked, and beat Roberts the Leeds full-back to the bounce to score a great try under the posts”. Rovers eventually won to reach the championship final. Sadly, the Rovers were out of form as they lost 11-0 to Swinton and again in the Yorkshire Cup final against Leeds later that year 5-0. In that period, he had 59 consecutive appearances from 5 November 1927 to 26 January 1929, and from the beginning of the 1927/28 season to the end of the 1931/32 season he only missed a handful of games playing in 198 of Rovers 206 games.

What a remarkable display of the consistency which was the hallmark of Sid Denton's career. He excelled in both attack and defence, playing his part in helping to establish the Rovers in the big league – and how he succeeded. He retired after playing at home to Hunslet on 17 September 1932.

 

Biography by Ron Bailey