WARRINGTON Wolves have paid tribute to a homegrown back rower who represented the club in the 1960s following his passing yesterday.

Henry Delooze, who made more than 50 appearances for The Wire between 1961 and 1965, died on Monday at the age of 82.

Neil Dowson from the club penned the following obituary to the local boy who achieved a dream…

An 18-year-old Warrington-born Henry Delooze signed for the club in April 1960. He was an England under 19 amateur international who played for Latchford Albion.

Within a few months, Henry made his Wire debut on 21st January 1961 against Featherstone Rovers at Wilderspool in a 13-9 loss.

His second appearance was in a memorable 11-7 victory over St Helens in October 1961. One journalist wrote that “in young Delooze, Warrington have a fine prospect. He has the making of a great forward with a little more weight and experience.”

Unfortunately, an ankle injury the following week against Blackpool Borough prevented Henry from establishing himself in the first team.

Henry was a regular at loose forward in the 1962/3 season, making 30 appearances for the Wire. He was denied an appearance at Wembley as a result of Warrington’s narrow 5-2 Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Wakefield Trinity.

The following season, Henry was back in the “A” team and part of a successful side that completed the double, winning the Lancashire County Challenge Cup and the Lancashire Combination Cup.

Henry failed to hold down a regular place in the first team and his opportunities were limited over the next two seasons.

Warrington were having problems in winning the ball from the scrums, so Henry was given a go as hooker on 4th April 1965 at Workington.

The experiment failed – Henry lost the first 10 scrums and he reverted to the back row as the Wire were beaten 6-0 in atrocious conditions.

His final appearance in the Primrose and Blue was on 18th September 1965. He was second row in a 16-10 loss to Halifax at Wilderspool.

He made 53 appearances for The Wire and scored 8 tries, kicked 17 goals for 58 points in his five years at Wilderspool and has the heritage number 615.

His former teammate Jim Challinor, now player-coach at Barrow, paid a transfer fee of £1,000 to sign Henry in October 1965. 

Henry was back at Wilderspool on 5th February 1966 when Barrow defeated Warrington 10-5 to record their first league win at Wilderspool for 14 years.

Henry received a standing ovation from the Warrington crowd at half-time when he landed a magnificent 55-yard penalty goal to level the scores at 5-5.

He made 50 appearances in two years for Barrow, scoring 10 tries and kicking 74 goals for 178 points.

The highlight of his Barrow career was playing in the 1967 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.  Barrow lost 17-12 with Henry kicking two goals, but he did meet the Queen who handed out the medals.

In September 1967, Rochdale Hornets paid Barrow £2,500 to sign Henry.

He gave eight years’ service to the Hornets, playing in the 1971 BBC 2 Floodlight Final and the 1974 Players No.6 Trophy Final. The latter was a 27-16 defeat to Warrington.

He also coached Rochdale Hornets from November 1975 to November 1976.

Henry was an active member of the Warrington Players Association for many years. Until the pandemic of 2020, he still attended matches through The Warrington Wolves Foundation’s “Buddy Up” Scheme.