History of rugby league

The History of Wakefield Rugby League Club

2006-06-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

In 1873 a group of young men from the local Holy Trinity Church formed the Wakefield Trinity club. One of the initial forces in the game, Trinity won the Yorkshire Cup four times in nine years and was one of the initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895.Trinity won the Northern Union Challenge Cup for the first time in 1909, beating Hull 17-0 at Headingley. The corresponding 1914 final saw the result reversed, with Hull winning 6-0, and proved to be an accurate guide to the teams pre-war endeavours, as Trinity lost four Yorkshire Cups in the thirties with a side that included club stalwart Jonty Parkin.If the pre-war years were austere then the post-war period was bright and bullish for the Dreadnoughts. The first Wembley final after the war produced a return to winning ways as Trinity, with names such as Billy Stott, Herbert Goodfellow and Mick Exley, pipped Wigan to the Cup 12-13. .The club was not destined to return to Wembley until 1960 and had to slake its thirst for silverware on two Yorkshire Cup and two Yorkshire League victories in the 1950's. Wakefield returned to Wembley emphatically with a record 38-5 win v Hull under the guidance of coach Ken Traill and loose forward Derek "Rocky" Turner.Wakefield won their third Challenge Cup victory two years later in 1962, running out 12-6 winners v Huddersfield. The successful defence of the Cup the next year iced a spectacular period in the club's history with three Wembley titles in four years. Further renown was arrested due to two Championship Final defeats in 1960 and 1962 v Wigan and Huddersfield respectively.One of Trinity's great servants, centre Neil Fox, who scored a record 6,220 points in his 23 year career (19 with Wakefield) was coming to prominence, however, in Trinity's up and coming side. The club were victorious in a dour 1962 Challenge Cup win over Huddersfield although the Fartowners went on to deny them the double a few days later in the Championship final..With a victorious defence of the Cup in 1963, their fifth Challenge Cup title, Wakefield had still not been able to achieve the league championship title. The Holy Grail would be achieved in the 1966-67 season when a seasoned, Harold Poynton led side that included Neil and Don Fox, Gary Cooper and Ray Owen, defeated Saints in a replay. They repeated the title feat the following year v Hull KR but were again denied the double when Leeds defeated them in the 1968 'water splash' final at Wembley.Wakefield absorbed a number of different coaches at the helm in subsequent years but did not return to Wembley until Bill Kirkbride's talented charges fell 12-3 to Widnes in 1979 in front of nearly 100,000 people.The ensuing decline was temporarily halted when 'the King' Wally Lewis signed up for a brief spell with the club. But even the presence of the mercurial Kangaroo five-eighth couldn't prevent an inconsistent Wakefield from fluctuating between the two divisions. Former player David Topliss stabilised the Dreadnoughts' ship in the late eighties. He won immediate promotion in 1988 and consolidated the clubs top tier status by acquiring the services of seasoned internationals like Steve Ella, Mark Graham, Brian Jackson as well as now former Wildcats' coach Andy Kelly and later John Harbin after flirtations with temporary coach Tony Kemp in 1999.Wakefield were reduced to lower division football with the arrival of Super League in 1995 but earned their place in the top flight on the back of their dramatic victory over Featherstone in the inaugural Division One Grand Final in 1998.
After years of struggling to keep up with the SL pace which saw the Wildcats finish next to bottom on most of there attempts they finally got around to making headway up the league, With the appointment of Shane McNally as head coach and Tony Smith as his assistant the pair guided the Wildcats to there 1st ever SL play off position finishing in 6th place in 2004 after a slow start to the season the Wildcats finished stronger than any other team in the competition giving the Wildcats fans some hope of a little glory at the club which had been missing for too long.
Away at the KC Stadium in Hull the Wildcats produced a remarkable performance and managed to beat Hull despite having two men sin binned. A highlight of a magnificent performance was Michael Korkidas's run at the start of the 2nd half which saw the Wildcats run out eventual winners in a close hard fought game.
The semis saw Wakefield visit Wigan away and there was real hope in the camp that they would make the elimination final play off and all looked to be going that way when the Wildcats led 14-0 but decisions went the way of the Wigan Warriors so it wasn’t yet to be but Wakefield fans will look back on these two games with fondness for many years.

The History of Hull Rugby League Club

2006-03-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hull FC is one of the oldest clubs in the League and was formed by a group of ex-public schoolboys from York in 1865. Following a succession of grounds and headquarters, the club moved into the Hull Athletic Club’s ground at the Boulevard and played their first game there in September 1895, when a record crowd of 8,000 witnessed the ‘Airlie Birds’ defeat Liversedge in the very first season of Northern Union Football.
Hull FC was one of the original clubs to apostatise from the RFU. Hull prospered and their famous black and white irregular hooped jerseys became one of the most famous and feared strips in the League. Between 1908-10, Hull lost three consecutive Northern Union Cup Finals, and has in fact lost in more major finals than anyone else.
In 1913 they paid a world record £600, plus an astounding £14 per match, to Hunslet for three-quarter Billy Batten. A year later the investment had paid dividends as the Airlie Birds won their first Challenge Cup, beating Harold Wagstaff’s stupendous Huddersfield in the semi-final and Wakefield Trinity in the final. In 1920 Batten was once again prominent in Hull’s first ever Championship final, scoring the only try in the 3-2 victory over Huddersfield. Also at that time, Jack Harrison, set the current Hull FC try scoring record for the number of tries scored in one season. Jack managed 52 tries in the 1913/14 season.
The early 1920’s were bittersweet years for the club. In 1921 Hull won the Yorkshire Cup Final but lost the county Championship, both against deadly enemies Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull couldn’t emulate the successes of 1914, losing a further two consecutive Cup Finals in 1922-23 to Rochdale and Leeds respectively. The Yorkshire Cup and the top of the league table were some consolation.
After a lean pre-war period, Hull won two Championships in three years, beating Halifax in 1956 and Workington two years later. These two triumphs healed the wound of two successive Yorkshire Cup final defeats immediately prior to them. Coach Roy Francis’ team fell in two further finals, consecutive Challenge Cup losses to Wigan and Wakefield in 1959 and 1960. All these reverses, when one hand had been grasping so many trophies, gave Hull a steely resolve and a thirst for success.
That thirst was quenched to the point of drowning in a period of predominance that began with the coaching appointment of Arthur Bunting. Returning to the top flight without a single loss in 1978/79, the Airlie Birds lost the 1980 Cup Final to Hull KR. In 1982, Hull, crushed by Widnes in the Premiership final, avenged the defeat with an 18-9 Challenge Cup replay win. Players such as skipper David Topliss and Lee Crooks led the Hull of the early eighties.
Hull won the league in 1983, also reaching the Premiership final, the Challenge Cup final and the Yorkshire Cup final. The latter trophy would be their one reward from the three finals. The signing of Kangaroo Test legend Peter Sterling maintained Hull’s level of excellence, and Bunting’s men brought home their third successive Yorkshire Cup Final but were edged out by Wigan at Wembley in 1985 – a game rated as arguably the greatest ever Challenge Cup Final. A number of subsequent coaches, including Australians Brian Smith and Noel Cleal failed to deliver a consistent return to the fans. Hull lost the Premiership Final in 1989 to Widnes, but two years later returned to beat them at Old Trafford.
Hull was one of the clubs that suffered at the advent of Super League, failing to join the top tier until Phil Sigsworth guided his side to the First Division Championship in 1997. Peter Walsh took over until the middle of the 1999 season and was replaced by Steve Crooks. Ex-St. Helens and Gateshead Thunder coach Shaun McRae has been at the helm since 2000.
The proposed amalgamation of Hull FC and the Super League’s newest club, Gateshead Thunder was accepted at the end of 1999 by a council of the other Super League Chairmen. Without this new partnership, Hull may well have ceased to exist after the loss of David Lloyd’s financial support.
The Thunder, under the auspices of administrative wunderkinds Kath Hetherington and former Cronulla Sharks CEO Shane Richardson were introduced to Super League at the beginning of the 1999 season. Having attracted a hardcore of base support and finishing the season in sixth place, just one below the play-offs, the club incurred debts in the region of £700,000. With seemingly no contingency for losses, the club saw no option but to fold.
The former Boulevard club, eschewing the ‘Sharks’ nickname and the deterioration that is indelibly associated with it, re-branded as Hull FC.
Hull FC played at the Boulevard for 107 years and moved to their new home at the £44m state-of-the-art Kingston Communications Stadium in January 2003. Paul Parker scored the Club’s final try at the Boulevard on Tuesday 22 October 2002 against the New Zealand tourists.
Since the move to the KC Stadium, Hull have had many high finishes in the Super League table. 2003 saw the team just miss on play off qualification to Warrington Wolves and in 2004 the club finished 3rd.
2005 can be seen as one of the most successful seasons in the clubs history with the now famous Powergen Challenge Cup success at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff in late August. A last minute try made the scores 24-23 in Leeds Rhinos favour but Danny Brough made the successful conversion to make the scores 24-25. The final hooter saw huge elation from both the players and the many thousands of fans who had travelled to the Welsh capital.
The remainder of the 2005 season saw the team finish 4th, behind Leeds, St. Helens and Bradford. Finishing fourth set up a home play off game against the Andrew Johns inspired Warrington Wolves and the Hull FC team didn't disappoint with a thrilling victory. This set up an elimination play off against the Bradford Bulls at Odsal Stadium. Unfortunately the much-hyped game turned into a very one sided affair with the Hull team playing with 12 men from as early as the 6th minute. The Bulls went on to win 71-0 and also went on to lift the coveted enage Super League trophy.
Hull FC can certainly look forward to an exciting 2006 campaign with two home fixtures against rivals, Leeds Rhinos, two away fixtures to newly promoted Les Catalans and of course, the defense of the Powergen Challenge Cup which starts on the weekend of 11th/12th March.

History of Wigan Rugby League Club

2006-01-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club is one of the most famous and successful sports club’s in the world. The club has grown from humble beginnings into one of the giants of British sport.
The town’s first rugby club was Wigan F.C. founded in 1872 by a group of members of the town’s Cricket Club. Wigan FC played on Folly Field, near Upper Dicconson Street. Until financial problems and an inability to recruit quality players led to a merger with Up Holland F.C. and the creation of a new club Wigan and District F.C. The new club played its home games at the then Wigan Cricket Club, in Prescott Street. Eighteen months later however and this initial foray into the world of rugby was over and the club disbanded.
In 1879 a new club Wigan Wasps was formed following a meeting in the Dicconson Arms. This new rugby club evolved into the current Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club we now know today.
The club initially played in blue and white hooped jerseys before changing in 1886 to the now famous ‘Cherry and White’ hoops that are synonymous with the club today.
In 1895 the Wigan club became founder members of the Northern Union following the breakaway from the Rugby Union.
On 6 September 1902 the club played at its new purpose built ground Central Park for the first time against Batley in the opening match of the Northern Union’s newly formed First Division. An estimated crowd of 9,000 spectators saw Wigan beat Batley by 14 points to 8.
The tenure at Central Park lasted until 1999 when the curtain fell on the famous old stadium after a pulsating final clash between Wigan and arch rivals St Helens.
In between those years, the Cherry and Whites brought plenty of silverware back to Central Park, including 1 Grand Final Trophy, 17 League Championships, the Challenge Cup on many occasions including a record beating eight consecutive times between 1988 and 1995, 20 Lancashire Cups and a plethora of other titles including 3 World Championship wins.
The first of those World Club Championship successes came in 1987, when Australian club side Manly came to Central Park and were defeated 8-4 in a thriller in front of a crowd of over 38,000.
Other proud moments include a win by Great Britain in the 1992 test Series over Australia, when a pack of forwards made up entirely of Wigan stars pounded the Aussies into submission in Melbourne.
But ask any current player the best moment in a Wigan shirt and chances are that the answer will be the 1994 World Club Championship success, when Wigan beat Brisbane against all the odds at the ANZ Stadium in Australia.
Wigan now grace the JJB Stadium on a weekly basis and already they have been involved in many matches that have been listed as the best ever in the summer era of Super League. The JJB Stadium and rugby league seems like a perfect match.

History of Warrington Rugby League Club

2006-01-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Warrington joined the split in response to the people's demands

A HUNDRED years on from the revolutionary rugby split the world game underwent dramatic changes again.
It seemed quite ironic that the centenary 1995 year planned for Rugby League to look back in celebration was turned on its head with the advent of Super League summer rugby and Rugby Union deciding to turn professional.
The modern day changes were as controversial and provocative as 100 years earlier when the subject of money forced the big divide.
But to understand the reasons behind rugby splitting into two codes you have to look back beyond 100 years, and it was as much a social issue as it was a sporting one.
Warrington Rugby League Club's history goes back to 1876, but even this is a controversial point as Wire celebrated their centenary in 1979.
Historians now believe that Warrington's beginnings were in 1876 when the Warrington Zingari Rugby Union Club was formed and the team played on a field in the Howley Wharf area.
That was the start of a nomadic existence in a period when the game took off to dizzy heights in the working class circles of the north.
Over the next seven years the club was to have five new homes – off Sankey Street at two different sites, off Wilderspool Causeway at two different sites and Slutchers Lane.
In 1879, the present club was founded by several members of Padgate and Zingari, who decided to start a new team called Warrington. Amalgamations followed with Padgate Excelsior in 1881 and Warrington Wanderers in 1884.
By this time Warrington were settled in at a site off Wilderspool Causeway, where Fletcher Street now stands.
And a year later they attracted an estimated crowd of 10,000 to watch a game against Widnes. On that day, the ground's small wooden huts collapsed but no-one was injured.
The game was attracting huge crowds all over the north of England as clubs became the focal points of their respective communities.
Warrington responded to the demands. In 1888 a new stand was opened and a grass running track skirted the playing area. A rounders club was set up to encourage players to keep fit during summer months.
The sport was having to learn to live with its increasing popularity. A league structure was created in Lancashire, Yorkshire and in the North West.
By 1893, an A team had been established at Warrington, a county game had been played there and the club had made a tour of the Isle of Man.
The game of Rugby League was then born out of necessity – a necessity to compensate players who worked in the mills, the foundries and the coal mines of northern England for wages they sacrificed in order to play rugby.
On September 23, 1893, several Northern Rugby Union clubs made representation to the English Rugby Football Union (set up in 1871) asking that their players be given 'broken time payments'.
The motion was defeated but two years later, on August 29, 1895, 21 clubs from Lancashire and Yorkshire, including Warrington, met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, and voted to break away from the RFU.
The new organisation, called the Northern Rugby Football Union, rested on the principle of a six-shilling (30p) broken time payment, so long as the players could prove that they were in full time employment.
The opening matches were played on Saturday, September 7, 1895, a week before the start of the official Rugby Union fixtures.

Players striked for a pay rise one month after historic split

THE first season of the Northern Rugby Football Union was described by Warrington secretary, J. E. Warren, as 'the most remarkable in the history of the club.'
His comments were made in the club's annual report at the end of the historic 1895/96 campaign.
He said some of the club's members expressed doubt 'over the wisdom of the leap in the dark.' But he felt the opening season results had justified the committee's decision to join the 21 other clubs in the breakaway from the Rugby Football Union.
Mr. Warren, elected president of the NRFU in 1897, continued in his report: "Reforms have been introduced into the game which I feel sure have made it more popular with the spectators.
"Partly through this reason, but mainly through being favoured with an extraordinary mild winter, the money taken at the 'gates' was greater than in any preceding year."
The opening matches were played on Saturday, September 7, 1895 and the results were: Bradford 11 Wakefield Trinity 0, Leigh 3 Leeds 6, Tyldesley 6 Manningham 0, Batley 7 Hull 3, Stockport 0 Brighouse 5, Liversedge 0 Halifax 5, Runcorn 15 Widnes 4, St. Helens 8 Rochdale Hornets 3, Broughton Rangers 0 Wigan 9. Huddersfield and Oldham had no fixture.
Warrington began with a 5-4 win at home to Hunslet. Foden was the try scorer with Burton adding the conversion.
The year ended with Warrington in 13th place in the NRFU.
However, the season did not pass without controversy.
A ceiling of six shillings per day was set on the broken time payments which had forced the rugby divide but the first to challenge the ceiling was Warrington.
The first team decided to strike in October claiming 12/- as their expenses. Warrington's committee ignored the claim and promoted the second team.
Mr. Warren stated in the annual report that the committee's stance had the heartiest support and earned for the club the respect of the other clubs in the union.
Right from the start the new organisation's administrators were alive to the need to make their game even more attractive to the paying customer so that they would be able to recompense their players.
At the end of the first season the competition was so keen, the playing standards so high and the crowds so good that many more clubs rushed to join the pioneers.
At the first annual meeting at the George Hotel in August 1896 it was announced that 59 clubs were in membership.
To boost the game's popularity further, the Northern Union launched the Challenge Cup for all member clubs and the first final was staged at Headingley, Leeds, on May 1, 1897.
A crowd of around 14,000 paid £620 to see the game in which the 'Gallant Youths' of Batley beat St Helens 10-3 in a game played to standard Rugby Union rules.
Then came new rules. Goals, however kicked, were to count as two points and line-outs were abolished to make way for the 'punt out' from touch.
It was in 1898 that the game adopted the policy which made professionalism a fundamental part of the Northern game. A four-point charter agreed that professionalism be adopted, players properly registered, players to have 'legitimate' employment in a full time job and 'severe penalties' imposed for breaches of the charter.
This obviously brought many problems but some of them were humerous. Shady jobs such as billiard marker, bookies runner and pub waiter were definitely taboo!
And it was also in 1898 that Warrington moved to their Wilderspool Stadium home. A 10-year lease was agreed with Greenall Whitley for land on the east side of their existing ground, a pitch previously used by Latchford Rovers Rugby Club.
It was necessary to move because the existing pitch was needed to build houses in Fletcher Street and £251 was spent on removing some of the fencing to establish the boundaries of what virtually became Wilderspool Stadium.

Warrington major players in shaping the modern game

THE success of the northern rugby breakaway was reflected in the 98-club league membership only three years after foundation.
Once professionalism had been adopted Northern Rugby Football Union players began to reap the rewards.
Northern Union players were better paid than soccer professionals with wages varying between 30 shillings (£1.50) and £4.
In 1903, Warrington's Jack Fish received £3 to sign on for the season while George Dickenson received £4 to sign on, plus 17s 6d for a win or 12s 6d for a loss or a draw.
Inevitably, in their search for good players and success, clubs began to look outside the traditional boundaries and to Rugby Union for major signings.
These signings were made under cloak and dagger secrecy and opposition to these moves was particularly bitter in the Union stronghold of South Wales. Anger exploded when a man with a strange accent was discovered in Penarth to be a Wigan scout. He was ducked in the sea and rolled in the sand!
The game was forever adapting to change in the early years with Warrington playing a major part in shaping the code towards the modern game.
After the first season two county leagues were set up, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Senior Competitions, but in 1901 14 top clubs, including Warrington, set up what must be regarded as the first Super League.
Then in 1902 they operated with two divisions and a rule change saw the 'punt out' from touch being scrapped and replaced by a scrum on the 10-yard line.
Further changes to the game came in 1904 when it was decided that no more than three men would be allowed to scrum down in the front row.
More re-structuring came in 1905 when one major league of 31 clubs was created. It was a complex system. League positions had to be decided on a percentage basis as not all the clubs played each other.
But the two division set-up had had to be replaced because the Second Division system was putting clubs close to the brink of bankruptcy.
It was not until the 1906/07 season that 13-a-side was brought in. It won approval of the NRFU after being proposed by Warrington and backed by Leigh.
For that same campaign a new method of playing the ball was used. Also, a penalty was awarded for touch kicking and that again was Warrington's suggestion.
Players and supporters on the 1905/06 New Zealand All Blacks Union tour of Great Britain were so impressed by the new rival northern code that on returning home they decided to sponsor a visit to England to play under League rules.
It was agreed that the New Zealand tourists would receive 70 per cent of gate receipts, with guarantees of £50 for a midweek game and £100 for a Saturday. The tour would also be insured against loss.
The proposed tour caused consternation in New Zealand and the All Blacks were stated to have signed assurances that they would do nothing 'contrary to the laws and the spirit of Rugby Union.'
Baskervilles Team, the first Australasian tourists, arrived in Britain in October 1907. The 'All Golds' 35-match and three-Test tour was a huge success and their stop over in Australia en route to the Northern hemisphere gave vital impetus to a breakaway movement which was threatening to split the New South Wales Rugby Union over the issues of compensation payments.
In 1908 came the expected Australian breakaway and the NSW Rugby Union decided to set up their own set of rules and send a team to Britain. Proceeds of the tour would be used to set up a NSW Rugby League on the tourists return.

Town's Aussie import trend started in 1909

AUSTRALIA made history with their first tour of Great Britain in 1908.
They played Warrington twice, losing 10-3 in November and drawing 8-8 in February, 1909.
Australia met the Northern Union in the first Test at Park Royal, London, on December 12 and the game was drawn 22-22.
The second Test was played, ironically, in the soccer stronghold of St. James' Park, Newcastle, and, in front of 22,000 fans, the British Northern Union side won comfortably.
The third Test at Villa Park, Birmingham, proved an anti-climax with the Northern Union side winning 6-5.
After the six-month tour ended two of the Australians, L. O'Malley and D. Frawley, stayed behind and signed for Warrington. It was the start of a long tradition for Warrington and Australian players.
It was in this year that Warrington recorded their highest league win in the club's entire history. On April 12 they entertained St Helens and destroyed them 78-6. Prop forward George Thomas crashed over for five tries and landed nine goals too for a points total of 33, the highest individual haul for a Warrington player until Lee Briers came on to the scene with 40 points in a year 2000 Challenge Cup match.
Although that first tour by the Australians was a failure financially, they proved their commitment to the game by inviting the Northern Union to send a touring team to Australia. The invitation was readily accepted.
It became a journey to Australia and New Zealand and the first party of seaborn tourists arrived in Oz at the end of May 1910, and the late arrivals on June 2. Among them was Frank Shugars, Warrington's first tourist. He played in one Test against New Zealand.
The eagerly awaited first Test on Australian soil was in Sydney when a huge crowd of more than 50,000 saw the Northern Union clinch a 27-20 win.
The tourists beat Newcastle and Queensland and, with receipts totalling more than £6,000, the tour was financially safe.
The second Test was played at Brisbane which the Northern Union again won, this time 22-17 and, as the Test series was decided, it was agreed that the third international should be against a combined Australian and New Zealand side. This was played at Sydney before yet another 50,000 crowd and the result was a draw.
From Australia the tourists went on to New Zealand where they ran up big scores against the Maoris, Auckland, Rotorua and New Zealand 52-20 and the receipts of £520 brought tour proceeds to £11,000 from which the Union received £6,500 - a magnificent bumper return.
Back on home soil, the 1910/11 season's benefit for flying winger Jack Fish brought in a little more than £268. Fittingly he bode farewell to Warrington fans with a try-scoring last performance against Coventry in the first round of the 1911 Challenge Cup competition.
But as Warrington said goodbye to one hero, another arrived – Jimmy Tranter!
Demands of the game continued to grow and Warrington had to adapt. The first section of the new north stand was opened (where the Brian Bevan Memorial Stand is located), seating 900 and costing £1,500 to build.

Britain's amazing battle brigade clinch Test series

THE years building up to World War One were eventful for Warrington and the Northern Union as a whole.
The players at Warrington were in dispute again and were on strike for the second time in the club's history in 1913/14.
Club officials were being kept busy because they were also working towards purchasing their ground off Greenall Whitley.
That deal was completed in 1914 with the freehold being held in trust for club members until it became a limited liability company in 1941.
Twenty five players from the Warrington club enlisted in the forces in 1914, but over the five years at war there were more than 90 past and present Warrington players who served their country.
George Thomas was one of the fatalities. He was the man who set the club's record individual points haul for one match in the record 78-6 victory over St Helens in 1909. He scored five tries and nine goals.
But prior to World War One there was a battle Down Under which did not feature any Warrington players.
In 1914 came the Great Britain tour which was to include the magnificent 'Rorke's Drift' Test.
After several warm up matches came the most remarkable eight-day period in Test history – a period that has never been equalled in the game – and it culminated in the courageous ‘Rorke's Drift' encounter. Three Tests were played at Sydney during the brief period. Despite injuries the Northern Union won the first Test 23-5.
Incredibly, the second Test had been arranged for two days later and the Australians won 12-7 in front of a 55,000 crowd.
Capitalising on public interest the Australian authorities threw the tourists' plans into complete chaos by rearranging the third Test just five days later. In vain the British managers, Messrs J. H. Houghton and W. J. Clifford, protested and when Mr. Clifford cabled Northern Union headquarters in Britain, a hastily convened management committee meeting, in true stiff upper lip manner, instructed the tourists to play.
The message that came back from England concluded in true Nelson fashion: "England expects that every man will do his duty."
The British team didn't let their country down – far from it. The crowd again topped 40,000 and they witnessed a rear guard action, by the tourists which was immediately dubbed 'Rorke's Drift' after the Zulu war action in which two British officers and 80 men held out against 4,000 Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift, Zululand, in January 1879.
In the first two minutes of the game winger Frank Williams twisted his leg, but despite this handicap, the tourists led 9-3 at half-time.
Early in the second half Huddersfield forward D. Clark broke his collar bone. He tried to resume but had to leave the field and then Frank Williams' leg gave out and he left the field. To add to Britain's troubles Billy Hall suffered concussion going down on a loose ball.
Ten tourists faced 13 Australians, a totally hopeless task with still 30 minutes to go, yet the miracle happened. There was less than 20 minutes to go when Johnson kicked and dribbled half the length of the field to touch down for a try and Wood landed a goal. Hall came staggering back on the field, Britain held out and at the end of the game the Sydney crowd rose and cheered the Britons off the field. The score was 14-6 and the series had been won against unbelievable odds.

Good Fridays were bad for Arthur

AS the professional game grew in Warrington, so did the works' competition of the Northern Union code.
Just before World War One there were a staggering 48 teams in the town's works' competition – a record!
1919 brought the resumption of fixtures and in 1921 the club stormed to its first Lancashire Cup success. After narrow defeats of St. Helens Recs and Leigh, Warrington ended the hopes of Oldham in the final 7-5.
But apart from that, success was hard to come by on the pitch for Warrington at this time and until 1926 the side never climbed above eighth place in the league.
The team did have its stars despite the lack of success. Billy Cunliffe and Arthur Skelhorn toured Australia and New Zealand in 1920.
There were administrative changes too with Mr. R. F. Anderton (Bob) taking on secretary's duties and S. Jones replacing Thomas Pemberton, who had served as treasurer for a marvellous 37 years.
And the crowds kept flocking to Wilderspool. Although one player the audience would not have seen was 1920 tourist Arthur Skelhorn. Arthur, a forward, who signed in 1911, refused to play on Good Fridays. It is believed his reason for that was religious. He played 14 seasons with Warrington and served as a committee man too.
Skelhorn played for Great Britain seven times. He was a regular for his county and scored 47 tries and one goal in his 250 appearances for Warrington.

Ryder's troops so close yet so far

When the outdated and parochial title Northern Union was replaced by Rugby League in 1922 the game was well and truly on its way.
And the sport was becoming much more organised at supporter level.
A new west perimeter wall and turnstiles were built at Wilderspool while in 1923/24 the supporters' club was formed.
And what tremendous support it was in those early days. In 1925 the supporters' club provided Warrington with covered accommodation on the popular side of the ground, that's where the leisure centre was eventually built. Two years later the supporters' club donated a scoreboard.
It was at this time that Warrington enjoyed their most successful league campaign since the breakaway.
Skipper and scrum half Freddie Ryder was inspirational in leading his troops to runners-up in the 1925/26 championship. He was an ever-present in the club's 42-match season and he scored 17 tries.
It proved to be a one-off season for Warrington though, as 12 months later they finished 17th in the one division format.
A further development to Warrington's ground came in 1926 with the perimeter wooden fence being replaced by a concrete wall.
All the ground work led to Warrington hosting the Lancashire Cup final and the Rugby League Championship final in 1927/28.
The Warrington team's loss of form slumped to an all-time low in 1928 when the club suffered its then record defeat 68-14 at Hunslet.

Wembley wonders

A MOVEMENT began late in 1928 which was to have far reaching and amazingly successful repercussions for the game of Rugby League.
Council members began to search for a permanent home for the great showpiece, the Challenge Cup final.
Attendances had been rising and a 40,000 crowd at Rochdale had proved almost too much for police and ground staff. After many meetings with the authorities at the great new Empire Stadium, agreement was reached for the first Wembley Challenge Cup final to take place in 1929
The clubs destined to take their place in history were Dewsbury and Wigan, who met in the first Wembley final in May. The crowd was 41,500 and receipts were £5,600 which made the experiment well worth-while. Just for the record, Wigan lifted the cup 13-2.
Warrington enjoyed cup success the season after lifting the Lancashire Cup for the second time with a 15-2 victory over Salford.
And it was in 1933 that Wire enjoyed their first trip to Wembley in search of ‘double' success with already having the Lancashire Cup under their belts that season.
Warrington's opponents for the Challenge Cup final were Huddersfield and the game attracted what was then a record crowd of 41,874. Unfortunately it was Huddersfield's year as they took the cup 21-17.
Away from the Challenge Cup, Warrington maintained their superb record against Australian tourists with a 17-8 defeat of the Kangaroos in 1929. Tubby Thompson scored all Wire's points, three tries and four goals.
Australians Bill Shankland and Nelson Hardy were signed for £550 and £450 in 1931. And the Aussie link continued in 1932 with Warrington secretary Bob Anderton elected as business manager for the tour Down Under.
Rugby League took hold in France in the 1930s when the French Rugby Union found itself ostracised by its international fellows amid allegations of professionalism!
As a result yet another breakaway movement was formed and they hosted an exhibition international game in Paris in 1933 and a year later they sent a representative side to England and staged the first Great Britain versus France Test match in April, 1934.

31,000 at Wilderspool

THE mid-1930's was Warrington Rugby League Club's most successful period to date.
After a first Wembley Challenge Cup final appearance in 1933, came Championship runners-up spots in 1934/35 and 1936/37 plus a Challenge Cup final defeat to Leeds in 1935/36.
But four years of being so close yet so far were turned into glory in 1937/38 when Wire won the Lancashire League and the Lancashire Cup under the guidance of Chris Brockbank, who had become Wire's first team manager in 1936.
Also in this era, Steve Ray established a new seasons' try scoring record with 33 in 1933, but that was increased to 34 in 1939 by Izzy Davies.
January 1934 brought the opening of new dressing rooms underneath the main stand. Wilderspool hosted the 1934 Championship final between Salford and Wigan and attracted a bumper crowd of 31,565. That was a record but it was beaten in years to follow.
The traditional pre-season friendly between Warrington and Wigan, the Locker Cup, started in 1938. It was then known as the Wardonia Cup and was donated by a local firm for charity matches. Charities and amateur football in both towns benefited from the proceeds of these games.

Standing ovation for reserve team trialist

FOR the second time, war brought a halt to Rugby League championship action.
Only friendlies were played during World War Two, 1939 to 1945. Wilderspool was commandeered for storage space and many Wire stars guested for other clubs during this period.
With no money coming in through the turnstiles, it left Warrington with difficulties in paying their bills. A meeting was called at the British Legion Club in 1942 and it was approved that the club should be formed as a limited company. In a successful bid to keep the club solvent a total of 10,000 shares, £1 each, were issued.
The shareholders were soon to see value for their money with the arrival of an unknown Australian navy stoker in 1945. It was the start of a new era at Wilderspool.
On November 10, 1945, Brian Bevan played a trial game in Warrington's A team against Widnes. Not surprisingly it was a try-scoring start and he received a standing ovation from the supporters.
A week later he played for the first team as a trialist and the legend had begun. Warrington signed him on immediately and Bevan promised to return after his discharge from the Australian Navy.
What an impact he had in 1946/47. Bevan set Wilderspool alight as he smashed the club's try scoring record with 48 tries in 42 appearances. His official debut came in the 10-5 second leg Lancashire Cup win at home to Salford, and again he was among the scorers.

We are the champions!

When Warrington got off to a bad start to their 1947/48 season, the club's ambitious officials decided to do something about it.
Chairman J. S. Tilling and his directors swooped for Warrington-born Harold 'Moggy' Palin from Swinton and wasted no time in introducing to the front row close season signings Bill Darbyshire and Bill 'Spiv' Riley, both prop forwards.
It made all the difference! Warrington went two months without defeat.
Warrington became aware that they had to do something to make the most of their talented wingers, Bevan and Albert Johnson. So they strengthened their centre department with the capture of Albert Pimblett from Halifax and then Bryn Knowelden. Utility back Stan Powell also landed at Wilderspool.
The result was that Warrington went undefeated in 20 games from December 1947 to April 1948, won the Lancashire League and gained a place in the Championship top four play-off.
In the semi-final play-off, tries from Bevan 2, Pimblett 2, and hooker Dave Cotton, plus a goal from Palin, was enough to end the hopes of Huddersfield at Wilderspool.
The Championship final was at Maine Road, home of Manchester City FC, with 69,341 supporters paying receipts of £9,700 to see the clash with Bradford Northern.
Bevan and Pimblett crossed the whitewash again, with Powell adding the third as Wire secured an historical 15-5 success. And just for the record, Cotton won the scrums against Northern's Darlinson 38-28. Warrington were champions for the very first time!
The team on that special day was: Les Jones, Brian Bevan, Albert Pimblett, Bryn Knowelden, Stan Powell, Jack Fleming, Gerry Helme, Bill Derbyshire, Dave Cotton, Bill Riley, Jim Featherstone, Bob Ryan, and Harold Palin.
Pimblett proved to be an inspirational signing for Warrington that season. Not only did he score 19 tries himself but was provider for many of the 57 that Bevan scored, nine higher than the record he set in the previous year.
There was another signing that season, Australian Harry Bath, who joined the club from Barrow in March, too late to be able to play in the top four play-offs. He was a world class second row who was to become a tower of strength to Warrington RLFC.

Wire's first success at Wembley came in 1950

EXPECTATION was high from the current champions in 1948/49 and Warrington did not let their fans down.
The team won the Lancashire League, on the back of 19 straight wins at the start of the season, finished runners-up to Wigan in the Lancashire Cup and runners-up to Huddersfield in the League Championship final at Maine Road, the stadium where Wire had become champions for the first time 12 months earlier.
Warrington missed out on successive Championships by just one point, 13-12. A staggering 75,194 crammed into Maine Road. The attendance and the receipts of £11,073 were records for a northern ground.
Wilderspool's record attendance was created in this season. The ground bulged at its seams as 34,304 turned out to see Warrington lose only their second game of the season – to Wigan! Almost 32,000 turned up to see the two teams battle out the pre-season friendly for the Ward Charity Cup at Central Park.
Warrington's success switched away from the league competition in the 1949/50 campaign. This was a term in which Wire paid a then record fee of £4,600 for Ally Naughton from Widnes.
The 20-year-old played a big part in helping Warrington reach the final of the Challenge Cup and it turned out to be Wire's first Wembley success. They defeated Widnes 19-0 in front of 95,000 fans.
Just before Christmas, Warrington went down to the south of France for a weekend of action. They won at Toulouse 6-3 and followed it up 24 hours later with a 16-8 victory over Albi.
Brockbank bowed out after 15 years
IT was only right that in the highly successful Wire era of 1947 to 1955 that the club's stars should figure on the international scene.
Prop Jimmy Featherstone and second rower Bob Ryan made the Great Britain tour Down Under in 1950 to become the club's ninth and 10th tourists.
They returned to enjoy a fine 1950/51 season with Warrington, who finished the year as Lancashire League winners, Lancashire Cup runners-up and Championship runners-up.
Second rower Harry Bath gave up his captaincy part way through the season because he felt the extra responsibilities had affected his game. Bryn Knowelden took over and ironically the team lost at Workington, only their third defeat in 20 games.
A record 42,541 supporters at Swinton saw Warrington lose the Lancashire Cup final to Wigan 28-5.
Warrington paid their third visit in four years to Manchester City's Maine Road to face Workington in the Championship final. Despite leading 8-3 at half-time, Wire went down 26-11.
A big change for the club came in 1951 when manager Chris Brockbank ended 15 years at the helm to take up a hotel business in Blackpool.
The man who came in to replace him was New Zealander Ces Mountford. He was introduced to the shareholders at the club's Annual Meeting held at the Co-op Hall, Cairo Street. Mountford, a regular in the Wigan team, accepted a 10-year contract as manager/coach and after some obstruction from Central Park chiefs he was eventually allowed to play for the club too.
Another newcomer to the club during the season was Eric Fraser, the club's fifth full back on the books at that time. The 20-year-old joined from St Helens Junior Club and in later years was to become a Great Britain World Cup hero.
And there was a new chairman too in F. W. Davies, who took over from P. F. Ward.
Some things never changed that season – wing sensation Brian Bevan kept on scoring. In what turned out to be a disappointing 1951/52 campaign compared to previous years the Australian flyer, eventually to become the world record try scorer, crossed for 46 touch downs.
He was also proving to Australia why he was worth an international spot too. He scored two tries for Other Nationalities against Wales, one for the British Empire side against the touring Kiwis at Chelsea and then two for Other Nationalities against England.

The Bevan and Bath super show

A STAGGERING 740 tries in his Wire career, 66 in just one season – that was the phenomenon that was Brian Bevan.
The try-scoring machine bagged his season's club record of 66 in 1952/53 but the disappointing aspect was that such an unequalled rate was not enough to help Wire win some silverware.
And in that campaign too another Australian broke a club record that still stands today. Pack ace Harry Bath, signed from Barrow, scored a record 363 points from 13 tries and 162 goals in 40 appearances.
The Australians were in Britain and met Lancashire at Wilderspool after defeating Wire 34-10.
There was an historical milestone in April, 1953, when Warrington's ground staged its first international. That was the game between Wales and Other Nationalities. In the Welsh team was centre Norman Harris, grandfather of the future Wire, Leeds and Great Britain Rugby League sensation, Iestyn Harris.
Wire stars Albert Johnson and Gerry Helme had a joint Testimonial with a little more than £1,514 being shared between the two of them.

Mountford's marauders

The club's 1953/54 season was one not to be forgotten.
Ces Mountford's heroes scorched to a fantastic treble. It was the first time Warrington had achieved cup success in the same season as winning the league Championship and the Lancashire League Cup.
Halifax must have been sick of the sight of Wire's troops. They met in the challenge Cup final at Wembley which ended 4-4, two penalties per team.
The replay took place 11 days later at Odsal Stadium before a world record crowd of 102,569. Many more did not get to the game because of horrendous travel congestion. Yorkshire had never seen anything like it and many historians now believe that as many as 120,000 people could have been on the ground that night.
Warrington were successful 8-4 with tries scored by Jim Challinor and Gerry Helme.
The Championship final, again between Warrington and Halifax, came only three days later at Maine Road, but this time there was only 36,519 in attendance.
Wire relied on the boot of prolific goalkicker Harry Bath to kick them to victory 8-7.
On the RL scene in general, France staged the first World Cup tournament in 1954. Great Britain won 16-12 after a play-off against France.

Tenth trophy in eight seasons

WARRINGTON secured the league championship for the second successive season in 1954/55.
It was a Brian Bevan try and two Harry Bath goals that secured the 7-3 victory over Oldham in the Championship final at Maine Road with 49,434 watching the game.
And with winning the Lancashire League too it was Warrington's 10th piece of silverware in eight years. Plus they had finished runners-up on four other occasions during that period, the best run of success the club has enjoyed in its entire history.
That Championship success was the last to date for Wire but they did reach the semi-finals again the year after following their Lancashire League success for the third time on the trot.
But Warrington were defeated 17-0 at the Boulevard. The biggest cheers of the year were for the club's three successes at Wigan, a rarity in those days too. There were Wire wins at Central Park in the Wardonia Cup, the Lancashire Cup and in the league.

End of the Road

WIRE'S magnificent successes of the early 1950s came to a sudden stop in 1956/57.
It turned into a transformation period for Warrington with many top names drawing to a close their Wire careers.
Full back or half back Eric Frodsham took no part in the campaign. Pack and goal-kicking ace Harry Bath and livewire scrum half Gerry Helme played half a season and then finished at Wilderspool. Danny Naughton played four games and then left.
Loose forward Bob Ryan played fewer games as he was coming towards the end of his Wire spell. Bill McFarlane missed a season and Brian Bevan struggled with injuries.
Bevan's absence was most notable because 1956/57 was the only season in his career in which he did not top the Wire try-scoring charts. That honour went to rising star Laurie Gilfedder with 22 from 39 games. He also kicked 57 goals.
Players having a bigger involvement in this campaign included Jim Challinor, Arthur Fryer and Alf Arnold while new arrivals included Dick Nicholls, Martin Regan, Tony Storey, Robin Thompson.
With so many changes it meant coach Ces Mountford used a total of 40 players during the campaign – the highest since World War Two and a figure that was not beaten until 1976/77.
It is not surprising that Wire finished 10th in the league. They did reach the semi-finals of the Lancashire Cup but lost to St Helens 17-9.
Attendances were below previous seasons' average and on January 19, 1957, Warrington took action by launching the club's lottery, which was to play an important part in the club's future finances.
It was a time for change with the stadium too. In 1958 the popular side terracing of the ground became fully covered and soon after the Fletcher Street End was rooved.

Ashcroft to follow footsteps of Kiwi

CES Mountford came through his Wilderspool transition period by bringing further glory to the club in 1959/60.
It ended a lull of four seasons without silverware, something Warrington fans were not used to after they had previously bagged 11 trophies in nine seasons.
Winning the Lancashire Cup in '59 was just as special as all the rest to Mountford.
The team played away from home all the way through to the final at Central Park, where Wire sneaked it 5-4 against St. Helens.
A year later Warrington were back in the Championship hunt again. Wire met Leeds at Bradford's Odsal Stadium in the Championship final but it was the Loiners who came out on top 25-10.
That 1961 final brought the end to Mountford's 10-year contract at the helm at Wilderspool.
The New Zealander's career at Warrington might not have ended quite how we would have liked it to but he had many good times to look back on with the team and throughout his spell with Warrington he steered many individuals to county and international glory.
That included Eric Fraser, Jim Challinor and Bobby Greenough who were in the Great Britain squad which won the World Cup – the last GB side to do so – in 1960.
Ernie Ashcroft, who had made 11 international appearances in his playing days at Wigan, had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Mountford.

Bye, bye Bevan … Hello Murphy

BRIAN Bevan's remarkable Warrington career came to an end in Ernie Ashcroft's first season as coach.
And the Australian flyer scored his 740th try in his 620th game to say a fond farewell to the Wire fans who were still a gaze in awe of the great wingman's presence.
The sidesteps, the swerves, the foolery, the speed – it all ended for the Wilderspool crowd on Easter Monday, 1962, an amazing 17 years after playing his first game as a trialist.
It was an emotional departure.
Bill Garvin wrote in his Warrington Rugby League Club centenary publication: "Leigh were defeated 29-17 and after the match was over the crowd gathered in front of the main stand chanting 'We want Bev'.
"He came into the stands and while he smiled and waved to the crowd, they sang Waltzing Matilda. It was a very moving occasion. The directors invited Brian into the boardroom where official goodbyes were said."
More than 16,000 fans turned up that day to give the world record try scorer a rousing send off.
Many on the terraces were saying such words as: "We'll never see the likes of him again. There will only ever be one Brian Bevan."
In his time at Wilderspool Warrington won 12 major trophies in as many seasons and many of his stunning tries had proved on occasions to be the difference between disappointment and success.
And it was probably no coincidence that Warrington took a long time to settle after Bevan's departure to Blackpool. Despite some well known names – the likes of Alistair Brindle, Jim Challinor, Tom Conroy, Henry Delooze, Jackie Edwards, Laurie Gilfedder, Bobby Greenough, Bill Payne and Charlie Winslade – the success of the fifties could not be repeated by coach Ashcroft.
There was a split to two divisions in 1962/63 with Warrington gaining sixth spot in the top flight but it was only after reverting to a one-division set up that Wire had renewed taste of glory.
Ashcroft won his only competition as Wire coach in the 1965/66 campaign, the Lancashire Cup. Warrington beat Rochdale Hornets in the final 16-5 with Ray Fisher, Brian Glover and Jackie Melling scoring tries. Glover was the new wing wizard at Wilderspool. He had topped the club's try scoring charts since Bevan's departure.
Also, for the first time in seven years, Warrington won the Silcock Cup, defeating Widnes in the final of the annual seven-a-side competition.
As well as league restructuring in this era there were some other important changes. Substitutes were used for the first time in 1964/65 with Joe Pickavance being Wire's first to wear a replacement's shirt.
A friendly was played against Wigan in 1965 to celebrate the installation of floodlights at Wilderspool. Warrington lost that game to the cherry and whites.
Success was proving difficult to come by for Warrington and, in a search for the man to turn the tide, Wire appointed new coaches in J. Fleming in 1967, Joe Egan in 1969 and then Peter Harvey in 1970.
Attendances had dwindled, costs were rising and the club were understandably having financial difficulties. After the glory days of the fifties, it was certainly a case of the dark days of the sixties.
The club was saved by a take-over bid from new chairman Ossie Davies and as part of the rescue package on May 20, 1971, Alex Murphy was appointed the new player/coach of the club.

The wonder of Murphy's magic

ALEX Murphy made a try-scoring debut as player coach for Wire in 1971.
Murphy, still on a high after steering Leigh to Challenge Cup glory three months earlier, also banged over a goal and drop goal as Wire knocked Whitehaven out of the Lancashire Cup.
But if fans had hopes of Murphy working overnight miracles, their hopes were short-lived.
After crashing out of the Lancashire Cup and the Floodlit Trophy the team created a club record eight successive defeats.
Murphy worked hard to find the winning formula and he introduced the likes of Wilf Briggs, Dave Chisnall, Geoff Clarkson, Dave Cunliffe, Toby Du Toit, George Heard, John Lowe, Derek Noonan, Frank Reynolds and Bobby Wanbon to Warrington's first team action.
It started to pay off in time for the Challenge Cup. Warrington reached the semi-finals, only missing out on a Wembley trip after losing a tense replay against St Helens.
Murphy had brought renewed optimism to Wilderspool and justifiably so. And his methods were having further rewards as average attendances had catapulted by more than a thousand.
Success followed in 1972/73. Warrington lost only one of their opening 22 games and ended the season with the League Leader's Trophy.
New arrivals that had helped Wire's cause included Kevin Ashcroft, Dennis Curling, John Hart, Clive Jones and Mike Nicholas.
Mike Philbin, Billy Pickup, Alan Whittle and Aussie Dave Wright joined the fold and it all led to Warrington's best season in history so far.
Welsh Rugby Union wonder John Bevan arrived just in time to enjoy it too. The former British Lion wingman signed on September 20, 1973. Three days later 'Bev' scored on his debut at home to Castleford.
What was to follow can only be described as phenomenal. The Captain Morgan Trophy competition was run for the first and only time and Wire clinched it with a final success over Featherstone.
Warrington followed that up with a defeat of Rochdale Hornets in the John Player final and then Murphy's men stormed to Challenge Cup success over Featherstone at Wembley.
The icing on the cake was the top eight play-off Trophy, secured after a 13-12 success over St. Helens.
It would have been too much to ask of Warrington to repeat their achievements in 1974/75. But they had a good go. Wire returned to Wembley only to have their celebrations spoiled by Widnes while they also had to settle for runners-up prize in the Floodlit Trophy.
There were honours for the Wilderspool ground too during this era. It staged its only Test match in December 1973, between Great Britain and Australia. The Kangaroos beat the Lions, and the freezing weather, 15-5 in front of 10,019 fans.
Then in 1975, Wilderspool staged the world cup clash between England and Wales.
NOTHING went right for Alex Murphy and his Warrington players in 1975/76.
The four-trophy haul of two seasons past seemed light years away.
They finished 10th in the league and crashed out of the Lancashire Cup and the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competitions in the opening round.
Challenge Cup hopes ended in the third round at home to Widnes but they were lucky not to have been ditched in the first round by amateurs Leigh Miners at Wilderspool. Warrington struggled to a 16-12 success.
The club was on a low and the fans had grown to expect better from Murphy. So where had it all gone wrong?
Injuries played a big part. Tommy Martyn, Mike Nicholas, Parry Gordon and Barry Philbin missed huge chunks of the campaign. And some experienced players were transferred, including Kevin Ashcroft, Wilf Briggs, Derek Noonan, Dave Chisnall and Alan Whittle.
There was no silverware to shout about the season after but Wire's fortunes seemed to have changed.
Warrington, who finished a creditable fifth in the league, crashed out of the Premiership play-offs at the first hurdle, but yet appeared in the final.
The Rugby League Council ruled that Hull Kingston Rovers fielded an ineligible player (Phil Lowe) at the opening stage and the tie was awarded to Warrington.
Wire won through to the final but lost to St Helens at Swinton 32-20.
Stars of the season were John Bevan with 17 touch downs and Steve Hesford with 129 goals while Mike Kelly and Ken Kelly were two of the newcomers to the club.
It seems ironic then that after trophy success in 1977/78 Murphy's reign came to an end. Poor league form had left Wire dangerously close to the drop at one point and that meant Murphy lost many friends on the terraces.
Wire won the John Player Trophy 9-4 against Widnes at Knowsley Road, St Helens. A Bevan special sealed it. And there was a good run in the Challenge Cup too which was only ended by St Helens 14-8 in the semi-finals.
Murphy's last game in charge was a disappointing one – a 33-8 drubbing at Widnes in the Premiership play-offs. One of Murphy's last signings, Billy Benyon, was acting captain for this game. He was sent off for a high tackle. Less than two months later, he was the new Warrington boss.
He made an immediate impact as Wire finished runners-up in the league and the John Player Trophy in his first season as player coach.
This was the year Warrington beat the cocky Australian tourists 15-12 in front of a packed house at Wilderspool. And it was also the season when Steve Hesford kicked a club record 170 goals, 13 of which were one-pointers.
But the season ended on a sour note. In the Premiership play-offs semi-finals Bradford Northern triumphed 14-11 at Wilderspool. Ken Kelly had to miss out on the forthcoming Great Britain tour down under after breaking his jaw in a Len Casey tackle in the Northern match.
The club's centenary season brought about the resignation of chairman Ossie Davies, the man who had saved the club from extinction in 1971. Brian Pitchford was the new supremo.
Prop forward Roy Lester was sold to Fulham, becoming their first signing as Rugby League arrived in the capital for 1980/81, which happened to be Wire's best season under Benyon.
A marvellous display at Knowsley Road enabled Wire to stuff Second Division Wigan 26-10 in the Lancashire Cup final, their first county cup win for 15 years.
And after a titanic tussle in the John Player semi-finals with Castleford, which went to a replay, Warrington were too strong for Barrow at Central Park and scored a 12-5 success.
Rick Thackray, signed from Warrington Rugby Union Club, enjoyed his first full season with Wire scoring 15 tries. Bob Eccles started to show off his try-scoring prowess as well, touching down 15 times.
Warrington had another new coach in 1982, their former Challenge Cup medal winner Kevin Ashcroft. Benyon was later to win an unfair dismissal case against Warrington.
Ashcroft steered Warrington to Lancashire Cup glory in his first full season, a year marred by the Wilderspool fire which wiped out the complete main stand. It was also a season which saw the arrival of the sin bin and a decision at international board level to change the value of a try from three to four points.
Interesting to note too that in September 1982 Huddersfield chairman Roy Brook called for a 20-club Super League!

Best final In History?

KEVIN Ashcroft certainly knew how to get the best out of his giant Wire forward Bob Eccles.
The front or second rower scored a staggering 37 tries in Ashcroft's first full season in charge 1982/83.
His 22 tries in the Slalom Lager Championship were a league record for a forward and he equalled the John Player Trophy record of scoring five tries in one match at home to Blackpool Borough.
He had a trademark touch down style throughout this campaign. Eccles scored many tries from short range by using his skipper Ken Kelly as a dummy acting half back who would roll the ball through his legs, dart off one way, and then allowing Eccles to go the opposite way.
Eccles, during a run of scoring tries in nine successive games, was called into the Great Britain squad for his first and only Test appearance against the all conquering Australian tourists – 15 games played, 15 games won.
This was the realisation year. The Aussie game had jumped light years ahead of its British counterpart and there was a lot of catching up work to be done.
Many changes followed. Some of the Aussie stars joined English clubs as trading restrictions were lifted in time for 1983/84, the term in which Peter Higham took over from Brian Pitchford as the new club chairman.
While Warrington stuck to Kiwi Roby Muller and Maori man-mountain Pat Poasa, Hull Kingston Rovers snapped up Illawarra stand off and captain John Dorahy with neighbours Hull swooping for Peter Sterling and audacious Wakefield Trinity landing Kangaroo Test star Wally Lewis in a 10-match deal.
And as well as this campaign signalling the start of four-point tries, it also brought the handover rule for players being caught in possession on the sixth tackle.
Ashcroft's boys, wearing jerseys sponsored for the first time, took third spot in the league but were disappointing in the knockouts.
Wire's name appeared to be on the Lancashire Cup after a sensational second round success at St. Helens. Wire had three men sent off and St. Helens two after a 20th minute brawl.
Later, referee Stan Wall sent two Wire players to the sin bin and so for 20 minutes of the game they played with nine men against 11. Twice Warrington scored tries with only nine men on the field and recorded a thrilling 30-26 victory. All that effort was in vain when Wire lost at home to Barrow in the semi-finals.
Incidentally, Wire were fined £1,000 for the brawl at St. Helens, who were hit for £500.
Wire's classy centre Ronnie ‘Rhino' Duane toured with Great Britain Down Under and it lasted just nine minutes of the opening game against Northern Territory due to a serious knee injury.
Wire supporters were surprised when Warrington and Ashcroft parted company in May, 1984, despite the former Wire hooker still having two years of his contract to run.
The man who took over was ex-Widnes scrum half Reg Bowden, Wire's third new coach in six years.
Bowden's two-year spell at the helm was more notable for some of his signings, rather than success on the field.
He splashed out a world record fee for Great Britain and Widnes scrum half Andy Gregory, a deal which included part exchange for John Fieldhouse. He brought 'unknown' Bob Jackson from his former club Fulham.
And then in October 1985 Bowden shocked the whole of the Rugby League world by signing Les Boyd at the end of his long term suspension for alleged 'gouging'.
A week after the Kangaroo Test prop made his Wire debut, an Australian full back joined Warrington's ranks – the relatively unknown but none-the-less exciting Brian Johnson!
And both played a week later as Warrington lost the Lancashire cup final by the record defeat of 34-8 against Wigan at Knowsley Road.
Money had been spent but the rewards had not followed. Bowden resigned and loyal assistant coach Tony Barrow took over the reins in a caretaker role in March 1986.
Success soon followed. Victories at home against Widnes and away to Wigan put Wire in the final of the Premiership Trophy against champions Halifax at Elland Road, Leeds.
Fax did not know what had hit them as Barrow's boys ripped them to shreds to win 38-10. Many fans regarded this as Wire's greatest knockout final victory.
The team on that glorious day was: Paul Ford, Mark Forster, Paul Cullen, Ronnie Duane, Brian Crabert, Paul Bishop, Andy Gregory, Les Boyd, Kevin Tamati, Bob Jackson, Gary Sanderson, Mark Roberts, Mike Gregory. Subs: Brian Johnson, Billy McGinty.

Hesford, Johnson and Bishop break Wire records

WARRINGTON's 1986 Premiership Trophy triumph over Halifax was the perfect tonic for Tony Barrow's first full season in charge.
And it was the first campaign of the eighties that Warrington had gone into without the services of record-breaking goal kicker Steve Hesford.
The Blackpool-based full back ended his Wilderspool career with five club records to his name – most goals in career (1,159), most goals in a season (170 in 1979/80), most points in a career (2,416), most consecutive appearances (94), most drop goals in career (47).
Barrow's man with the golden boot was Paul Bishop, who broke a club record himself in 1986/87. His haul of 17 drop goals was a season's record. The year before he kicked five in one match, also a record, as Wire knocked Wigan out of the Premiership Trophy.
But there was no doubting the star of 86/87 – Brian Johnson. He crossed for 25 tries – the highest total ever for a Warrington full back.
He helped Wire to third place in the league and runners-up spot to Wigan in the John Player Trophy and in the revamped Premiership Trophy.
The latter had a new look, being staged at Old Trafford for the first time with a double-header format. The new Second Division play-offs final acted as a curtain-raiser to the First Division final.
Old Trafford was also used to stage a Test match for the first time, which attracted a British record 50,583 for the first Whitbread Trophy encounter between Great Britain and Australia.
GB scrum half Andy Gregory's dispute with Warrington was settled when Wigan paid a cash record £130,000 for him. Some of that was spent on recruiting Leigh's international winger Des Drummond a month later.
The season after saw the introduction of the players' contract system and random drug testing. It was a term which brought Warrington a runners-up spot to Wigan in the Lancashire Cup and British Coal Nines victory at Wigan with a 24-0 final success over The Rest of the World.
In November 1988, there was a change at the top. Brian Johnson took over as the new chief.
He was an instant success with the fans by leading Wire to almost Challenge Cup semi-final glory over Wigan at Maine Road. Only a 60-yard Joe Lydon drop goal and a late try knocked the stuffing out of Wire.
Two months later the two sides clashed again on neutral soil – this time as a promotional game at the County Stadium, Milwaukee, America.
Silverware success came the season after as Wire stormed to glory in the Lancashire Cup final over Oldham – Wire's ninth win on the trot.
And better still Johnson secured Warrington their first trip to Wembley for 15 years to face Wigan in the final of the Challenge Cup. Bogy side Wigan secured a 36-14 victory preventing Wire's GB skipper Mike Gregory from the magic moment of lifting the trophy.
In 1990/91 Warrington gained their second trophy in successive seasons. This time it was the Regal trophy with a 12-2 win over Bradford Northern at Headingley, Leeds. Johnson's first professional Wire signing, Mark Thomas, scored the winning try.

A game in turmoil as news of Sky's Super League hits home with fans

BRIAN Johnson's honeymoon period at the helm of Warrington Rugby League Club ended after two years.
No more trophies followed and league form suffered while finance was not available to match the kind of £440,000 transfer fee Wigan paid out to Widnes for Martin Offiah in 1991/92.
Instead, Wire's money was going into their youth policy at Academy level, the new league for 16 to 18-year-olds at professional clubs.
Wire's league form was suffering, attendances were dwindling at Wilderspool and by the end of 1992/93 – which saw the arrival of Friday night RL on Sky TV – many fans believed it was time for a change of coach.
Club chairman Peter Higham and his board of directors felt otherwise and their audacious signing of rugby superstar Jonathan Davies – on a free transfer – turned the club around.
Cash-hit Widnes had to off-load the Welsh wizard because of his huge contract which Warrington were to finance through a special company sponsorship.
The town was buzzing with the arrival of Davies, the captain of the Wales RL team which had been reformed in 1991/92.
At the end of centre Davies's first season Warrington had missed out on the championship by the narrowest margin of points difference to Wigan and Bradford Northern, attendances had peaked to a 20-year high and Davies had won the Man of Steel and First Division Player of the Year awards.
Expectation was high for the season after but Johnson and his team could not find the desired consistency. Matchwinner Davies damaged his shoulder in Great Britain's first Test defeat of Australia at Wembley and Warrington were lacking without him.
Wire did manage to put some form together to reach the final of the Regal Trophy at Huddersfield's new 19,000 all-seater McAlpine Stadium but they were blasted off the park 40-10 by the game's dominant force Wigan.
Two months later came the news that was to shock the whole of the RL world.
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch announced he was to launch a rebel league in Australia and followed that up with a proposal for a European Super League.
The £77 million offer from News Corporation Ltd – later to become £87m – was too good for the visionary club chairmen to resist in Britain, as the game was in a state of financial ruin. With acceptance of the money came the formation of a 1996 14-club Super League, mergers of clubs, inclusion of teams from Paris and Toulouse, a switch to summer rugby and the playing of international football only against other Murdoch-allied countries.
One of the planned mergers was Warrington and Widnes to represent Cheshire and it brought an outcry in both towns from ardent followers of the game. The same situation applied with other planned mergers.
On Good Friday 1995, two hours before kick off at Naughton Park for the traditional Widnes and Warrington Bank Holiday game, RL chief executive Maurice Lindsay phoned the ground from France to say that Toulouse had pulled out of Super League and that Widnes had their own place alongside Warrington.
The Rugby League were hit by legal action from Keighley Cougars, the Second Division Champions, who had missed out on a place in Super League and anti-merger campaigns continued in the north of England.
Members of Parliament spoke out against the Murdoch Super League deal in a special House of Commons debate and there was high-profile media coverage of the whole issue.
Club chairmen decided to look again at the structure for Super League and came up with a three-division 12-11-10 format with the Super League comprising the top ten clubs from the 1994/95 season plus London and Paris. That meant that Warrington were in but Widnes were out and the Chemics then launched a High Court battle over their omission.
Ironically, the biggest change to Rugby League in its entire history heralded the start of the game's 1995-96 centenary season, the last campaign to be played in winter.
It was a season cut short to make way for Super League and it carried a one-month break of action to make way for the Centenary World Cup which was staged in Britain.
Wilderspool played hosts to Tonga and New Zealand for a group game but the Australian Rugby League national team went on to clinch success over England at Wembley.
It was a season that never really got going and Warrington had to pay the price for a heavy fixture schedule that saw them play five games in the opening 14 days. Injuries mounted up and Warrington never really fully recovered.
Warrington reached the semi-finals of the Regal Trophy and were paired away to much-improved St. Helens.
That semi-final turned out to be the blackest day in Warrington's history. No-one could possibly have contemplated the 80-0 mauling that was Warrington's heaviest defeat.
Coach Brian Johnson resigned the morning after and his assistant Clive Griffiths was left to pick up the pieces as caretaker coach for the rest of the league season.
Griffiths, the Wales coach, was overlooked for the top job with Wire raising their profile in the media by landing the double act of Alex Murphy as rugby football executive and John Dorahy as coach (rugby football manager).
The new regime led to Academy coach Kevin Tamati and assistant coach Griffiths leaving Wilderspool before the Super League season was due to kick off for Wire at Leeds on March 31.
The 12 teams in the first season of Super League were Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Halifax, Leeds, London Broncos, Paris St. Germain, Sheffield Eagles, Warrington, Wigan, Workington Town.
The rebel Australian Super League did not kick off on time after a battle with the Australian Rugby League ended up in court with Super League being ruled unlawful.

Super League 1 - 1996

THE 1996 season witnessed a major turning point in the history of not only Warrington RLFC, but of rugby league as a whole.
This was the first season of Super League, with teams from Paris St Germain and London Broncos competing alongside the traditional northern heavyweights of the sport.
The times were changing quickly - and the Super League revolution swept away the sport's traditional winter fixtures, bringing instead a calendar of summer games which would allow the stars to show off their skills in the best possible conditions. Before Super League began, Wire - under the guidance of Australian coach John Dorahy - were involved in Challenge Cup action.
They started off with a 26-4 win at Oldham, but then suffered a disappointing 30-10 defeat at home to Leeds in the next round. Warrington's inaugural Super League game took place at Headingley on Sunday, March 31, and it was to be an exciting and successful start to the summer era, as the men from Wilderspool edged a 22-18 victory in a thrilling clash against Leeds, gaining revenge for their Challenge Cup defeat. Wire's tries came from Iestyn Harris, Ian Knott and Mateaki Mafi, with Harris landing five goals.
By the end of April, Wire had won four of their first five games - the only blemish being a 42-12 thumping at Central Park, Wigan - and were sitting pretty in third place in the table.
Fans were being thrilled by the try-scoring exploits of two new signings, the Kiwi duo Toa Kohe-Love and Richard Henare, whose silky skills and blistering pace were making them firm favourites of the Wilderspool faithful.
May, however, proved not such a merry month for Wire, who lost 36-14 at Bradford and also fell to an agonising 25-24 home defeat at the hands of unbeaten league leaders St Helens.
A mixed bag of results followed in June. Wire notched a narrow 26-24 win in Paris, with exciting youngsters Jon Roper and Paul Sculthorpe getting on the scoresheet, but they also suffered a 35-24 loss at Oldham and were humiliated 21-0 by arch-rivals Wigan in front of 8,103 fans at Wilderspool.
As the month came to an end, Wire found themselves in fourth place, behind St Helens, Wigan and Bradford but still with a three-point cushion over fifth-placed London.
A wretched July then did much to scupper Warrington's top-four ambitions, with defeats away to Halifax and Sheffield and at home to Bradford. A 49-4 win away to bottom-placed Workington, with Mark Forster scoring two tries, lifted the spirits briefly, and although Wire ended the month still placed fourth, London were now just a point adrift. August began with Wire slipping out of the top four following a 20-13 loss away to the Broncos, but wins against Castleford and Oldham put them back in fourth place with just one round to go.
However, the season ended on an emphatic low for the primrose and blue legions, as Wire slumped to a 66-14 hammering at St Helens while London thumped Castleford 56-0 to seal fourth spot and a place in the Premiership.
St Helens' win over Warrington on the final day was enough to make them the inaugural Super League champions, with Wigan a point behind in second place. Warrington finished in fifth spot, with a record of 12 wins and 10 defeats from their 22 games.
Henare was the club's leading try-scorer with 17, while brilliant youngster Harris scored four tries and kicked 67 goals plus two drop goals for a 152-point haul. It was a season which had started with so much promise, but which ended on a sour note, with four defeats in the final six games and with an unhappy Harris announcing that he wanted a move away from Wilderspool.
Wire squad: Paul Barrow, Andy Bennett, Gary Chambers, Paul Cullen, Andy Currier, Gareth Davies, Chris Eckersley, Salesi Finau, Mike Ford, Mark Forster, Iestyn Harris, Richard Henare, Mark Hilton, Chris Holden, John Hough, Paul Hulme, Mark Jones, Ronnie Kettlewell, Ian Knott, Toa Kohe-Love, Mateaki Mafi, Lee Penny, Jon Roper, Chris Rudd, Paul Sculthorpe, Kelly Shelford, Warren Stevens, Phil Sumner, Willie Swann, Mike Wainwright, Kris Watson.

Super League 2 - 1997

AFTER the disappointment of narrowly missing the top four the previous year, Warrington began Super League 2 with fresh optimism and a new nickname - the Wolves.
A quartet of high-profile signings - former Great Britain hooker Martin Dermott and the Kiwi trio of prop Dallas Mead, second rower Tony Tatupu and utility back Nigel Vagana - had come to Wilderspool and hopes were high that the Wolves fans would be howling with delight in 1997. Sadly, it was not to be.
The Iestyn Harris dispute had not been resolved, and the young star eventually packed his bags and moved to Leeds for £300,000 early in the season. And there was further bad news on the field as Warrington lost 29-10 at home to Salford in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and then crashed to defeat in their first three games of the Super League campaign, after which coach John Dorahy left the club.
A daunting opener at Odsal saw the Wolves ripped apart by Bradford Bulls in a 58-20 hammering, with Vagana and Tatupu scoring a debut try apiece. A Richard Henare hat-trick could not prevent the Wolves from slipping to a 38-18 defeat at home to London, and then a 32-18 loss at Sheffield left the Wolves at rock bottom.
Remarkably, the club's first points of the season came at home to Wigan on March 31, as a Vagana hat-trick helped to seal a famous 35-24 win in front of 7,213 surprised fans at Wilderspool. Alex Murphy and Paul Cullen took charge of the side that day, but soon afterwards the Wolves appointed Australian Darryl Van de Velde as their new coach.
April also saw the unfortunate Mead released from his contract after suffering a serious injury. With confidence restored following the Wigan game, the Wolves went on to win three of their next four matches, beating Oldham, Castleford and Paris - but it was then that the wheels well and truly came off.
In their next 14 outings - which included eight Super League games and six in the inaugural World Club Challenge - the Wolves won just once, a narrow 25-22 success against Halifax at Wilderspool.
The horror run began with a 42-30 loss at Halifax, where new £65,000 signing Lee Briers scored his first Wolves try, and continued with heavy defeats by Bradford, London, Sheffield and Leeds.
In the World Club Challenge, the Wolves hosted Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers and Auckland Warriors, and were blown away in all three games in front of disappointingly low crowds. When the Wolves made the trip Down Under for the return fixtures, they again failed to register a win, although the 16-4 defeat at Auckland was at least respectable.
The Wolves picked up slightly in August, with wins over Salford, Paris and Castleford, but for the fans and players alike, the end of Super League 2 couldn't come quickly enough.
A record of eight wins from 22 games saw the Wolves finish in ninth place, with Vagana's 22 touchdowns making him the league's top try-scorer.
Bradford Bulls, with 20 wins and just two defeats, were runaway winners of the Super League title. For the Wolves, though, it had proved to be a year of turmoil on and off the pitch, with players coming and going with bewildering frequency.
Club stalwart Paul Cullen finally succumbed to injuries and retired in July, star winger Henare was sacked in August following off-the-field problems, while a trio of senior professionals - Paul Hulme, George Mann and Richie Eyres - arrived mid-season to try to pull the side out of its slump.
But amid all the changes, it was the loss of the mercurial Harris which hurt the most - and still does.
Wolves squad: Paul Barrow, Liam Bretherton, Lee Briers, Martin Carney, Chris Causey, Gary Chambers, Andy Currier, Paul Derbyshire, Gareth Davies, Martin Dermott, John Duffy, Andrew Duncan, Richie Eyres, Salesi Finau, Mark Forster, Shaun Geritas, Iestyn Harris, Richard Henare, Chris Highton, Mark Hilton, Chris Holden, John Hough, Paul Hulme, Ian Knott, Toa Kohe-Love, Mateaki Mafi, George Mann, Dallas Mead, Anthony Murray, David 'Doc' Murray, Lee Penny, Carl Roden, Jon Roper, Chris Rudd, Paul Sculthorpe, Kelly Shelford, Warren Stevens, Willie Swann, Tony Tatupu, Tony Thorniley, Nigel Vagana, Mike Wainwright, Paul Wingfield.

Super League 3 - 1998

IT was once again a case of all-change as the Wolves embarked on their third Super League campaign.
Great Britain loose forward Paul Sculthorpe had left the club during the winter in a £370,000 deal with St Helens which had seen Chris Morley come to Wilderspool. And for his first full season in charge, coach Darryl Van de Velde looked overseas to bolster a squad which had under-performed so badly the previous year.
In came a quartet of Australian imports - hooker Danny Farrar from Penrith Panthers, prop Danny Nutley and centre Michael Eagar from South Queensland Crushers, and stand-off Adam Doyle from Western Suburbs. And also making their way to Wilderspool were former Great Britain forward Steve McCurrie, who had been playing rugby union for Bedford, ex-St Helens prop Adam Fogerty, plus winger Jason Roach and Kiwi back rower Brendon Tuuta from Castleford.
It was Roach who made the first big impression, scoring four tries on his debut as the Wolves routed Wakefield 42-6 in the Challenge Cup. Roach again crossed for a try in the next round, but the Wolves bowed out after a battling 35-22 loss at St Helens.
When it came to the big kick-off in Super League, the Wolves again got away to a disastrous start, losing their first four games to Leeds, Salford, London and finally St Helens, in a match played at Liverpool FC's Anfield home.
The Wolves' first league win of the season came on May 10, when Halifax were the visitors to Wilderspool, Toa Kohe-Love grabbing a brace of tries in a 31-20 victory. This marked the start of a purple patch for Van de Velde's men, who then won three and drew one of their next five games, starting with a fine 33-18 home win against Castleford in which McCurrie - making quite an impact on his return to the rugby league ranks - rumbled in for two tries.
Hull Sharks were harpooned at The Boulevard as the Wolves notched their first away win of the season, then after a shock 28-6 defeat at Huddersfield, the Wolves outmuscled Bradford Bulls 28-10 and drew 18-18 with Sheffield Eagles in consecutive home games.
This upturn in fortunes had left the Wolves in contention for a top-five finish and a place in the first Super League play-offs, but they then suffered three defeats in four games, culminating in a 23-16 loss in a 'roadshow' game against Castleford which was played in Cardiff.
From this point, the Wolves' season simply nosedived, with only two wins, at home to Hull and Huddersfield, coming from their last nine games. In the final game of the campaign, derby rivals Wigan pulled off a 30-24 win at Wilderspool in a game which marked the debut of another Aussie import, the former Canterbury stand-off Scott Wilson.
In another gloomy season for the Wilderspool faithful, the Wolves finished in 10th place, with just seven wins and one draw from their 23 games. Veteran winger Mark Forster was the club's top try-scorer, with 11.
This year was the first in which the Super League title was decided via a play-off system rather than on final league positions, and it was Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos who fought through to the inaugural Grand Final at Old Trafford. It proved to be a tense tussle in front of 43,553 fans at the Theatre of Dreams, with Wigan edging home 10-4 thanks to a try from winger Jason Robinson and three Andy Farrell goals.
Wolves squad: Lee Briers, Chris Causey, Gary Chambers, Will Cowell, Adam Doyle, John Duffy, Michael Eagar, Danny Farrar, Vince Fawcett, Phil Finney, Adam Fogerty, Mark Forster, David Highton, Mark Hilton, Ian Knott, Toa Kohe-Love, Steve McCurrie, Chris Morley, Danny Nutley, Mike Pechey, Lee Penny, Jason Roach, Jon Roper, Chris Rudd, Warren Stevens, Brendon Tuuta, Mike Wainwright, Danny Whittle, Scott Wilson.

Super League 4 - 1999

THE Wolves went fishing for a Shark in the build-up to the new campaign - and they made an impressive catch as Great Britain threequarter Alan Hunte joined the club from Hull.
With tough-tackling former Canterbury second-rower Simon Gillies also on board, along with two Deans - Busby and Hanger - coach Darryl Van de Velde had good reason to be optimistic about the year ahead.
And the feel-good vibe was further enhanced when it was revealed that the Wolves - now under new ownership - had signed up former Bradford Bulls marketing guru Peter Deakin as their new chief executive.
Big home wins over Featherstone and Halifax in the early rounds of the Challenge Cup had the town buzzing, and when a superb Toa Kohe-Love try helped to set up an opening Super League win against Halifax at a waterlogged New Shay, it really looked as though the Wolves were on the march.
A 52-16 hammering in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals at Bradford brought everyone at the club down to earth with a massive bump, but the Wolves showed plenty of resilience to bounce back in Super League.
Kiwi centre Kohe-Love, now back to his blistering best after being dogged by injuries, tore in for two tries as Castleford were defeated 19-14 at Wilderspool, Jason Roach scored twice in a 26-22 win at Salford, and a last-minute try from winger Mark Forster secured a thrilling home win over Super League new boys Gateshead Thunder.
Warrington were now flying high in the league table, and even after narrow defeats at the hands of big guns Wigan and Bradford, there was still a feeling that the Wolves could be genuine top-five contenders.
Half-backs Scott Wilson and Lee Briers shone as the Wolves produced a capital performance to win 30-18 at London, and Jon Roper then helped himself to two tries as Sheffield Eagles were put to the sword in a 40-4 romp at Wilderspool.
A 33-22 win away to Hull kept the Wolves camp in high spirits, and when Leeds came to Wilderspool to play their fifth game in 16 days, a home win looked on the cards. However, despite another brace of tries from Kohe-Love, it was the men from Headingley who pulled off a fine 28-10 win to silence the home fans.
A major turning point in the season came when the Wolves travelled to Castleford to face their fellow play-off hopefuls and slumped to a 39-6 trouncing, with ex-Warrington half-back Francis Maloney tormenting his former team-mates with a hat-trick of tries.
The Wolves picked themselves up to beat Salford and draw 17-17 with Wigan, and then Gillies and Kohe-Love scored hat-tricks in wins against London and Sheffield respectively. But defeats by Gateshead and Bradford had hit the Wolves' play-off hopes, and when they travelled to Headingley for a do-or-die clash with Leeds, they were pipped 34-30 in a televised classic.
That defeat seemed to knock the stuffing out of Van de Velde's men and after a win against lowly Huddersfield, their campaign fizzled out with a run of five straight defeats, including a last-gasp 23-22 loss at Halifax and culminating in a home 48-22 thrashing by Gateshead on the final day of the regular season.
Despite their late slump, the Wolves managed to finish in seventh place - a decent improvement on the previous season but still an under-achievement given the talent within the squad.
There was some personal consolation for Kohe-Love, as his glittering haul of 28 touchdowns saw him finish joint-top of the national try-scoring chart.
Meanwhile, St Helens and Bradford came through the play-off series to reach the Old Trafford final, with Saints edging home in an enthralling contest thanks to a second-half try from Kiwi centre Kevin Iro.
Wolves squad: Lee Briers, Dean Busby, Chris Causey, Gary Chambers, Will Cowell, John Duffy, Danny Farrar, Mark Forster, Simon Gillies, Dean Hanger, David Highton, Mark Hilton, Alan Hunte, Ian Knott, Toa Kohe-Love, Andy Leathem, Steve McCurrie, Danny Nutley, Lee Penny, Jason Roach, Jon Roper, Ian Sibbit, Warren Stevens, Mike Wainwright, Scott Wilson.

Super League 5 - 2000

SEASON ticket sales for Super League 5 went through the roof at Wilderspool as coach Darryl Van de Velde pulled off three of the highest-profile and most exciting signings ever made by the club.
Legendary Australian Test scrum-half Allan Langer came out of a brief retirement to wear the primrose and blue along with his long-time Brisbane Broncos colleague Andrew Gee, one of the world's toughest prop forwards, while New Zealand international Tawera Nikau chose to leave behind Aussie Grand Final winners Melbourne Storm in favour of the Wolves.
With England half-back Steve Blakeley moving to Wilderspool from Salford and French international second rower Jerome Guisset joining from Canberra Raiders, all the pundits were predicting a top-five finish for Warrington.
Unfortunately, the team failed to live up to the hype, despite getting their season off to a magnificent start with thumping Challenge Cup wins over NFP sides Hunslet Hawks and York Wasps.
The opening round of Super League saw London Broncos thrashed 48-18 at Wilderspool, with Alan Hunte grabbing two tries, and a week later Hunte was again the hero, his last-minute touchdown giving the Wolves a thrilling win away to Salford City Reds in a televised Challenge Cup quarter-final.
There was now a real belief that the Wolves were in for a season to remember, but two successive defeats by the Bradford Bulls - 58-4 at Odsal in Super League and 44-20 in the Challenge Cup semi-final at Headingley - proved that the Wolves squad was still not ready to consistently challenge the sport's big four of St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Bradford and Leeds Rhinos.
With confidence naturally low after the Bradford games, the Wolves slumped to two more defeats, at home to Hull FC and, agonisingly, away to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, where a last-minute error by Dean Busby gifted the home team their winning try.
Successive wins at home to Leeds - with promising young centre Ian Sibbit scoring two tries - and away to Halifax Blue Sox seemed to put the Wolves' season back on track, only for derby defeats at home to St Helens and away to Wigan to once again expose the side's weaknesses.
A narrow win away to Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants and successive defeats away to Salford and at home to Castleford Tigers created further gloom for the Wolves.
But if there was one thing you could rely on in Super League 5 it was Warrington's unpredictability, and on May 28 Wilderspool witnessed a remarkable game as the Wolves overturned an 18-point half-time deficit to beat the mighty Bradford Bulls 42-32 - the Challenge Cup winners' first defeat of the season.
An away win over London, in a roadshow game at Newport RUFC, gave the Wolves another lift, but their season then nosedived in spectacular fashion.
The Wolves lost six of their next seven matches, culminating in a humiliating 44-24 defeat by rock bottom Huddersfield-Sheffield at Wilderspool in a rollercoaster game wich had seen on-loan winger Rob Smyth race in for four tries in the first half-hour of his Warrington debut.
Frustration on the terraces turned to anger with this defeat and glum-faced supporters staged a sit-in protest after the game, calling for the resignation of Van de Velde.
The Aussie coach did not quit, though, and the game was to prove a turning point in the season, as the Wolves addressed their problems and went on to win six of their final eight games to finish sixth - their highest placing in four seasons.
The end-of-season play-offs resulted in a Lancashire derby at Old Trafford, with St Helens and Wigan contesting the Grand Final.
And what a game it was, with Saints hanging on for an exciting 29-16 win despite a brave second-half rally from the Pie-eaters.
For Warrington, though, it had proved to be another disappointing season in which there had been some notable departures.
Blakeley quit Wilderspool in favour of his former club Salford after only a few months, and Jon Roper went on loan to London and Salford before being released at the end of the season.
Also released in an end-of-season clear-out were:
Veteran former Great Britain winger Mark Forster, who was deemed surplus to requirements in the year of his double testimonial.
Popular Aussie hooker Danny Farrar, who chose to retire from the game after three hard-grafting years at Wilderspool.
England prop Mark Hilton, whose once-promising career sadly continues to be disrupted by serious injuries.
Jerome Guisset, who enjoyed his year in England but chose to return to his native France.
Off the field, too, it was a season of turmoil for the Wolves. Chief executive Peter Deakin quit towards the end of the campaign to join rugby union outfit Sale Sharks, long-serving assistant coach Paul Cullen left to take over the reins at Whiteheaven, and as the season ended, a vital planning application for a new stadium on Winwick Road was still to be decided upon, although Warrington Borough Council had given the plan its approval.
Despite all the problems and disappointments of 2000, though, Wolves fans can still look forward to better things in 2001, especially if the stadium proposal finally gets the go-ahead. With new signings Kevin Walters, Rob Smyth and Martin Masella coming to the club for Super League 6, and an exciting batch of youngsters such as Paul Noone, Jamie Stenhouse, Will Cowell, Mark Gleeson, Dave Alstead, Dave Highton and Paul Wood ready to make their mark, the play-offs should be a realistic aim next season.
Wolves squad: David Alstead, Steve Blakeley, Lee Briers, Dean Busby, Chris Campbell, Gary Chambers, Will Cowell, Danny Farrar, Mark Forster, Andrew Gee, Mark Gleeson, Jerome Guisset, David Highton, Mark Hilton, Alan Hunte, Ian Knott, Toa Kohe-Love, Allan Langer, Steve McCurrie, Tawera Nikau, Paul Noone, Danny Nutley, Neil Parsley, Lee Penny, Mike Peters, Jon Roper, Ian Sibbit, Rob Smyth, Jamie Stenhouse, Paul Wood.

History of Bradford Rugby League Club

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1863 - 1900: In the Beginning

1863: Bradford Rugby Club is created.1876: Manningham Albion is formed. Its name is shortened to Manningham in 1880.1884: Bradford win the Yorkshire Challenge Cup Trophy.1895: Bradford and Manningham are among 22 clubs that secede from the Rugby Football Union after an historic meeting at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, in response to a dispute over "broken time" payments to players. These 22 clubs form the Northern Rugby Union.1895-6: Manningham are the first winners of the Northern Union Championship. They also win the Yorkshire Senior Competition.1896-7: Manningham lose the second ever Challenge Cup final to Batley 7-0. The lineout is abolished and replaced with a punt from touch, and later, in 1901, a 10 yard scrum.

1901 - 1914: Pre-War

1903-4: Bradford finish top of the league level on points with Salford. They win the Championship play-off 5-0. Manningham turn to soccer and, as Bradford City, are elected to the Football League without playing a match.1905-6: Bradford win the Challenge Cup 5-0 against Salford and are runners up in the Championship.1906-7: Bradford win Yorkshire Cup 8-5 against Hull Kingston Rovers.The number of players making up a team is reduced from 15 a side to 13.1907: "The Great Betrayal". Bradford abandons the 13 a side Northern Union game to become a soccer club, Bradford Park Avenue. A new team BRADFORD NORTHERN is created to take their place in the Northern Union.First international tour of England - by New Zealand Rugby Union "rebels".1908: Australian and New Zealand Rugby League launched and the Australians tour England for the first time.1910: First British tour of Australia and New Zealand.

1919 - 1939: Northern Union to Rugby League

1922: Name of Northern Rugby Football Union changed to Rugby Football League.1933: Bradford Northern sign a ten year lease with the council for a former quarry being used as a waste dump at Odsal Top. Work begins to turn it into the largest stadium outside Wembley.First Rugby League match in France. Australia beat Great Britain in an exhibition match at the Stade Pershing in Paris1934: Bradford Northern move to Odsal Stadium and play their first match there on September 1st.La Ligue Francaise de Rugby a Treize (French Rugby League) formed. First international match between France and Great Britain.1938-9: The Halifax-Leeds Challenge Cup semi-final at Odsal on April 1st sets a new English attendence record of 64,453.

1940 - 1950: Wartime & Wembley

1940-41: Bradford beat Dewsbury 15-5 in the Yorkshire Cup final. Their try scorers are Trevor Foster (2) and W. Best, and the goal kicker George Carmichael (3).Also in 1941, Rugby League is banned in France during the German occupation in World War 2 (game re-established in 1946)1941-2: Bradford are the Championship runners up, but win the Yorkshire Cup final against Halifax 24-0. The try scorers are Davies (2), Best, Carter, Trevor Foster and H. Smith, with goals by Ernest Ward (2) and George Carmichael.1943-4: Bradford win a two leg Challenge Cup final against Wigan 8-0 on aggregate.1944-5: Bradford reach the Challenge Cup finals again but this time lose to Huddersfield 13-9 on aggregate. However they do win a two leg Yorkshire Cup final against Keighley 10-7 on aggragate. The try scorers are Trevor Foster and Ernest Ward (pictured top right), and the goal kickers James and Darlison.Also in 1944 a Rugby League Combined Services Team beat a Rugby Union Combined Services team at Odsal in a match played under Rugby Union rules.1945-46: Bradford win the Yorkshire Cup 5-2 against Wakefield Trinity, their try being scored by Frank Whitcombe (pictured left) and converted by George Carmichael.1946-7: Bradford beat Leeds 8-4 in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley. Bradford’s tries are scored by Trevor Foster and Emlyn Walters and converted by Ernest Ward. Willie Davies won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match.1947-8: Bradford go to Wembley again but lose the Challenge Cup to Wigan 8-3. Bradford’s solitary try is scored by, Edwards, although the Lance Todd Trophy is won by Frank Whitcombe. This is the first Rugby League match ever attended by the reigning monarch, HRH King George VI, who presents the trophy. Bradford are also the Championship runners up.1948-9: In their third consectutive Challenge Cup final Bradford beat Halifax 12-0 in front of 95,050 fans. Trevor Foster and Eric Batten (pictured bottom right) are the try scorers, while Ernest Ward kicked three goals and won the Lance Todd Trophy. They also win the Yorkshire Cup against Castleford 18-9. The try scorers in that match are Foster, Leake and Edwards(2), who also kicked 3 goals.1949-50: Bradford win the Yorkshire Cup against Huddersfield 11-4, with a try by Davies and 4 goals by Ernest Ward.

1951 - 1963: Decline & Fall

1951-2: Bradford are the Championship runners up but beat New Zealand at Odsal in the first floodlit football match of any code in the North of England.1953: A crowd of 69,429 watch Bradford play Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup 3rd Round. This is Northern’s largest ever attendance. They also win the Yorkshire Cup final 7-2 against Hull, with a try by Hawes and 2 goals by Phillips.1954: The Challenge Cup Final replay between Warrington and Halifax is held at Odsal in front of Rugby League’s largest ever crowd, officially 102,569 but estimated unofficially to be over 120,000. (The official record stood for 45 years until it was broken in 1999 when 104,583 people attend the opening of Sydney's new Olympic venue, Stadium Australia, to watch Newcastle Knights v Manly Sea Eagles and Parramatta Eels v St George-Illawarra Dragons double-header in the Australian NRL competition). Meanwhile, debate continues to rage over the "actual" attendance at Odsal that day in 1954!Also in 1954, the first ever Rugby League World Cup is staged in France.1960: 83,190 people attend the Championship final at Odsal between Wakefield and Wigan, many not getting in until half time.1963: After attracting a record low crowd of 324 against Barrow (23 November) Northern go out of business on December 10th.

1964 - 1994: Renaissance

1964: Thanks to the strenuous efforts of such people as Trevor Foster and Joe Phillips the Bradford Northern club is reformed and accepted back into membership of the Rugby League.Substitutions allowed for first time - but only for injured players and only up to half time.1965-66: Bradford win the Yorkshire Cup 17-8 against Hunslet. Bradford’s try scorers are Williamson (2) and Brooke, with four goals by Clawson.End of unlimited tackles and introduction of four tackle rule.1967: Bradford play York in one of the first two Rugby League fixtures ever to be played on a Sunday. Leigh also play Dewsbury on the same day (Dec 17).1972-3: Bradford lose the Challenge Cup final against Featherstone 33-14. Bradford’s tries are scored by Redfearn, Fearnley, and converted by Eddie Tees (pictured right).1973-4: Bradford win the Second Division Championship and are promoted into the First Division. During this season Keith Mumby makes his debut, becoming the youngest player ever to appear for the club at only 16 years of age, scoring 12 goals and a try in a match against Doncaster. He goes onto make a record 576 appearances for the club. (Mumby, left, in action for Bradford Northern).1974-75: Bradford win the Regal Trophy 3-2 against Widnes, their points coming from a try by Carlton.1977-78: Peter Fox joins Bradford as coach for the first time. Bradford win the Premiership final 17-8 against Widnes, with tries by Haigh, Barends, Roe and Dave Redfearn (pictured in Great Britain gear on the right, with brother Alan, who also starred as a scrum half for Bradford Northern, to his left), and goals by Mumby and Wolford. They are also Championship runners-up.1978-79: Bradford appear in another Premiership final but this time lose against Leeds 24-2, Bradford’s solitary points coming from a goal by Ferres.1979-80: Bradford win the Championship. They also win the Regal Trophy 6-0 against Widnes, with a try by Parker and goals by Mumby and Stephenson. Peter Fox wins the award for Coach of the Year. Peter Fox and Jimmy Thompson are pictured (left) with the Championship trophy.1980-81: Bradford win the Championship again.1981-82: Bradford lose the Yorkshire Cup final against Castleford 18-7, their points coming from a try by Parker and a goal by Ellery Hanley.1982-83: Bradford lose the Yorkshire Cup final again, this time against Hull by 18 points to 7. Keith Whiteman was the only try scorer for Bradford, with a conversion and 2 drop goals from Dean Carroll. The half time score was Bradford 6 Hull 7, the referee was Stan Wall and the attendance 11,755 at Headingley. Keith Mumby wins the award for First Division Player of the Year while Brian Noble wins the Young Player award.1985: Ellery Hanley (left) wins both the Man of Steel award (for the personality judged to have made the biggest impact in the season) and First Division Player of the Year. He subsequently joins Wigan in the then British Rugby League record transfer deal, worth £80,000 and a player exchange involving Steve Donlan and Phil Ford.1987-8: After drawing 12-12, Bradford win the Yorkshire Cup final replay against Castleford 11-2. In the replay Bradford’s points come from tries by Brendan Hill and Wayne Heron, and goals by David Hobbs.1989-90: Bradford beat Featherstone 20-14 in the Yorkshire Cup final with 2 tries each by Gerald Cordle and Paul Harkin, and 2 goals by David Hobbs.1990-91: Bradford lose the Regal Trophy against Warrington 12-2, Bradford’s only points coming from a goal by David Hobbs.1993-4: Bradford finish as runners up in the Championship behind Wigan on points difference.Jeff Grayshon, pictured bottom right, was a stalwart of the Bradford Northern pack during the 1980s.

1995 - 1999: Birth of Super League

1995-96: The club's name is changed from Bradford Northern to become known as the Bradford Bulls. They adopt a new club logo and appoint highly rated Australian Brian Smith as coach, and later Chief Executive.
In April 1995, the Rugby League announce the decision to form the European Super League, and the switch in playing season from winter to summer, to begin in March 1996. The Super League consists of 10 clubs from the existing First Division (including Bradford Bulls) plus London Broncos from the Second Division, and new club Paris St Germain.1996: Bradford lose the Challenge Cup final 40-32 to St Helens. Bradford’s points come from tries by Jon Scales, Bernard Dwyer and a hat trick from captain Robbie Paul - the first ever scored at Wembley. Paul Cook kicked 6 goals. Robbie Paul won the Lance Todd Trophy followed later in the season by the award for Super League Player of the Year. In September, assistant coach Matthew Elliot becomes head coach following Brian Smith’s decision to return to Australia as coach of Parramatta Eels. Bradford Bulls finish the season as the best supported team in the competition with an average attendance in excess of 10,000.The Australian version of Super League is prevented from starting as planned in 1996, to run parallel to the British season, due to a court injunction obtained by the Australian Rugby League.1997: Bradford win the Super League title with an record run of 20 successive victories from the start of the season. They are also Challenge Cup runners-up for a second season, losing to St Helens 32-22. Bradford's try scorers were Danny Peacock, Paul Loughlin, Glen Tomlinson, and James Lowes. Steve McNamara scored the goals. James Lowes wins the Man of Steel award. He is also chosen as Super League Player of the Season while Matthew Elliot (pictured) is chosen as Super League Coach of the Season. Bradford are once again the best supported club, with an average of over 15,000.The Australian Super League finally kicks off, entering into direct competition with the Australian Rugby League causing a split in the game. All 10 Australian Super League clubs contest the World Club Championship series against the 12 clubs in the European competition.1998: A generally disappointing season for Bradford, with a fifth place finish in the Super League. They remain the best supported club, however, with an average attendance in excess of 13,000. Leon Pryce beats Keith Mumby's record from 1973 to become the youngest player ever to appear for the club.The Championship is decided by a top five play off system for the first time, culminating with an Australian styled Grand Final. Wigan win the inaugural Grand Final at Old Trafford against Leeds Rhinos. After one season, the Australian Super League merges with the Australian Rugby League to form a unified competition known as the National Rugby League (NRL).1999: Bradford sign New Zealand international Henry Paul from Wigan Warriors to link up with brother Robbie Paul for the first time at professional club level. The club achieves record season ticket sales, and a new scoring record is established when the Bulls defeat Workington Town by 92 points to nil in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup at Odsal. Bulls secure Minor Premiership in Super League IV whilst also remaining undefeated at Odsal. The final home game sees the Bulls smash the Super League attendance record with 24,020 fans packing Odsal to see the 19-18 defeat of Leeds Rhinos. A Rugby League record 50,717 fans at Old Trafford see the Bulls in the Grand Final against St Helens, where they are defeated by 8 points to 6. Henry Paul wins the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match.

2000 to Present Day:

A New Millennium2000: Bulls win the Challenge Cup for the first time in 51 years by 24 points to 18 against local rivals Leeds Rhinos. Henry Paul wins the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match. The match is played at the Scottish Rugby Union's Murrayfield Stadium, the first time in the history of the competition that the final has been held in Scotland, and goes ahead despite major flooding at the ground only two days before.A record 16 teams contest the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, which is staged at multiple venues around England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. The tournament is won by Australia who defeat New Zealand in the final at Old Trafford, Manchester.2001: The Bulls take up residence at Valley Parade, home of Bradford City AFC, to allow for the redevelopment of Odsal Stadium. They reach the Challenge Cup final at Twickenham, but suffer a 13-6 defeat to St Helens. On 3rd May in a home match against Warrington, Henry Paul sets a new World Record for consecutive goal kicks (35). The Bulls finish the regular season as Minor Premiers and on 13th October at Old Trafford, a new Super League Grand Final record attendance of 60,164 is established as the Bulls crush Wigan Warriors 37-6 to claim the Championship Trophy. Michael Withers scores a try hat-trick and is awared the Harry Sunderland Trophy as Man of the Match.Also in 2001, Bulls second row forward Jamie Peacock scores the opening try for Great Britain after just two minutes as they defeat Australia 20-12 in Huddersfield in the first Ashes Test for seven years, but Australia go on to take the series 2-1, winning the second Test at Bolton and the third Test at Wigan.2002: The Bulls are crowned World Club Champions on 1st February after defeating Australian Premiers Newcastle Knights 41-26 in front of a crowd of 21,113 at Huddersfield's McAlpine Stadium. James Lowes is named as Man of the Match and Paul Deacon kicks eight goals from nine attempts plus one drop goal for a total of 17 points in the match, an individual scoring record for this competition.2003: Bradford Bulls have the most successful season in the history of the Club, winning all three titles. They travelled to Cardiff to beat the Leeds Rhinos at the Millennium Stadium 22-20, then went on to lift the League Leaders Shield for finishing top of the Super League after 28 rounds, before defeating Leeds Rhinos again, for the fifth time in the season, in the Qualifying Semi Final Play Off to Reach the Tetley's Rugby Super League Grand Final. An outstanding performance of skill and domination saw the Bulls claim the Super League title with victory over a spirited Wigan Warriors. The season also saw the retirement of super star hooker James Lowes after an illustrious career, and the departure of veteran loose forward Mike Forshaw.2004: Bradford Bulls regained the world club challenge by beating the NRL champions Penrith Panthers 22–4 in front of a packed crowd at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield. 2004 also saw the Bulls beat Leeds Rhino’s in the play offs to reach the Grand Final, Only to meet their arch rivals two weeks later at Old Trafford in front of a record grand final crowd of 67,000. This time Bradford were narrowly edged out by Leeds, eventually losing 18–6. 2004 was a superb year for the ‘The Volcano’ Lesley Vainikolo as he smashed the Super League try scoring record with a total of 37 tries in only 26 appearances. This remarkable achievement started in the first round of the regular super league season as he crossed the try line on 5 separate occasions against Wigan Warriors to equal the record for the total number of tries in a super league game.2004 also saw 5 Bradford players being named in the Great Britain squad for the tri-nations series with Brian Noble being placed in charge of the GB Lions side. Four other Bulls players were named in the New Zealand side to face them. The series was a great success for Bulls utility back Stuart Reardon as he crossed the try line 4 times and finished Great Britain’s top try scorer.

History of St Helens Rugby League Club

2005-12-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

1873-1899
1873
Nov 19, St. Helens RFC formed at the Fleece Hotel by William Douglas Herman
1890
Sep 6, Saints defeat Manchester Rangers in the first match played at Knowsley Road
1895
Aug 29, St. Helens, along with 20 other clubs, resign from the Rugby Union at a meeting held at the George Hotel in Huddersfield.
1895
Sep 7, Saints defeat Rochdale Hornets 8-3 at Knowsley Road in their inaugural Northern Union fixture.
1897
Apr 24, Batley defeat Saints 10-3 in the inaugural Challenge Cup final played at Headingley.

1900-1909
1906
Jan 1, Frank Lee and Tommy Barton appear for England in the 3 all draw with the Other Nationalities at Wigan, and thus become the club's first Internationals.
1906
The number of players on each side reduced from 15 to 13 and Line Outs abolished
1908
In December, scum half Arthur Kelly becomes Saints' first colonial import.
1909
Feb 10, Saints defeat the first Australian Tourists 9 nil.
1909
Apr 12, Warrington inflict upon St. Helens their record defeat 78-6.

1910-19
1912
Billy Briers announces his retirement. The last playing member who had defeated Rochdale Hornets in the first Northern Union match, Billy had scored 114 tries for the club in 512 appearances.
1913
St. Helens Recs join the Lancashire Combination.
1915
May 1, Huddersfield defeat Saints by a record 37 points to 3 in the Challenge Cup final played at Watersheadings, Oldham.
1917
Due to a shortage of players, 12 aside rugby is introduced.
1918
Jan 31, Saints are defeated 22 nil by Widnes. They then 'close down' due to a lack of finances.
1918
Dec 25, Saints re open and are beaten 20 points to nil by St. Helens Recs at City Road, in a friendly fixture.
1919
Jan 18, Competitive rugby restarts and Saints are defeated by St. Helens Recs 24-3 at Knowsley Road. This is the first 'official' fixture between the teams.

1920-29
1920
Dec 26, 24,000 fans pack Knowsley Road for the 'derby' encounter against Wigan and see Lord Derby open the new Pavilion.
1922
Stan and George Lewis sign from Pontypool RUFC, making their debuts in the 24-3 home victory over Featherstone Rovers.
1923
Jessie Skepper helped form Saints' Supporters' Club.
1926
Mar 27, Alf Ellaby scores two tries on his debut against Keighley at Knowsley Road.
1926
Nov 20, Saints defeat arch rivals St. Helens Recs by 10 points to 2 at Wilderspool, Warrington to win the Lancashire Cup for the first time. It was Saints' first major trophy triumph.
1927
Alf Ellaby finishes the season with 50 tries for Saints. A record!
1928
Seven players from St. Helens are selected to tour 'Down Under' for the 1928 Tour. These are thus the first Saints' or Recs' players to earn such a honour. Alf Ellaby, Les Fairclough, Alf Frodsham and Ben Halfpenny were selected from Saints, whilst the Recs provided Frank Bowen, Oliver Dolan and Albert Fildes.
1929
Oct 26, Arthur Atkinson of Castleford, converts a penalty kick from 75 yards, at Knowsley Road. He was kicking towards the Dunriding Lane end of the ground and was assisted by the wind! Castleford won 20-10.

1930-39
1930
May 3, Widnes surprisingly defeat Saints 10-3 in the Challenge Cup final. It was only the second final to be played at Wembley.
1932
Mar 5, Alf Ellaby scores 6 tries against Barrow. The first Saint to achieve such a feat.
May 7, St. Helens defeat Huddersfield 9-5 at Bell Vue, Wakefield to win the League Championship for the first time.
Alf Ellaby and Albert Fildes (now a Saint) are selected for the 1932 Tour.
1937
Saints become a Limited Liability Company.
1939
Jan 1, Saints defeat St. Helens Recs 5-3 at City Road, in their last ever meeting.

1940-49
1945
Aug 25, Widnes beat Saints 20-8 at Naughton Park, in their first post 2nd World War match.
1949
Jan 18, Stan McCormick signs for Saints from Bell Vue Rangers for a then record £4000.
Dec 26, a ground record 35,695 fans turn up to watch Saints play Wigan.

1950-59
1950
In January, the Training pitch was laid down.
1951
In February, the newly-completed Eccleston Kop covered enclosure was opened and was named after Supporters Club Secretary George Eddington.
Nov 10, Gt. Britain v New Zealand 1st Test at Swinton was the first televised Test Match
1952
Jan 12, Wigan v Wakefield Trinity encounter becomes fist televised League match.
Apr 19, first televised Wembley final took place between Workington Town andFeatherstone Rovers.
Wigan and Gt. Britain legend, Jim Sullivan, become St. Helens' first full time manager/ coach.
1953
Saints finish the 1952/3 season top of the League, go all season undefeated 'away' from home, win the Lancashire League and League Championship and are defeated 15-10 by Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup final.
1954
In September, the new scoreboard is used for the first time.
1955
Apr 22, Alex Murphy signs for Saints on his 16th Birthday.
1956
Apr 11, Alex Murphy makes his Saints debut in the 21-7 home victory over Whitehaven.
Apr 28, tries by Frank Carlton, Steve Llewellyn and skipper, Alan Prescot, together with two Austin Rhodes conversions enable Saints to defeat Halifax by 13 points to 2 to secure the club's first Challenge Cup final success.
Nov 24, St. Helens defeat Australia by a record 44 points to 2.
1957
Oct 26, Tom Van Vollenhoven scores a try on his debut as Saints defeat Leeds 36-7 at Knowsley Road, in front of 23,000 spectators.
1958
Six Saints players are selected to tour. Alan Prescott was named as Gt. Britain's captain and Frank Carlton, Vince Karalius, Glynn Moses, Alex Murphy and Ab Terry were chosen alongside him.
In August, the club's new grandstand is opened by Sir Harry Pilkington. The structure cost £32,000 and can seat 2,400.
1959
Saints top a thousand points in a league season for the first time. Their 1005 points came from 31 wins and a draw in their 38 matches. The finished in first position.
May 16, St. Helens defeat Hunslet by 44 points to 22 at Odsal Stadium to win one of the greatest ever League Championship finals.
Tom Van Vollenhoven finishes the season with a phenomenal 62 tries for the club. This smashed Alf Ellaby's 32 year old record and no one has bettered this total since.

1960-69
1961
May 13, Tom Van Vollenhoven scores one of the best tries ever seen in a Challenge Cup final as Saints defeat Wigan 12-6.
In September, new metal goal posts replaced the wooden originals after storm damage.
1962
The new popular side enclosure is erected. The old wooden structure that it replaced was given to Liverpool City for their ground at Knotty Ash.
1964
Oct 24, Saints defeat Swinton 12-4 at Wigan to win their 5th consecutive Lancashire Cup, in their 7th successive final.
1965
Jan 27, Saints' new floodlighting system opened by Sir Harry Pilkington.
1966
Saints finish the 1965/66 season with four trophies in one of their most successful seasons. The League Leaders Trophy, Lancashire League, Challenge Cup and League Championship all end up in the trophy cabinet.

1970-79
1971
May 22, Saints beat Wigan 16-12 at Station Road, Swinton to claim back to back League Championship Trophies for the first time.
1972
May 13, Graham Rees's first minute try helps Saints defeat Leeds 16-13 in the Challenge Cup final.
Six tackle rule introduced.
Timekeeper's hooter introduced.
1973
Bar and restaurant complex opened at Dunriding Lane end of the Knowsley Road Stadium.
1974
Drop goal devalued to one point.
1975
Saints win Division One Championship for the only time.
1976
St. Helens complete a Challenge Cup and Premiership Trophy 'double' and undertake a pioneering club tour to Australia and New Zealand.

1980-89
1983
Sin bin introduced.
Try value increased to four points.
Hand over after 6 tackles introduced.
Players dug outs are moved from Main stand to popular side.
1984
Oct 7, Mal Meninga and Phil Veivers make their Saints debuts in the 30 points to 16 victory over Castleford at Knowsley Road.
Oct 28, two tries by Mal Meninga inspire Saints, who beat Wigan 26-18, to win the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 16 years.
1985
Saints defeat hot favourites Hull KR 36-16 at Elland Road, to win the Premiership Trophy.
1986
Sep 14, St. Helens defeat Carlisle 112 nil, at Knowsley Road, in a 1st Round Lancashire Cup tie. A club record. Centre Paul Loughlin kicks 16 goals and finishes the match with 40 points-both also club records!
1987
May 2, centre, Mark Elia has the ball sensationally knocked from his grasp as he was diving to score a vital late try as Halifax defeat Saints 19-18 in the Challenge Cup final.
1988
St. Helens defeat Leeds 15-14, at Central Park, to win the John Player Trophy for the only time.
1989
Apr 29, Wigan defeat Saints 27 nil in the Challenge Cup final.
In September, work starts on 9 Executive Boxes and an electronic scoreboard at the Dunriding Lane end of the Knowsley Road Stadium

1990-99
1991
Blood bin introduced.
Sep 15, Saints defeat Trafford Borough 104-12, at Knowsley Road in a 1st Rnd Lancashire Cup tie. Only the 2nd time in the club's history that over 100 points has been scored in one match.
1992
St. Helens defeat Wigan 17 nil, at Gateshead, to win the Charity Shield for the only time.
1993
Saints lose out to Wigan, the Division One Championship, on points difference. They gain ample revenge by defeating their fierce rivals 10-4, at Old Trafford, in the Premiership Trophy final, thus denying Wigan the 'Grand Slam'.
1995
In goal judges introduced.
Summer Super League concept agreed to commence in 1996.
In August, St. Bernard becomes Saints' mascot.
In November, Paul Newlove signs for Saints, from Bradford Northern in a dealsaid to be worth £500.000. A record!
1996
In January, Shaun McRae is appointed St. Helens Coach.
Sky TV's Big Screen Video Referee introduced.
Mar 31, St. Helens defeat Workington Town 62 nil, at Derwent Park, in their first ever Super League match.
Apr 27, Saints defeat Bradford Bulls 40-32, in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley. It is Saints' first Challenge Cup success for 20 years and is regarded by many as being the best ever final!
Aug 26, St. Helens defeat Warrington 66-14, in front of 18,098 fans, at Knowsley Road, to claim the inaugural Super League Championship. It's their first such triumph for 21 years.
A record eight St. Helens players are chosen to tour with Gt. Britain. They are Keiron Cunningham, Bobbie Goulding, Karle Hammond, Joey Hayes, Alan Hunte, Chris Joynt, Steve Prescott and Anthony Sullivan.
1997
May 3, Saints retain the Challenge Cup for the first time by defeating Bradford Bulls 32-22, at Wembley.
1998
Ellery Hanley named as Sean McRae's successor as Saints' Head Coach.
1999
Oct 9, St. Helens win their first Super League Grand Final, by defeating Bradford Bulls by 8 points to 6 at Old Trafford.

2000-to date
2000
Jan 22, Saints defeated by Melbourne Storm 44-6 in the World Club Challenge played at the JJB Stadium, Wigan.
Oct 14, Saints retain their Super League crown by defeating Wigan Warriors 29-16, in the Grand Final, at Old Trafford.
2001
Jan 26, St. Helens are crowned as 'Champions of the World' for the very first time following their magnificent 20 points to 18 victory over highly fancied Brisbane Broncos, at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.
Apr 28, Saints defeat Bradford Bulls 13-6, at Twickenham, to win the Challenge Cup for the 8th time, thus claiming to hold all 3 available trophies.
May 13, At the official 'Civic Reception' at the Town Hall, following an Open Topped Bus tour of the town, St. Helens Council bestow upon the club the honour of 'Freedom of the Borough of St. Helens'
Jun 30, Chris Joynt makes his 87th successive appearance for the club, at Hull FC, thus breaking Harold Smith's 72 year old club record.
2002
Apr 27, Wigan Warriors defeat Saints 21-12 in the Challenge Cup Final at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
2002, Aug 23, Chris Joynt scores his 116th try for the club v Halifax Blue Sox, thus overtaking Billy Briers' 90 year old club record for tries scored by a 'forward'.
2002, Oct 19, Sean Long's last minute drop goal wins the Super League Grand Final for St. Helens. Their 19-18 victory over Bradford Bulls was attained in one of the closest, most exciting RL finals.

History of Leeds Rugby League Club

2005-12-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

How it all began 1864 - 1900
The first record of a rugby club in Leeds dates back to 1864 when HI Jenkinson placed advert in the Leeds Mercury inviting players to meet up at Woodhouse Moor a few days a week from 7 to 8am. That advert attracted over 500 members. From this initial interest several clubs were formed including Leeds St Johns who were to become what we know today as Leeds Rhinos.St Johns, who were formed in 1870, were originally known as the Old "Blue & Ambers," and played on the Cardigan Fields ground. The membership was originally confined to the church classes but was soon expanded. By 1887 St. Johns had reached their first Cup Final, the Yorkshire Cup. The team on that day was JW Hutton, R Walters, W Gray, JH Potter, R Burrell, W Place, J Illingworth, EG Load, JW Moore, J Milner, C Macmillan, G Naylor, JA Storer, B West and J Watmough. The lost out on the day to a strong Wakefield Trinity side but the seed of success had been sown.
Three years later the biggest change in Leeds sport was about to happen. In 1888 leading citizens and sportsmen of Leeds, came up with a plan to create a premier club for the city and they agreed to purchase Lot 17a at the sale of the Cardigan Estates. They did and Lot 17a became the finest cricket and rugby stadium in the country, to which everybody knows today as Headingley.
Leeds St. Johns played their last season as St. Johns in 1889-90 and their first as the Football Section of the Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Co. Ltd. the following season. The Leeds clubs first ever game was against Otley at the old Cardigan Fields ground as Headingley was not ready for the start of the season however a fortnight later the first match on the new ground was against Manningham on September 20 1890. Leeds played in terra cotta and green jerseys won through by four points to nil.
Leeds were one of the breakaway clubs who formed the Northern Union (Rugby Football League) in 1895. It is worth noting that the Northern Union played in accordance to Rugby Union rules for the first two seasons before changing the scoring system in 1897 and then dropping two players in 1906.
Lean Beginnings 1900-1910
The first decade of the new century was one of disappointed for Leeds. The years since the formation of the Northern Union had seen Leeds sign plenty of players but success had eluded them indeed in the 1899-1900 season, the club used more than 50 players with 28 of those making their debut.
The first game of the new century brought victory however against Hull KR at Headingley wining 8-0. The situation looked brighter in 1901 when the Leeds Parish Church team disbanded and put all of their players at Leeds' disposal. Another key moment in 1901 was the formation of the Northern Rugby League, with a number of leading Yorkshire and Lancashire clubs forming their own league. Leeds were not admitted until the following year when they were placed in the second division and quickly gained promotion as runners-up to Keighley. The club has never been out of the top division since then.
But then came 1910 and Leeds finally lived up to their potential. The team finished in sixth place in the league but that was just a warm up for the Challenge Cup campaign. Leeds beat Hull KR, Rochdale, Keighley and then Warrington in a tense semi final, just scraping through 11-10 before meeting Hull in the final. Rain on the morning of the game meant conditions were against flowing rugby. In an incredibly tight game the scores were level at 7-7 with fifteen minutes left however neither team could break the deadlock and the final went to a replay two days later again at Fartown. Leeds made no mistake this time and ran out convincing 26-12 winners after leading 16-0 at half time. The Leeds team that day were: Young, Rowe, Gillie, Goldthorpe, Barron, Ware, Fawcett, Webster, Harrison, Topham, Ward, Jarman, Whitaker.
Continuing the work 1911-1920
The second decade of the century was another of frustration and continual work for Leeds. The club, like so many, lost many players to the Great War and the usual league programme was interrupted during 1914-1918.
1914 did see Leeds make their first Championship Final against the all conquering Huddersfield team. Leeds had beaten Wigan at Central Park in the semi final but found Huddersfield too strong in the final, going down 35-2, a record score at the time. The Leeds team were: Lewis, WH Davies, WA Davies, Campbell, Jenkinson, Jones, Sanders, Chilcott, Carter, Rees, Ward, Webster, Godward.
During this period, Leeds played a number of "guest players" in the Emergency League competition. On 24th March 1917, Leeds reverted back to rugby union to play a one off challenge game against the Royal Navy Depot from Plymouth as a morale booster for the public. This then became a pre-cursor to the following Christmas when two Challenge games were organised between the two sides but this time with one of each code. The Navy won the union game 9-3 on Christmas Eve but proved equally adapt at league recording a 24-3 win on 28th December.
With the return to the full fixture list in 1919, Leeds made it through to the Yorkshire Cup Final only to lose out to Huddersfield again. On a frosty ground at Halifax, Huddersfield romped home by 24-5.
Becoming a force 1921-1930By the 1920s Leeds were starting to emerge as a force in the game. 1921 saw a return to Thrum Hall for the Yorkshire Cup Final and Leeds were not going to be denied this time. They beat Dewsbury 11-3 with the inspirational Jim Bacon scoring two tries. The Leeds team was Roberts, Walmsey, WA Davies, Bacon, WH Davies, Brittain, Brown, Gould, Hardaker, Godwad, Boagey, Pearson, Ward.
The good form was continued in 1923, when Leeds won the Challenge Cup for the second occasion. The famous Busy B's of Buck, Bacon, Binks and Brittain were the toast of the team and Leeds routed Hull in the final at Wakefield by 28-3. The Leeds team was: Walmsley, Buck, Bowen, Bacon, Lyons, Binks, Brittain, Trusler, Jackson, Dixon, Davis, Thompson and Ashton.
However, the early optimism of the decade could not be maintained and it was not until 1928 that Leeds returned to a Final, reaching the Championship Final which went to a replay against Huddersfield after a 2-2 draw in the first match. Huddersfield eventually won the replay 10-0. There was some revenge six months later as Leeds finished the decade with the Yorkshire Cup in the trophy cabinet with none of the opposition scoring a try in the six games leading to victory. A young Australian winger called Eric Harris scored that day and his arrival at the club made sure that the next decade was to become one of the most memorable in the club's history.
The Toowoomba Ghost 1931-1940
September 1930 saw Jeff Moores, the club captain, return from Australia with an unknown Eric Harris. Harris played nine season in total for Leeds scoring 391 tries in 383 games, including 63 tries during the 1935-36 season, a record that remains to this day. In his first season, 1930-31 Leeds reached the Championship Final for the second year running, however a change of opposition, Swinton, did not change the previous outcome as Leeds lost out 14-7 at Wigan.
The defeat against Swinton was avenged in 1932 when Leeds won their third Challenge Cup at Wigan in front of a crowd of 29,000. It was no surprise that Harris scored the games only try, a breathtaking effort down the touchline. The other points that day came from the boot of prop Joe Thompson, the Welsh captain of Leeds in the Final. The team was: Brough, Harris, Moores, O'Rourke, Goulthorpe, Williams, Adams, Lowe, Thompson, R Smith, Cox, Douglas, Glossopp.
The success continued the following year with the Yorkshire Cup re-captured with a resounding win over Wakefield 8-0. The feat was matched in 1934 although it took two replays against Wakefield to finally separate the teams, after 5-5 and 2-2 draw, Leeds eventually won 13-0 at Hunslet.
However, all the previous success was surpassed in 1936 as Leeds travelled to London for their first appearance at the new Empire Stadium at Wembley. Leeds equalled Huddersfield record for Cup wins with their fourth via a 18-2 win over Warrington in a disappointing Final. The team that day were: Brough (c), E Harris, F Harris, Parker, Brogden, Ralph, Williams, Hall, Satterthwaite, Dyer, Jubb, Casewell, Isaac. Leeds also added the Yorkshire Cup that season with Stan Smith scoring the only points with his try securing a 3-0 over York.
On 12th May 1937, Coronation Day, Leeds played an exhibition game against Salford with 12-a-side, with the loose forward being taken out, Leeds won 15-9.
The Golden Thirties were coming to an end now but Leeds were again at the forefront and one of the highlights of the decade came at Elland Road in 1938. Leeds had already secured yet another Yorkshire Cup the previous October against Huddersfield and came into the Championship Play Offs behind City rivals Hunslet. The semi finals went to form and although the final had initially been booked for Wakefield, both Leeds and Hunslet asked for the game to be moved to Elland Road. A crowd of over 54,000 watched the all Leeds Final which Hunslet won 8-2. The Leeds team was: Eaton, E Harris, Williams, Brogden, Smith, Hey, Jenkins, Satterthwaite, Murphy, Prosser, Tattersfield, Dyer, Duffy.
War interrupts again 1941-1950
At the start of the next decade Leeds once again found themselves playing in a war time Emergency League with a number of "guest players" filling the ranks. Leeds reached their fifth Challenge Cup Final in 1941, remarkably winning for the fifth time. 29,000 spectators witnessed the Final at Odsal with Leeds winning 19-2 against Halifax. The team was Eaton, Batten, Evans, Hey, Lawrenson, Morris, Jenkins, Prosser, Murphy, Bennett, Satterthwaite, Pearson, Tattersfield.
The Cup was then retained the following year again against Halifax at Odsal. The Leeds team included some notable guest players. The team was: Brough, Edwards, Risman (both Salford), Hey, Evans, Morris, Jenkins, Prosser, Murphy, Satterthwaite, Gregory (of Warrington), Brown (of Batley), Tattersfield. Leeds won 15-10, Edwards scoring two tries. It is of note that the Leeds fullback Jim Brough was 39 in the Final.
The run in the Cup came to an end in 1943 but only just! In a two-legged Final against Dewsbury, Leeds lost the first leg 16-9 and then recorded a 6-0 win at Headingley, losing the Cup by a single point.
There was a return to the Final in 1947 when Leeds faced their local rivals Bradford Northern back at Wembley after the end of hostilities. Bradford won through by 8-4 in a game that did not live up to expectations. The Leeds team was: Cook, Cornelius, Price, TL Williams, Whitehead, R Williams, Jenkins, Prosser, Murphy, Brereton, Watson, Clues, Owen. Two notable names in that side were Bert Cook, a goal kicking Kiwi, and the legendary Australian second row Arthur Clues who earned a place in Leeds folklore during eight years distinguished service.
Leeds finished the decade with yet another appearance in the Yorkshire Cup Final however the disappointing run continued with a third defeat in a row in Finals. Wakefield won after a replay 7-8 at Odsal.
Golden Boy Arrives 1951-1960Whilst the first half of the 1950's was a barren spell for Leeds it also saw the most important signing in the clubs history. On 6th November 1952 a delegation from Headingley headed off to Gorseinon, Wales and amazed both rugby codes by paying a record £6,000 for the services of Llanelli and Wales Rugby Union star Lewis Jones. Known as the 'Golden Boy', Jones was to become a Leeds legend during his 12 glittering years at Headingley.
Leeds spent the majority of the decade building a dominant team which would bare fruit in the following years. A signal of intent was given when Leeds won the 1957 Challenge Cup final against Barrow at Wembley by 9 points to 7. The team that day was: P Quinn, D Hodgkinson, K McLellan (c), L Jones, G Broughton, J Lendill, J Stevenson, J Anderson, B Prior, W Hopper, B Poole, D Robinson, H Street. During that same season Jones eclipsed the world record for points scored in a season amassing, 496 points.
Leeds won their first Yorkshire Cup since 1937 in 1958 beating Wakefield in the Final at Odsal in a very open affair, eventually winning 24-20.
However, they were fleeting highlights in the decade, although the shrewd work by the Leeds management was nurturing quality young talent to blend with the world class signings that had always been a trademark of Leeds.
The Holy Grail is captured 1961-1970
Lewis Jones' greatest achievement - and probably Leeds' finest hour - came in 1961. For the first time in the club's history the Rugby League Championship finally came to rest at Headingley.
Under the captaincy of the 'Golden Boy', Leeds defeated the powerful Warrington side at Odsal in the Championship Final by 25 points to 10. Lewis Jones gave an inspirational display in a team which included Australian full-back Ken Thornett, tenacious forwards Don Robinson and Jack Fairbank, the free-scoring Springbok Wilf Rosenberg and the former Roundhay RU centre Derek Hallas, who scored two tries. The team that won that historic match was: Thornett, Rosenberg, Hallas, Hattee, Ratcliffe, Jones, Evans, Robinson, Simms, T Whitehead, Fairbank, Goodwin, Shaw.
Following Leeds' first championship victory in their history the club went into temporary decline until the mid-sixties when the club embarked on a comprehensive youth policy, which would take Leeds into the most illustrious spell in their history. Despite reaching the Yorkshire Cup Final in 1961 and 1964, Leeds lost on both occasions to Wakefield9-19 and 18-2 respectively. However, from 1966 to 1975 Leeds won no less than 20 major trophies.
1966 saw Leeds finish the season as League Leaders and Yorkshire League Champions however progress in the Championship playoff was curtailed against Castleford in the 2nd round. But this was just a taster! In 1967-68 the Yorkshire League Champion and League Leaders trophies were joined by the Challenge Cup as Leeds beat Wakefield in the notorious Watersplash Final. A torrential down pour at Wembley ruined the game and the game ebbed and flowed throughout. Leeds extended their lead to 11-7 through a Bev Risman penalty with a minute to go, however straight from the kick off Wakefield winger Hirst kicked ahead and scored next to the posts. Man of the match Don Fox had a simple conversion to win the game but pushed the ball wide and Leeds had secured the win. The team that day was: Risman, A Smith, Hynes, B Watson, Atkinson, Shoebottom, Seabourne, Clark (c), Crosby, K Eyre, Ramsey, A Eyre, Batten. Subs: Langley, M Joyce.
Leeds finished top of the table in four successive seasons, between 1967-70, as well as winning the 1968 Challenge Cup. This momentous period for Leeds would not be possible without the astute leadership of coaches Roy Francis and Dereck 'Rocky' Turner who between them won every honour inthe game.
There was double joy in 1969 when Leeds won their second Championship. The men from Headingley had beaten Castleford in the Yorkshire Cup Final earlier that season at Wakefield before meeting the same team in the Championship Final at Odsal. Leeds were trailing by 3 points in the last five minutes, before John Atkinson scored a try which was converted by Bev Risman to secure the Championship. The team that day: Risman, Cowan, Hynes, B Watson, Atkinson, Shoebottom, Seabourne, Clark, Crosby, K Eyre, M Joyce, Ramsey, Batten. Subs: Langley, Hick.Leeds finished the decade in the Championship Play Off Final again, losing out to St Helens at Odsal. But there was some consolation with the winning of the European Club Championship, beating Perpignan at Headingley, 31-5.
Home grown heroes 1971-1980
The start of the seventies saw Leeds once again at Wembley although this time there was inglorious defeat against Leigh, going down 24-7. The game will always be remembered for the incident that saw the man of the match Syd Hynes sent off following a clash with Alex Murphy, who folklore says winked at Hynes as he was stretchered off. The Seventies will always be remembered for the local players who came through the ranks under Roy Francis and then Hynes who became the club's first player/coach in June 1975.
1972 was the tale of two teams with Leeds and St Helens playing each other in the Challenge Cup and Championship Final. Saints took the honours at Wembley winning 16-13 however it was to be a different story seven days later. The team at Wembley was Holmes, A Smith, Hynes, Dyl, Atkinson, Hardisty, Hepworth, Clawson, Fisher, Ramsey, Haigh, Cookson, Batten. Subs: Langley. The Championship Final was played at Swinton with Leeds having finished as league leaders. The hero that day was Terry Clawson who kicked three goals allied to an Atkinson try in a 9-5 win.
The following year Leeds were unable to retain the Championship, losing out to Dewsbury at Odsal 22-13. Dewsbury had been thrashed earlier in the season in the Yorkshire Cup Final 36-9 and Leeds added the John Player Trophy to the Yorkshire Cup in March beating Salford 12-7 at Fartown. Leeds retained the Yorkshire Cup the following year beating Wakefield 7-2 in the Final.
In 1974 the Champions were decided by the League Leaders and this led to the inauguration of the Premiership which Leeds won at the first attempt against St Helens 26-11 at Wigan.
The Yorkshire Cup had almost become part of the furniture at Leeds by this stage with five successes in eight years and 1975 saw another win over Hull KR at Headingley by 15-11 but after the previous seasons of glory this was a low return. However that was all to change the following year.
Leeds returned to Challenge Cup Final following tragedy in the final league game of the season. Chris Sanderson was stretchered off at Salford only to die shortly afterwards in hospital and the game was abandoned. Leeds then travelled to Wembley 14 days later for the Final.
Syd Hynes had appointed a young ambitious captain in David Ward, and the drop goal specialist led his team with distinction to the Challenge Cup Final in 1977. Leeds were the underdogs against Widnes, who were appearing in their third consecutive Final, kept the score tight trailing by two points at half time. In the second half they held Widnes pointless and raced to a 16-7 win with Steve Pitchford picking up the Lance Todd Trophy. The team that day was: Murrell, A Smith, Hague, Dyl, Atkinson, Holmes, Dick, M Harrison, Ward, Pitchford, Eccles, Cookson, Fearnley. Subs: Dickinson, D Smith.
Few could believe it when Leeds retained their trophy the following year, fewer still when St Helens led by 10 points early in the game. Leeds had had a disappointing season to that point but that all changed at Wembley. Leeds dramatically won the competition 14-12, having trailed 5-12 at half time. John Holmes put the side ahead with a left foot drop goal, before Ward added his second drop goal to seal the victory.
The curtain was brought down on the decade with another victory in the Premiership Final in 1979 against Bradford by 24-2 and this saw the end of the Golden Era of Leeds as a decade of frustration loomed.
The Barren Years 1981-1990
During a six-year spell as Leeds Coach, Syd Hynes won a major trophy every season and his success' would be a hard act to follow and his departure in 1981 signalled an unstable period. Robin Dewhurst, Maurice Bamford, Malcolm Clift, Peter Fox, Bamford again, Malcolm Reilly and David Ward all trying - and failing - to satisfy the hunger for success.
During this period Leeds only managed to win two trophies, the John Player Trophy in 1983 and the Yorkshire Cup in 1988. The club never gave up and they continued to invest in the best players hoping that something would click and Leeds would rule the game once more.
Players included Lee Crooks and Garry Schofield from Hull, both were proven internationals and cost Leeds world record transfer fees.
Overseas players were still influential in Leeds' make-up. Staggeringly, during the 1984-85 season, Leeds had nine imported players on their books but still finished the season empty-handed. The 1980s must be seen as one of the most barren and frustrating periods in the club's history.
Under the leadership of another former Headingley legend, David Ward, Leeds approached the 1990s in optimistic mood, hoping to rekindle the golden years, but unfortunately this wasn't to be.
They came close to winning the championship in 1989-90 when they finished second to the most successful Rugby League side in the modern era . . . Wigan.
A new beginning 1991 - 2000
Leeds were again signing the big name stars and in June 1990 they captured All Black John Gallagher, rated as the finest Rugby Union full-back in world, but he didn't live up to his expectations and drifted out of the game after several seasons.
At the end of the 1990-91 season David Ward was replaced by Doug Laughton who was rated as one of the best coaches of the modern era, having just guided Widnes to back-to-back League and Premiership titles, so Leeds felt they had the man to re-ignite the flame of success.
He began recruiting the best players, which included the signing of Great Britain captain, Ellery Hanley, completely rebuilding the side and relinquishing the services of the old guard under David Ward.
He also set about creating the finest youth policy in the country which the club had passed by since the 1960s and 70s. One thing Laughton never achieved at Leeds was a major trophy, despite reaching four major finals in his four-year spell at Headingley, which included two successive Challenge Cup finals against Wigan in 1994 and 1995. Laughton shocked the Rugby League world - and Leeds - by resigning at the end of the 1994-95 season.
In the pursuit of Wigan, Leeds had over-stretched their resources and when Dean Bell was brought in to replace Laughton, the club was at it's lowest point since the founding of the club. This change in management also signalled the start of a new era for rugby league, not just for Leeds, but for the whole game in this country. The decision was taken to evolve from a hundreds years of winter rugby and to make rugby league a summer sport. The new competition would have full time professionals at every top-flight club and would marketed itself as the game for all the family at the turn of the millennium.
The first Super League season was an arduous one for Bell and his squad. Stretched by injuries and an inexperienced squad, Leeds struggled in the Super League I. The team narrowly avoided relegation and Leeds CF & A Ltd were endanger of going out of business. In November 1996, the company was bought by Paul Caddick along with the founder of Sheffield Eagles, Gary Hetherington, who was installed as Chief Executive.
A new work ethos was installed at the club and the determination to turn the years of frustration into success. As part of that Leeds paid a world record fee for Wales captain Iestyn Harris from Warrington in April 1997. Harris was the heart of the new Leeds team and he would secure his own place in the club's history during his time at the club.
Super League II saw the newly named Rhinos reach the Challenge Cup semi final and they were the closest challengers to Bradford for the title. In that season, they also took part in the World Club Championship with home and away fixtures against the Adelaide Rams and the North Queensland Cowboys.
Dean Bell subsequently took up a role as Head of Youth Development and he was replaced by Australian Graham Murray as Head Coach. Murray became the catalyst for a new regime at Headingley and inspired his charges to the Inaugural Grand Final at Old Trafford.
But 1998 was to be just a taster of what was to come. 1999 saw a return to Wembley for the final Final at the famous stadium. Leeds beat Wigan, St Helens, Widnes and Bradford on their way to the Final where they met London Broncos. The game started badly for Leeds going 10-0 down, before the Rhinos ran riot. Flying winger Leroy Rivett re-wrote the record books scoring four tries in a 52-16 win. The team that day was: Harris, Rivett, Blackmore, Godden, Cummins, Powell, Sheridan, Fleary, Newton, McDermott, Morley, Farrell, Glanville. Subs: Jackson, Mathiou, Hay, St Hilaire.
At the end of the season Murray returned to Australia and was replaced by his compatriot Dean Lance. In his first season Leeds reached the Challenge Cup Final and recorded a 13 game winning run during the season. However, a poor run of results at the start of the 2001 season saw Lance leave the club and former player Daryl Powell was appointed First Team Coach.

Introduction

2005-12-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

The origins of rugby league in Great Britain go back long before the creation in 1895 of the Northern Union. To understand the history of the game, requires an appreciation of the shared "rugby" history before the split and the factors which brought about the creation of the two rugby codes.
In 1800's formalities were introduced to football rules in the seven major public schools of England. Six of the seven schools were largely playing the same game (including Eton, Harrow and Winchester) - while the seventh, Rugby School (founded in 1567) at Warwickshire, was playing a markedly different version of football.
The other schools moved ahead refining their rules and eventually their game became known as "association football" - soccer. How the Rugby School's game developed differently is lost in history and the true story is unlikely to ever be known. The Rugby Football Union's (RFU) much revered tale of how in 1823 the young Rugby School student, William Webb Ellis, "in a fine disregard for the rules" picked up the ball and ran with it in a defining moment in sports history is now accepted by sports historians as being fanciful and a gross distortion of what is known.
There is no doubt that Ellis was a student at Rugby School from 1816 to 1825, but he was never mentioned by anyone as having done the actual deed ascribed to him. The first reference to Ellis appeared in a Rugby School magazine in 1875 (four years after Ellis' death) by an Old Rugbeian, M. Bloxham, who was endeavouring to refute claims that rugby was an ancient game.
Bloxham's story has always been in doubt because of the time that had passed since Ellis supposedly ran with the ball. Bloxham himself wasn't there and no living person could corroborate his version of events. In addition, examination of existing records and documented recollections does not show that the Rugby game dramatically changed after one event (i.e. Ellis or anyone else deciding to run with the ball).
Handling the ball was permitted in football in the early 1800's when players were allowed to take a mark and then a free kick, long before Ellis arrived at Rugby. In fact, most of the public schools allowed forms of handling the ball right up until the formation of the Football Association in the 1860's. The Association even considered whether to allow its continuation, before eventually deciding to outlaw it. The reverse picture that the RFU has painted that the rugby game was born from soccer the moment Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it is clearly, even with very little examination, false.
What is known is that at Rugby School by the 1830's running with the ball was in common use, the goal posts had been extended to 18 feet high (with a cross-bar at 10 feet above the ground) and there were forms of scrummaging and line-outs. The inclusion of the cross-bar was accompanied by a rule that a goal could only be scored by the ball passing over the bar from a place kick or drop kick. Apparently this was done to make scoring easier from further out and also to avoid the horde of defenders standing in the goal mouth.
Players who were able to "touch-down" the ball behind the opponents’ goal line were awarded a "try-at-goal" - the player would make a mark on the goal line and then walk back onto the field of play to a point where a place kick at the goal was possible (a conversion). There was also an "off-your-side" rule used to keep the teams apart and passing the ball forward was not allowed. The rules were first seriously agreed upon and documented when former Rugby students and clubs wanted to commence formal competitions outside of the Rugby School in 1862. Many of the clubs that formed around this period would later become rugby league clubs.
From 1875 when games finished without any goals being scored, the team which had the most "tries-at-goal" was awarded the win. From 1886 three "tries" equalled one goal in points, before the balance finally moved to giving more value to the scoring of tries. By 1893 the scoring was much closer to what we know today - a try was worth three points, a converted try five points, three for a penalty goal and four for a field goal. However, the rugby game was still very brutal and raw with 71 deaths recorded in English rugby from 1890 to 1893 alone.