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.

Liversedge Football Club - Part One

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a number of articles about Liversedge Football Club. This is the first one.

Following its first season as members of the Northern Union, the Liversedge Football Club held its Annual General Meeting on Friday 12th June, 1896. The report given by the secretary, Mr J.E. Hampshire, published in the Cleckheaton Guardian on 19th June 1896 makes interesting reading.

Mr Hampshire said:

‘As you are all aware the past season has been a very peculiar and exceptional one. A new Union has been formed by twenty two of the best clubs in the North of England. The latest events have proved that it was a step in the right direction, and something that should have been done years ago. As we are situated today, each club connected with the Northern Union has a voice at headquarters and may have a representative there to defend anything that may be brought against his club, which was not the case under the old rules. I think I may venture to say that before five years today the Northern Union will be the only one in the North of England, and if we make the same rapid strides we have done this season less than that time will see all the clubs members of the new organisation. It is all very well and sounds large for such gentlemen as Mr Mark Newsome, Mr J.A. Miller, Mr H.H. Watson and Mr A. Hartley to talk about pure amateurism when they know perfectly well that there is no such thing in the Yorkshire Union. This season, if anyone will take the trouble to get one or all the balance sheets of the clubs connected with the Northern Union, I will be bound they will find that the expenses of players have been curtailed to the extent of £100 to £400, which speaks volumes for the new Union.’

Mr Hampshire's statement that all the clubs in the North of England would, within five years, join the Northern Union wasn't proved correct. The Yorkshire Rugby Football Union lost most of its leading clubs in 1895, but, over the next thirty years, new rugby union clubs were formed all over the county. The hopes of Northern Union pioneers like Mr Hampshire were not fulfilled, and the Northern Union did not expand at the same rate. Some new clubs joined but the numbers were small, and the next thirty years for the Northern Union was mainly about consolidation rather than rapid expansion. Many of the clubs that broke away did survive and prosper, but unfortunately Liversedge wasn't one of them. By 1900 the club was in severe difficulties and had to merge with Cleckheaton.

2012 - A new opportunity for South Yorkshire

Dodworth and Sheffield Hillsborough are the two South Yorkshire clubs that attempted to improve their playing standards by joining the National Conference League. The facilities at both clubs were excellent. The complex at Hillsborough was built in that late 1990s and had two pitches, modern off field facilities and a bar and function room all for the exclusive use of the rugby club. Dodworth’s facilities, although not as up to date as Hillsborough’s, were more than adequate. A large flat pitch, changing rooms, a bar and club room on the site meant that Dodworth more than met the NCL criteria. Both Dodworth and Hillsborough had good support at home games and initially there appeared to be enough good players at both clubs in order to sustain a competitive team

So why have both attempts to establish National Conference League clubs in South Yorkshire failed? I think there are three main reasons why South Yorkshire hasn’t been able to sustain this level of rugby: player supply, coaching and the commitment of the professional club

Player supply

Hillsborough and Dodworth were competitive on the field when they had their best team available but if any key players were missing both clubs struggled. There is no real player depth in South Yorkshire. The standard of Conference rugby is so much higher than the standard of the local open age clubs. If a player was recruited by Hillsborough or Dodworth from a local club he would often struggle to adapt to what was required of him both skill wise and physically. Also, when the two clubs were in the NCL neither of them had developed their junior structures to a standard that meant that a young player could move successfully from youth rugby into open age.

Coaching

Both clubs struggled to find coaches who had sufficient experience in the game in order to ensure the players were well prepared for the tough environment they were being thrust into. Paul Harkin, who coached Dodworth for a period, was an exception. Paul had been a successful professional and his experience meant that when he was coaching Dodworth they had their most successful period. However, once Paul departed standards declined rapidly and this resulted in Dodworth leaving the NCL. A coaching structure, at both clubs, that had experienced men at the top could have ensured that an environment was created for players that enabled them to adjust to the demands of Conference rugby.

The professional club

 I am not convinced that Sheffield Eagles recognised the value of having a successful Conference club in their catchment area. There appeared to be initial enthusiasm for the idea. However, very soon friction between the professionals and amateurs resulted in both clubs suffering. Sheffield Eagles appeared to see no real value in the presence of the Conference club and the amateurs seemed to believe that the professionals were working against them.

Although Amateur Rugby League has been played in South Yorkshire for nearly forty years it is still seen as an 'alien invader'. Soccer dominates and the sport has hundreds of clubs playing at all levels. Rugby League, in South Yorkshire, is never going to challenge soccer's dominance but the sport does need to provide an opportunity for the best amateur players to test themselves at a higher level.  In 2012 Rugby League will have a new four tier pyramid structure based on a March to November playing season.This new structure will provide South Yorkshire clubs with a great opportunity to improve their playing standards and develop teams that can compete at a much higher level. I hope they will rise to the challenge.

An anecdote from Leeds Who?

Leeds Who? contains many anecdotes from former Chirons players. This is an incident from the 1980s recalled by Ian Benn.

Ian was a very hard working forward who was missed whenever he was unable to play. He remained committed to the club right up to the 'dark days' of the 1980s. He has a particularly fond memory of that period about a player called Dave Barker who had a pet python that he always took to games in a pillow case. Dave left the snake in the dressing room for a particular game at Burley. A thief broke into the clubhouse and ransacked the home dressing room, but hardly touched Chirons valuables. When the thefts were discovered after the game, it was assumed that the Chirons players' valuables were largely untouched because the thief had opened the pillow case, found the python and beat a hasty retreat.

Leeds Who? The story of a forgotten rugby union club is available from:

YPD Books - see the link from this site.

Philip Howard Books, Street Lane, Leeds

Amazon

Waterstone's