DOWN the years Saints have been blessed with many top-class wingers with Alf Ellaby, Tom Van Vollenhoven, Steve Llewellyn and Len Killeen springing readily to mind, writes DENIS WHITTLE.

So it was entirely in keeping that two st were elevated to Hall of Fame status when Saints' Past Players Association held their 19th annual dinner at Knowsley Road.

Take a bow flankers Frank Carlton and Les Jones, who were respectively inducted as 23rd and 24th members by Saints' director Eric Ashton and Jones' ex-team-mate Eric Chisnall

A Parr Central School product, Carlton joined Saints in 1952 after resisting overtures from Everton FC, and went on to score 130 tries in 156 appearances for the Knowsley Road club.

Probably the most vital was Frank's 40-yard opening try when the scores were locked against Halifax at Wembley in 1956, with Saints' 13-2 victory seeing the Challenge Cup at Knowsley Road for the first time.

'Carlo,' as he was popularly known on the terraces, left Saints for Wigan in 1958. Carlton was also a Great Britain tourist in 1962 and was also capped for Lancashire and England.

Former Parr Amateurs flyer Les Jones put pen-to-paper for Saints in 1967, and served immediate notice of his pedigree in touching down against Wigan at Central Park, the first of a remarkable 477 appearances in 16 seasons.

Les played in three Wembley finals for Saints, and also won Lancashire, England and Great Britain honours, while his 283 tries puts him behind only Ellaby and Vollenhoven in the Knowsley Road pecking order.

Fittingly there was a vote of thanks to sponsors Matthew Brown, Burtonwood Plastics, Cottom and Sons, Ellison Travel, Expressions Offset, Horton's Carpets, Pilkington, Sutton and Son, United Glass and Grundy Haulage.

All this plus a memory-jerking picture display by Saints' historian Alex Service, and a gathering of the clans that went on into the early hours - a night to remember for sure!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.