Just watched the cup final again.I don’t think the club fully recovered from that sensational lose it just blow us off direction

I was there and I still haven't recovered!

It's a good job we sneaked the championship play off final against Hull KR the week before.

I went to the game and 53 years later I still haven't had the heart to watch it again. Unless you were there I don't think people understand there was so many things that wasn't right on the day.

I haven't yet dried out!

Same here. Was a day I'll never forget. Awful journey home.

It was a long depressing drive home. I was 17 at the time, you are right, there were many elements of not getting over it covering many people, referee included.

I was there never watched it again .The ref was shocking , the penalty try was a disgrace .The ref committed suicide in a caravan a month later

Not quite sure you could blame the 1968 final for the way the Club are today, but it had a heck of a psychological effect on players, club and fans at the time. The documentary that was on tv two or three years ago added insult to injury when the ex Leeds players were gloating over the result. I was particularly unhappy about Alan Smith (a Wakefield Lad), was one of the culprits.

The whole spectacle is firmly lodged in Trinity and Rugby League folklore.

I went on a train called the midnight special it left Wakey at midnight Friday and returned from King's cross midnight Saturday. There were Wakey and Leeds fans on that same train all been drinking it was absolute bedlam. Police boarded train at Peterborough to quell the trouble. What a night. And remember that 1968 trophy .WE MIGHT NOT HAVE GOT IT BUT WE ALL KNOW WE WON IT.

I can't believe that Wakey fans are still regurgitating the 1968 Challenge Cup Final drivel yet again (Bored perhaps)?
It was a game that was played in horrendous conditions for both sides undoubtedly and contentious decisions were made during the game

But surely scoring under the posts in the last moments of any game and with a conversion to follow to win the Challenge Cup / Grand Final are what sides dream about are they not?

Not back in the 60's the cup final at Wembley was the place to be.

Give us another contentious decision during the game apart from the obstruction try.

how about not playing advantage when ken hirst scored then brought play back and gave wakefield a penalty

Oh give over, the final is legendary for all the wrong reasons and that’s why it’s of historical interest to many people. The BBC or ITV??? made a one hour documentary only a few years back or were they just Wakey fans regurgitating?

The reason it’s of such interest is due to the kick, the weather and the ref.

I was 5 when the game was played and have no axe to grind. But I’ve watched it many times now and Trinity were head and shoulders the better team even in the atrocious conditions.

The weather played its part but the fact remains, either the Ref was bent or he was grossly incompetent. It’s one or the other because something pushed the poor man to suicide and it’s incomprehensible that the final wasn’t part of that.

It’s all this that makes it such a compelling story and one that few will tire of, it’s a classic who done it.

I do feel for the Leeds players who simply played the game but other than that the game stank to high heavens.

It spelt the end of the great Trinity teams and thus it’s become mythologised but imagine if it had been the other way round? Jeez you’d soon find out what regurgitation really meant, I mean it’s not like Leeds fans to let a bit of self pity slip through their fingers is it?

Enjoy.

If I remember correctly Hebblethwaite (the referee) was put on a shoplifting charge shortly after the game. Whether that was a contributary factor to his caravan suicide or not I don't know, but that combined with his mismanagement of the final.could well be factors.

Only a nipper at the time but have watched the game and documentary and also read the David hinchcliffe book .. they walked on water , great read if you have some spare time . Sad in many ways that our club is defined by this one game .

I don’t think the club is defined by one game. Trinity were the most glamorous RL club of the most glamorous era. They were also immortalised on the silver screen.

Where I think you’re probably more right is that it defined one player and that’s the real tragedy.

There really is a movie in this story and a far better one than Sporting Life. Not least because it’s true. Now that the ‘poor lad’ has gone nows the time to make a real sports film that shows the true highs and lows of pro sport.

One for you Slugger.

Every point scored by Leeds on the day was as a result of a penalty decision.

never took out time to read many books always busy doing something else but after reading your post I then have ordered one and it will arrive next week,
all I can remember about that day was my dad went to the game and came back with a 5 " plastic trophy and a cardboard head band with the Trinity name and logo on for me, he worked regular nights and never spoke of the game to me at all and was quickly forgotten to ask him about the game.

In the end the trophy was taken to Walton junior school and as kids we used to play football in the dinner time to see who would win it, we was that good we never lost even with 3 players less, their only chance of a result was to kick the ball into the pig pen which was at the side of the field

does anybody remember the pig pen next to the walton rec

Do you mean Crofton

Hello Wakey fans. I went on train to this famous final, as a schoolboy from Kingston Upon Hull, it was my first Wembley cup final, I remember the train coming in to Kings Cross (I think) and the rain could be heard inside the station bouncing of the roof, it was chuckling it down.

I remember the excitement and anticipation of entering the famous stadium, I was probably a little young to analyse the actual game, but remember wingers running through standing water, the ball stopping dead, with players running past the ball.

Of course the most famous moment when Don Fox missed that almost unmissable kick in front of the sticks, as he dropped to the floor in obvious heartbreak, that one moment for me encapsulated the love I’ve had ever since for our great game, the cruel & the hurt in that never forgotten moment filled me as a neutral with so much sadness for Don, memories of a lifetime.

I honestly wasn’t aware of any controversy regarding the officials, and didn’t until now know the terrible circumstances which became of the referee, I suppose back then, no social media etc, it was just one more moment in time.

That's were Leeds got there lucky Leeds tag ,and they have lived up to it many a time

Yup, it's such an engrossing story on every level.

Personally, I don't think the Ref was bent but I do think someone or something got to him, or in other words, he was nobbled somehow, Nothing I might add to do with the Leeds team or the club. I don't need to go into too much detail, I think we know the kind of people I am eluding to.

A truly crooked individual wouldn't kill himself, truly bad people rarely do the honorable thing, depending on your outlook.

That said it was only a part of the story and will only ever be speculation, so even if they ever do make a film of it

it's just some subtext.

The real story was Don Fox, the pain he felt, and the instant forgiveness and support he got from the people of the world's largest village and his teammates, it's that that makes me proud to call Wakefield my home (not, unfortunately, my birthplace).

Not sure they were lucky, well not the players, in the documentary few of them seemed totally comfortable with what happened that day, even though it had little to do with them. It's a bit like the SLGF and the CCup of the last two years, the teams earned it but it's tainted IMHO.