Martyn Sadler
Martyn Sadler is the Chairman of League Publications Ltd, which publishes the Rugby League Express newspaper and the monthly magazine Rugby League World. A native of Wakefield, he spent 20 years as a university lecturer in Sheffield.
What’s your first Yorkshire memory?
Sitting on my grandfather’s knee outside his terraced house in Wakefield as he tried but failed to whistle. I only recently saw his death certificate and realised that he died when I was three years old.
What’s your favourite part of the county and why?
Swaledale, by a very fine margin from Wharefedale, Wensleydale and Nidderdale. It’s hard to emphasise sufficiently the sense of freedom you can have wandering in those parts of Yorkshire.
Do you have a favourite walk – or view?
Again, too many to mention, but the walk from Keld to Muker and back again on a good day is unbeatable, especially with the Farmers Arms to call into half way round.
What’s your idea of a perfect day, or perfect weekend, in out in Yorkshire?
A Rugby League match on Friday night, a day out in York on Saturday followed by a trip to one of Yorkshire’s fine theatres, a walk in the hills on Sunday morning, followed by a Rugby League match on Sunday afternoon. In reality I spend most weekends in the League Express office. Fortunately I enjoy my work.
Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch?
Albert Goldthorpe was the first great rugby superstar in Yorkshire. His career straggled the great divide in 1895, when the Northern Union was born and Rugby League became a separate sport. At League Express we have named our annual Player of the Year award after him. I would love him to tell me what the game was like in his day.
Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, past or present, would you like to take for dinner?
There are lots to choose from, but I’d go for Barry Cryer, who was born in Leeds and is a brilliant comedy performer and a great scriptwriter who has written for many great shows and comedians. He’s a star on Radio 4’s “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue,” and I’m sure he would be great company with many amusing tales to tell.
If you had to name your Yorkshire hidden gem, what would it be?
Can I have two? The Wakefield Theatre Royal, which was designed by the renowned architect Frank Matcham in 1894 and is the smallest remaining of his theatres. It has tremendous character and fortunately was rescued from oblivion in 1981 under the chairmanship of Sir Rodney Walker. John Godber is now the theatre’s creative director.
And Mount Pleasant, the home of Batley RLFC, which everyone should visit at least once. Opened in 1880, and with a famous slope, the improvements made under current Batley Chairman Kevin Nicholas are outstanding for a club with such limited resources. It is now known as Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, after its sponsor.
What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?
Yorkshire people have always liked an argument. Could Rugby League have started anywhere else? We are pugnacious but very tolerant, which is a positive combination when you think about it.
Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what?
Of course I love Rugby League, but I’m also a boxing fan, and it’s great to see fighters like Kell Brook, Josh Warrington, Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle putting Yorkshire on the map.
Do you have a favourite restaurant or pub?
Quite a few, but perhaps the White Lion at Cray, the highest pub in Wharfedale, gets the pub vote. If you are walking in Upper Wharfedale it engenders the same feeling you must get when seeing an oasis in the desert. I also love a good curry, and my favourite restaurant is probably Akbars in Bradford. Great food, great service and a fun venue with a very cosmopolitan feel.
Do you have a favourite food shop?
I live near Blacker Hall Farm Shop south of Wakefield, and it’s reputation for quality is richly deserved.
Who is the Yorkshire person you most admire?
Neil Fox is the greatest points scorer ever seen in Rugby League, and his record of 6,220 points in a 23-year career will never be beaten. Neil was my boyhood hero, and I don’t think most Yorkshire people appreciate what a legend they still have in their midst. In 2010 Neil was made a Freeman of the City of Wakefield, and I was privileged to be asked to pay tribute to him at that ceremony.
If a stranger to Yorkshire only had time to visit one place, where would it be?
I would recommend Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire, which has the longest country house façade in Europe and is the largest private house in the UK. In the 1980s it was occupied by Sheffield City Polytechnic, and the Rugby League team I established in those days used to play its home games in the parkland and change in the mansion, although I’m not sure we understood the significance of the place. After the war it was threatened by open-cast mining, but it survived, and I hope it has a secure future.