This section looks at the careers of two players who began with league clubs, moving to St. Helens Town upon retirement from the senior game and a player who began at St. Helens and went on to play in all four divisions of the Football League.

Derek Hennin was born in Prescot in 1932. He began his career at Bolton Wanderers in 1950, displacing England international Johnny Wheeler, who was transferred to Liverpool. He played right-half for Wanderers in their 2-0 victory over Manchester United at Wembley in the FA Cup Final in 1958, only three months after the Munich disaster. Among his team-mates that day were Nat Lofthouse and Dennis Stevens, who went on to win the Championship with Everton in 1962/63. Captain of the United side was ex-Town great Bill Foulkes. He had a brief spell at Wigan Athletic, but joined Town as player-manager in 1964, remaining in that position for nearly five years, featuring at right-half and inside forward.

Tommy O'Neil was born in Parr in 1952 and he was one of those gifted sportsmen who had a genuine choice between careers in football and rugby league, having represented England at both codes as a schoolboy. He opted for football and signed for Manchester United. He made his debut against Manchester City in May 1971 and played for three seasons alongside the legendary Best, Law and Charlton. However, he lost favour under new manager Tommy Docherty and was transferred to Southport and when the Sandgrounders lost their league status in 1978, O'Neil moved on to Tranmere Rovers, finishing his league career with Halifax Town in 1982. Tommy returned home to captain St. Helens Town and led the team to FA Vase success at Wembley in 1987 (pictured above), for what must have been one of the proudest moments of his career. He moved on to manage Skelmersdale United. Sadly, he lost his life to cancer in May 2006 at the early age of just 53. At the end of the 2013-14 season the cub named the Young Player of the Year Award 'The Tommy O'Neil Trophy'.

Dave Bamber began and ended his league career at Blackpool. He was a native of St. Helens and was born on 1st February 1959. He was a prolific goalscorer, netting 147 goals in 434 league appearances. He moved from Town to Bloomfield Road in 1979, making his debut against Chester. His first goal came against Carlisle in April 1980. Coventry City, then in the First Division, signed Bamber in 1983, but before the end of that season, he had moved on to Walsall. Short spells at Portsmouth and Trelleborgs (Sweden) were unproductive and in 1985, Dave moved to Swindon Town, where he made 108 league appearances, scoring 31 goals. He was on the move again in 1988, this time to Watford, transferring to Stoke City and then to Hull City, before re-joining Blackpool in 1990, retiring in 1994. He played twice at Wembley in play-off finals, being successful on the second occasion against Scunthorpe in 1992. On retirement from the game two years later, he remained in the Blackpool area, setting himself up as a property developer. Bamber was probably best remembered for the way he dipped forward to head the ball.