| Chapter 3 1939 to 1968 (page 44)
The nucleus of runners at this time were S.T Rogers, A and
K Woolridge, J.K and B Needham, D and T McKay, J and A Mansley, B.
Fozard. J. Betney, M. Winterton, N. Wilson, Jim McCaffery, John Lyons,
Ken Davies and John Evans.
With hindsight, it can now be seen that the Club reached a peak
in the 1956/57 season, and one can perceive the gradual downward trend
afterwards. This was due to several factors; members getting
married and their priorities changing, others moved to different parts
of the country following their work and careers, and some who considered
running a passing phase in their lives. Some of our young men left
school to go away to University. Ken Davies, following years of hard
training to make himself one of the best runners in the district,
emigrated to Australia. New Zealand!!
We must be philosophical; we are in
an amateur sport where one is not co-ereced. or should not be, and every
now and again the happy combination of people, time and place, make for
something special. It happened to Sefton Harriers in those heady days
before the 1st World War; in the 1920s and 1930s and again in the
1950s.
It is happening now in the 1980s, when we are one of the happiest
and healthiest Clubs on Merseyside, and respected again by all. But we
race ahead too fast, and must not leave the early 1960s without
particular mention of Brendan Deary and his achievements.
Brendan joined Sefton Harriers when he was a Junior and
doing his National Service in the Army. A keen runner who trained very
hard, he immediately established himself in the Club, and was of course
a member of the successful Junior team of 1956/57. In 1964 Brendan distinguished
himself and brought honour to the Club by winning both the Liverpool and
District and the West Lancs Championships. He gained selection for the
Lancashire cross-country team for two seasons; seasons in which
Lancashire won the Inter-Counties Championship, and so he won two
winners medals.
Following his career in the Youth Employment Service, he moved to
Northern Ireland and continued to compete at a high level; gaining his
All Ireland vest for Cross-Country.
When he first moved to Northern Ireland, in keeping with his reputation
for "rushing in where angels fear to tread", he became the
first ever Catholic member of the hitherto exclusive Protestant 9th Old
Boys. This apparently caused a flutter of consternation among the old
brigade, but his natural charm, and considerable
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