Frank Foster RIP
20 December 2019
It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our former player Frank Foster.
Born in West Cumbria, he played his early rugby with the junior side Grasslot, where he soon made his mark and represented Great Britain at under-19 level.
Workington soon snapped him and he had successful spells with Hull K.R., Bradford and Barrow before ending up at Watersheddings.
He came to Oldham when the club were struggling, having won only six and drawn one of the 21 league matches played in the 1971-72 season. After Frank arrived, the club lost just one more league game out of thirteen and that was in the very last minute at Warrington.
A ball playing prop forward, who had won Cumberland county and full international honours, he had the knack of committing several defenders to the tackle and then releasing the ball from almost impossible situations. Also possessing a tremendous field kicking game, he was an awesome all- round talent who led from the front with never a backward step. Frank was that strange enigma of being as tricky and skilful as any half back, while remaining the toughest and most uncompromising of prop forwards and a good goal kicker to boot. More the pity that the club only had a year and a half of service out of Frank before he retired at the end of the 1972-73 season having made 47 appearances with two tries and 25 goals.
A true Rugby League legend, in my experience, never has a player made such an immediate and positive impression on the club as did Frank Foster.