Trevor John French Foster, the son of a soldier and named after Field Marshall Sir John French, the army commander of World War One, was born at Newport in 1914. Following experience in local junior rugby, he joined Newport RUFC in September 1937 and as a blind side wing forward was their leading try scorer in the 1937-38 season.One year and one week later he played his last game before signing for Bradford Northern for £400.

In all he played 428 games for Bradford, usually as a second row forward and occasionally a loose forward. Although he could do the hard work of a forward and would never shirk a tackle, he is best remembered for his attacking play as a running forward who could handle the ball as well as most backs. In all first class games he scored 140 tries, a remarkable number for a forward, with 24 in one season [1947-48] of which six were scored in one game.

Trevor was the key forward of an outstanding Bradford side in the post war period, captained superbly from centre by his friend Ernest Ward, and containing many of the games legends including Welshmen Alan Edwards [wing], Willie Davies [standoff] and Frank Whitcombe [prop forward]. Perhaps this team's greatest achievement was to reach the Challenge Cup Final in 1947,1948 and 1949, winning the Cup twice in 1947 and 1949 with Trevor scoring late in each game.

His record in representative rugby was limited to three Great Britain caps, although he played 16 times for Wales, seven as captain. He went on the Ashes winning tour of Australia in 1946 but following injury early in the tour he did not play in the Tests but did play in the only Test played against New Zealand. Remarkably he played only twice more for Great Britain, in the Ashes winning Tests against Australia in 1948-49, scoring two tries in the first Test. There is little doubt that the second World War limited his opportunities to play Test match rugby, for he would surely have been selected for the 1940 and 1944 trips down under.

Trevor Foster was known throughout the game for his sportsmanship and fair play. In his 17 year career he was never once cautioned or sent from the field. Since his retirement in 1955 he has remained a servant of the Bradford club as successively Coach, Director and Chairman of the Supporters Club and timekeeper for Super League home games. Perhaps his greatest service came in 1963 when the club disbanded, unable to fulfill its fixtures. He then led efforts to reconstitute the club which was able to rejoin the league the following season. Without his work it is unlikely that the club would exist today.

Awarded the MBE in 2001 and inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, Trevor died aged 90 on Saturday 2 April 2005.

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