The last survivor of Workington Town’s 1958 Cup final team has died at the age of 88.
Norman Herbert played prop for Town in their 13-9 Challenge Cup final defeat by Wigan.
His death in Leigh follows only a few weeks after his front-row team-mate at Wembley, Bert Eden, passed away.
They had been the last two surviving members of Jim Brough’s side which had got through to the final after some low-scoring victories.
A miserly defence was the key as they beat Leigh (3-0, H), Widnes (8-5, A), Warrington (11-0, H) and Featherstone (8-2) in the semi-final.
Town had finished third in the Championship table with Wigan in fifth and Brough’s side reached the top four final where they lost 20-3 to Hull who had finished fourth.
Norman had nine season at Workington Town where he made the front row spot his own, playing 283 games and scoring 38 tries.
In Town’s successful 1957-58 season when they reached two finals he played a remarkable 43 games in the front row, and at a time when there were no substitutes.
Norman actually hailed from south west Lancashire and he took up rugby league as a 16-year-old and two years later made his debut for the old Belle Vue Rangers side.
His debut was actually against Whitehaven as a centre and apart from one outing in the forwards played nine other first team games in his debut season of 1952/53 in the centre.
The following season, however, only four of his 35 appearances were in the centre as his switch to the forwards became permanent.
It was inevitable he would move on and it was Workington who moved in ahead of other interested clubs to bring him to Cumberland.
He was a first team regular from the start, regarded as one of the fastest forwards in the game. He started for Town in the second row but when they were looking to find a successor to the consistent Jimmy Hayton at open side prop Norman was switched there with instant success.
At 6ft, 15 stone 8 lbs, fast and a lovely ball playing forward he had all the attributes. Not surprisingly he was capped six times for Great Britain and once for England, while being a member of the 1962 GB touring team to Australia.
He played in all three Tests and the one in New Zealand and on his return played for England in a one-off international against France.
In many ways he was at his peak for a prop forward, 29 years old and a first choice GB international when recurring injuries forced him to retire when he moved back to the Leigh area of his native Lancashire.
Norman’s son Steve also became a professional and spent part of his career in Cumbria.
Also a forward, he played over 90 games for Barrow between 1981 and 1985.
He had started his career in 1980 with Oldham and after leaving Barrow played over 100 games for Salford.
