Morley Rugby League Club?

I found the information below on Morley Rugby Union Club's website- I think it makes interesting reading!

‘On the 29th of August 1895, in the George Hotel in Huddersfield, 21 representatives of Clubs from Yorkshire and Lancashire met to form what is now the Rugby League. 
There should have been another two persons present, i.e. representing MORLEY RFC, but since travel in those days could only be done by train, and was considered a long journey, our two notable gentlemen decided to fortify themselves in readiness for their arduous trip. This they did by calling at several hostelries on route to the station, needless to say they missed their train, and the rest as they say ......is history.’

So should there have been an extra club taking part in the first season of  the Northern Union?

 Is the story true? 

Who was Bob Oakes?

   

Probably the most influential figure in Yorkshire Rugby Union in the last century, Robert Frederick Oakes was the Yorkshire secretary from 1907 until 1947 who represented the County at the Rugby Football Union from 1920 until 1945 and was the RFU President in 1933/34.

Bob Oakes was born in 1873 and died in 1952. He had an illustrious playing career, beginning with Hartlepool Trinity. He joined Hartlepool Rovers in 1890, playing for the club for nine years. During his time with Hartlepool Rovers, Bob captained the team for six seasons, played for Durham and the North and gained eight England caps. He moved to Yorkshire at the turn of the century and played for Headingley from 1902 until 1904.

Bob Oakes is remembered by Hartlepool Rovers every year by the R. F. Oakes Memorial match. This is a fixture that in the past has featured many International players. These days it is the final game of the season for Hartlepool, who play a Select XV.

Perhaps Bob Oakes contribution to Yorkshire Rugby Union should be recognised in a similar way. In 2012 it will be 125 years since his birth, a very fitting time to establish a memorial tradition to this remarkable rugby man.

Where are they now?

1969/70 was my first season at Barnsley and when I recently looked at the fixture list for that season I was struck by how things have changed in rugby union over the past 40 years. Exactly why some clubs have disappeared, while others have improved their status and still another group has declined is hard to explain. Was the reason the impact of leagues, professionalism or the increasing range of leisure activities available? Notably, rugby union has suffered a decline in playing numbers. Clubs that once organised four or five teams now only organise two or three. Players can now move freely between the two codes but that hasn’t had a significant impact on player numbers.

The reality is that the reasons for the changes are complex. There isn’t just one reason for clubs disappearing, improving their status or declining. I have listed below the clubs that were in the 1969/70 Barnsley fixture list, the name they go by today and, if they are still in existence, which league they are in.

1969/70	CURRENT CLUB NAME	2011/12 LEAGUE
HEATH OLD BOYS	HEATH RUFC	NORTH ONE EAST
YORKSHIRE COPPER WORKS	NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE
ROTHERHAM	ROTHERHAM TITANS	THE CHAMPIONSHIP
BRAMLEY BARBARIANS	BRAMLEY PHOENIX	YORKSHIRE THREE
RODILLIANS	STANLEY RODILLIANS	YORKSHIRE FOUR
STOCKSBRIDGE	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE FIVE
LEEDS CHIRONS	NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE
SHEFFIELD TIGERS	NO CHANGE	NATIONAL LEAGUE 2 (NORTH)
WEST PARK OLD BOYS	WEST PARK LEEDS	YORKSHIRE TWO
BEVERLEY	NO CHANGE	NATIONAL LEAGUE 3 (NORTH)
OLD WATHONIANS	WATH UPON DEARNE	YORKSHIRE TWO
YARNBURY	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE TWO
HUDDERSFIELD YMCA	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE ONE
CLECKHEATON	NO CHANGE	NORTH ONE EAST
OLD RISHWORTHIANS	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE THREE
LEEDS CORINTHIANS	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE FOUR
BAILDON	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE THREE
LEEDS ENGINEERS	NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE
BURLEY	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE THREE
HALIFAX VANDALS	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE THREE
OLD GRAMMARIANS	NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE
EAST RETFORD	NO CHANGE	MIDLAND FOUR EAST (NORTH)
YORK	NO CHANGE	YORKSHIRE ONE

Barnsley currently play in Yorkshire Two and in 2011/12 only have fixtures against three of the twenty three clubs listed above.

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.

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.

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 11^th 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 16^th 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 27^th 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 3^rd 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 28^th 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.

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.