THE funeral has taken place of former second row forward Bill Bretherton who played for Saints in the 15-10 defeat against Huddersfield in the 1953 Challenge Cup Final, writes Denis Whittle.

Standing 5ft 10in and tipping the scale at 15 stone, blond haired Bill joined the Knowsley Road team from Worsley Boys Club in Wigan making 158 appearances and scoring ten tries between 1950 and 1956.

After leaving Saints Bretherton went on to play for Wigan and Swinton.

Bill’s death at the age of 84 leaves full-back Glyn Moses (86) the only survivor from the Saints' Wembley line-up of 61 seasons ago.

His grandson Alex Bretherton plays for Batley.