BARROW Raiders have received a kind donation of seven trophies from June Sharman-Lewis, the daughter of Greville Roderick Johnston.
Greville was an all-round sportsman born in 1909 who participated in several sports including football, rugby league, and field and track events.
He took part in many Lakeland Sports as a Professional, which were held at Grasmere and Ambleside.
He was quite a sprinter and is reported to have run the 100 yards (back in the day, now 100 Metres) in a little over even time.
He was very good at the long jump, but it was football that he turned to with Barrow AFC where he played in the Reserves in the 1920s.
However, he never made the first team and was persuaded to switch codes and joined Barrow RL Club in the 1930/31 season.
At the age of 21, he was soon handed a first-team debut as an out-and-out winger, and in seven appearances that season he crossed for a brace of tries.
He mainly played ‘A’ team for most of the 1930-31 campaign.
It was the seasons, 1933-34 and 1934-35 that he was a regular fixture in the first team, and in eight seasons with Barrow he made 133 appearances scoring 65 tries.
His debut was at Oldham and his final game was Halifax at home in 1938.
He had the honour of scoring ten tries (a feat never achieved since) in one game for the ‘A’ team in a friendly with Dalton in 1933.
Greville was transferred to Leigh in 1939 where he stayed for two seasons making 26 appearances notching five tries.
However, due to the second World War, Leigh ceased to play, and he moved to Workington for the 1945-46 season.
Workington were a newly formed professional club, and he played in two first team games before retiring at the age of 36.
He worked in the shipyard as a pattern maker, progressing to the position of foreman in the Brass finishing department.
Greville passed away in 1976.
June followed her father into Athletics when the family moved to Millom.
Educated at Millom Grammar School, June was the high jump champion in 1948, intermediate champion 1949-50 and Senior champion 1952-53 and was also in the Cumberland County team in 1951-52.
In 1972, Sports Centres in the Country were getting off the ground and June became the first woman in the Association of Recreation Managers in 1973.
The in 1978 she was the first woman to hold office in the Institute of Leisure and Managers.
June retired in 1989 after 13 years of managing the Sports Centre in Cambridge.
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