Thursday, 24 November 2011

Liversedge Football Club - Part Four

Liversedge Football Club played its first few home games on a field owned by a Mr Hemingway. It is not clear where in Liversedge the pitch was located but it was described in match reports as hilly terrain. Presumably, that meant it had a slope from one end to the other. In the 1880s Liversedge developed their ground in Hightown on an area of land next to Halifax Road that is now the King George V Playing Fields. The ground was enclosed. It had a stand and for some of the time Liversedge played there it also had a clubroom.


During the period that the club used the ground in Hightown it also used a number of local public houses as its headquarters. One of them the Shoulder of Mutton, which was about a mile from the ground, was demolished a few years ago.


The stand, clubroom and pitch boundaries were made of wood and, as you can see from this photograph of the King George V Playing Fields taken in the 1990s no trace of the ground remains.


Thursday, 17 November 2011

LET THEM PLAY BY ALL MEANS

This will be the title of my new book on Yorkshire Rugby Union in World War Two. I hope to have the book in print in early March 2012. I have nearly completed my research and I hope that the book will tell the story of what happened in Yorkshire rugby between 1939 and 1946. If anyone reading this article has any connections with a club that played during World War Two, I would be grateful if they would get in touch. I can be contacted by email. Please click on the contact page for address details.

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Lversedge Football Club - Part Three


After a difficult first season as members of the Northern Union the 1896/97 season, their second in the new breakaway competition was one of consolidation for Liversedge Football Club. At the end of the 1895/96 season the Northern Union had decided to spit into Lancashire and Yorkshire sections, a change that would help clubs with the cost of travel, which was an issue for small organisations like Liversedge.
On the field the club was a little more consistent, finishing in 11th place in a league of 16 clubs. There were also some notable victories, including a10 points to 0 away win at Huddersfield and a 23 points to 7 home victory against Wakefield Trinity. The club also had the advantage, in the 1896/97 season, of local derbies against near neighbours Heckmondwike. The home game against Heckmondwike, on 16th January 1897, produced one of the best gates of the season, with receipts of £29 6s and 10d. However, it wasn’t the league games that produced the best gates in 1896/97; it was the Rugby League Challenge Cup. On 27th March 1897, Liversedge were at home, in the first round, against their local rivals Heckmondwike and won the cup-tie by 9 points to 4. Better still was a half share of the gate receipts which amounted to £37 15s 10d. In the next round of the Challenge Cup Liversedge had to travel to Warrington on Saturday 3rd April. Unfortunately it wasn’t a successful visit on the field, as Liversedge lost by 6 points to 0, but off the field it was a different story - a half share of the gate amounting to £40 8s 2d, easily the best of the season.
During the close season the club had undertaken some fund raising, so that when Mr J.E. Hampshire, the financial secretary, presented his balance sheet it showed that £50 9s 3d was owed to the bank. This balance was regarded as quite acceptable by the President, Mr Herbert Heaton JP. He felt that as long as every player and member continued to work hard, then the club could look forward to reducing its liabilities. He also said that the sum owed was very small for a club like Liversedge.
The large attendance of members at the Annual General Meeting on 28th June 1897 must have left the Liversedge club rooms encouraged by what they had heard and looking forward to September and the start of the new season.

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Liversedge Football Club - Part Two

At the 1896 Annual General Meeting of the Liversedge Football Club the balance sheet presented by Mr G.W. Halmshaw, the financial secretary, made interesting reading. Liversedge’s gate receipts from their first season as members of the Northern Union were £294 compared with the previous season as members of the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union, when £817 was taken in gate receipts. It seems that even in the 1890s gates were greatly affected by results on the field. In the 1894/95, season Liversedge had a very good campaign, finishing as Champions of the Yorkshire Senior Competition. While in the 1895/95 season in the Northern Union, Liversedge finished fifteenth in a league of twenty two clubs. Attendances at Liversedge games declined as the season progressed, obviously reflecting the decline in playing performances. The largest home gate of the season was £30 7s, when Bradford visited Liversedge. The Manningham gate of £25 12s 3d was the next best, with only the home games against Leeds £20 18s 9d and Brighouse Rangers £21 12s producing receipts in excess of £20. Despite these poor gate receipts, Mr Halmshaw gave a positive report suggesting that the situation was not as disastrous as many people thought it would be. He pointed out that the club’s capital account showed a balance in favour of the club of £19 4s 3d. Liversedge had some interesting assets as you will see below.
 Liabilities

£
s
d
New Grand Stand Shares
127
  0
0
New Grand Stand Shares 3 years interest
  19
  1
0
Accounts owing
103
11
0
Owing Bank
  44
  2
3
Balance Assets in excess of Liabilities
  19
  4
6

312
18
6

Assets

£
s
d
Grand Stands, Field Fencing, Tackling and Football Requisites, Billiard Table, Bath and Club Rooms fittings, as per stock book (less depreciation)


289


  0


0
Outstanding Members Subscriptions
  21
11
0
Stock of Aerated Waters and Cigars in Club Room Curator’s hands

15
6
Cash in Club Room Curator’s hands

19
0
Cash in Treasurer’s hands

13
0

319
18
6

For a small village club, like Liversedge, life in the first season of the Northern Union was very tough. How did the club fare in its second season? I will review the 1896/97 season next week.