Fred Halliwell is celebrating his own treble…

He won £10,000 after being named Betfred rugby league super fan of the year on the day his beloved St Helens beat Salford to being crowned Betfred Super League champions – and that’s only a month after he celebrated his 80th birthday with a surprise party!

Fred from Oldham beat nine other finalists to pick up the cheque from another Fred ahead of the Old Trafford final – Betfred boss Fred Done – after being chosen as the game’s number one supporter.

 And he has no hesitation about where at least half the money is going …to his local Hollinwood ARLFC where he has spent his lifetime. The players can expect a new navy-blue kit, the ancient tractor used to keep the pitch in good order will be getting much need parts and the fund for a new dressing room kitchen area will be getting a boost.

 Fred said last night: “You know how I celebrated winning the £10,000, well with all the excitement of the game as well I just got home and fell asleep. With all my efforts over the years down at the club my house has got a bit neglected so I have been told some of the money will be going on decorating and sorting out my steamed-up windows.” 

 Bookie boss Fred said: “I’m chuffed to bits for Fred, a very worthy winner who is dedicated to grassroots rugby league.”     

 It was a local newspaper advert that transformed Fred’s life forever.

 It was an appeal for players to form a new rugby league club at Hollinwood in Oldham - and an eager Fred thought he would “give it a go”.

 He turned up at a pre-designated field in Shaw to meet his new teammates but was totally dismayed at the way things were shaping up.

 Fred recalls the moment he began his love affair with the club at Fields New Road that he’s been with over 40 years as sponge-man, trainer, secretary, treasurer, physio, groundsman, tractor repairer, match day first-aider and clubhouse cleaner.

 He said: “I was in my 20s and never liked football… it was playing amateur rugby league and Oldham Roughyeds was my team. Then when I got a bit older, I saw the tiny newspaper advert in an Oldham newspaper and thought it might be for me.

 “When I arrived for my first ever Hollinwood training session with the new team, the lads ran around the field once or twice and then someone said ‘right, let’s get to the pub’. I said no we’re here to train and there is no point going to training and then going to the pub. You can’t play rugby if you don’t train.

 “Someone must have agreed with me because they said that I should be trainer from now on – and that’s how it all began.

 “I love training,” he continued. “There was a dozen or so of us there that day and a few of them were blowing as they were so out of breath. We did go to the pub that night but later…after the training.

 “It was the pub then for players if they were trying to get out of training, but now it’s about chasing girls. That’s if they are not messing about on their phones or playing computer games. That’s why Hollinwood have been bottom of the league of late.”

 Straight-talking Fred, of Brook Lane, Glodwick, Oldham, lost his daughter Janet to a brain haemorrhage 14 years ago at just 42 years old, and son-in-law David to liver disease a year later.

So he and his wife Anita brought up four granddaughters – Logan, 22, Jordan, 27, Bekki, 29 and Lauren, 32 – trying to juggle their commitment to Hollinwood ARLFC with the needs of the girls all living in their cosy three-bedroom end terraced family home.

 The pair maintained their devotion to rugby league and particularly the amateur structure BARLA where Anita is on the discipline committee.

 Long-suffering wife Anita, 79, added: “There’s no chance of me getting some jewellery or something nice, that’s for sure. He thinks more of his tractor, and certainly that club, than me!

 “That club is his life’s work, and I knew exactly what he’d say he was going to spend the money on.”

 Fred, who worked as a construction industry driver, was nominated for the Betfred prize by daughter Logan, a 22-year-old cheerleader for Huddersfield Giants.

 She said: “My grandad isn’t just a superfan, he’s a superman! 

 “He’s never missed a training session or Hollinwood ARLFC match. He does literally everything down at that club. He’s often put his own hand into his pocket to keep the club going. If you ask anyone around here, nine times out of ten they know and respect Fred.

 “At the crematorium for my dad, Fred saw how upset I was and put his hand under my chin and told me to never let it go down again.

 “That’s what he’s like, someone who is always looking on the bright side. He and my grandmother always say they might have lost one daughter, but they’ve gained four.”

 Of the current Betfred Super League players, Fred is a big fan of St Helens captain James Roby – but his all-time favourite player was two-time Steve Prescott Man of Steel winner Paul Sculthorpe, closely followed by his brother Danny.

 He said: “Danny was the best player, but the worst trainer, in my opinion. I was always trying to get him on the same wavelength as me.

 “As for me, I played full-back from when I was about 25 year of age to 55 – but not very well at all!”

 Oldham-born RL Legend Paul Sculthorpe said: “Bookie boss Fred Done could not have picked a more deserving winner than this fella. He’s an absolute salt of the earth bloke, a typical no-nonsense Oldhamer.

 “I am not at all surprised he is giving the money straight to Hollinwood ARLFC and I’m sure his wife Anita - and the four girls understand that there are not just five but six loves in his life.”