Just seen Ian has passed away age 73 good prop nice man aswell

RIP. Great forward for us. Just a bit before my time.

RIP Selwyn, what a character and a great performer for us. Ian van Bellen is the correct spelling.

Yes, R I P Ian

Anyone else remember his drop goal from near the half way line?

Yes I can just about remember that. Can’t remember who it was against though

Fulham I think?

Or was it there we signed him from?

Thought he went to them from us

Great Memories of Ian.Jumping and Spinning in the Tackle and generally causing havoc with strange running style.One of the first pieces in the Foxy jigsaw.People laughed when we first signed him.They stopped laughing when the trophies started to mount up.Met him in huddersfield a few years back,a great bloke.Thanks for the memories Selwyn.RIP.

Wasn't he basically a cannonball impact prop that played about 10 mins per game?

Well before my time but that was my dad's analysis of him

From memory we got him from Huddersfield, ad he left us to go to Fulham.

He played for about 20 minutes per game - real blast-from-the-past type player. Big lump with no stamina or fitness! He wouldn't last five minutes in the modern game



But that drop goal was phenomenal!

Sad to hear.

Ian was a 'big lad' in every way. It's true he was perfect for the substitution rule but he was very effective and took a lot of stopping. I guess he was very much in the same mould as Paul Anderson, who most younger fans will remember. If I remember correctly he came from Huddersfield, but I could be wrong.

Commiserations to his friends and family, including his younger brother Gary, who also played for the RA&B.

It was versus Hull FC was that drop goal apparently.

Hull away at the Boulevard in a cup quarter final replay in 1979, I remember it as if it was yesterday

An 8-4 win when Hull had 70% of the ball and a great pack, but they did not pass!! Their points came from 2 pens, we scored 2 tries and 2 drops including Ian's

The Threepeny stand started laughing when he attempted it, they stopped when it was still rising when it went over the posts.

I knew someone who knew someone on the board at Hull. They told him there was over 25,000 in the crowd that night, but they only declared 18,000 as that was all the ground was certified for and that we had shafted them in the game at Odsal by declaring about 10,000 less in the ground than there was so we could pocket the difference!! Some things keep coming round for our great club


We had about 2,000 in the crowd at Hull, it wasn't a place for the faint hearted

RIP big man!!

It was scared for a 21 year old who thought he could handle himself!!

Post deleted. Wrong thread.

Back to Ian, the bloke managed to be a stand out character in a time when every team seemed to have at least one entertaining prop. Sad news.

I remember the big chap being sent on as a substitute by Peter Fox. Because he had such an awkward upright running (possibly walking) style he attracted penalties like wasps to a jam pot from the opposition when they could not put him down.
I was at the Boulevard the night he dropped that goal, unbelievable.
My best memory of him was his performance against Widnes in the 77/78 premiership final. He should have been man of the match in my eyes. Possibly he didn`t get it because he was substituted early in the second half after tiring, but he caused Widnes plenty of damage before going off.
RIP Ian a fantastic character and player who always had a smile on his face.

He had a great comb over and good hands - RIP Ian and my sympathies to his younger brother Gary who served us so well too.

Sad news, another part of my boyhood gone. "Selwyn" certainly was a character. Many years after he retired from RL I once found myself propping against him for Baildon RU 3rds vs Huddersfield 5th's. It seemed as if he just couldn't give up playing at whatever level he could.

Very sad news. My first real Northern hero, I still have a badge somewhere in the loft with his smiling face & outrageous comb over on it. Genuine character, always created a stir in the crowd when he came on ..... Northern fans cheering, opposition fans generally giggling. RIP

"Selwyn" was yet another "older" player that Peter Fox motivated to play well above previous recent form.I was also in the crowd at Hull with my mate.We sort of hid our NORTHERN scarfs on the way out of the Boulevard.Yep it was an intimidating place that's for sure,but we still attended every season.Great memories of that team under Foxy.
RIP "Selwyn" the fans loved you.