Liversedge RFC (Rugby League)
Encyclopedia
Liversedge RFC was a professional rugby league club.


The club was based in Liversedge
Liversedge
Liversedge is a township in the former parish of Birstall, in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike about southwest of Leeds.-Settlements within Liversedge:...

, a township
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...

 in the former parish of Birstall
Birstall, West Yorkshire
Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England and situated roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds. It features a quaint triangular Victorian marketplace, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill...

, in the metropolitan borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

 of Kirklees
Kirklees
The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The club was involved in the momentous meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield
George Hotel, Huddersfield
The George Hotel, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, situated in the centre of the city, is a Grade II listed building famous as the birthplace of rugby league football....

 in 1895.


And after the schism, the club became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

) and played for seven seasons from 1895–96 to 1901-02
1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...



Only limited County League information is available for season (1901-02).

Early Days

There is little evidence about the early Liversedge club other than it was founded in 1877.

Northern Union

Prior to the Schism, Liversedge, like many other clubs from Lancashire (and Yorkshire), had suffered punishment by the RFU
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...

 for “broken time“ payments.


And so Liversedge, represented by a Mr. J H Hampshire, attended a meeting at The George Hotel, Huddersfield
George Hotel, Huddersfield
The George Hotel, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, situated in the centre of the city, is a Grade II listed building famous as the birthplace of rugby league football....

, together with the with representatives of 21 other clubs, and agreed to form a Northern Rugby Football Union.

After the Great Schism in 1895, Liversedge were one of the founder members of the new league. In the first season 1895-96 the league consisted of 22 clubs and Liversedge finished in 15th position.

In season 1896-97 the league was divided into Yorkshire and Lancashire, Liversedge playing in the former section, where they would stay for the remainder of their (semi) professional existence. They did slightly better, finishing in 11th position out of 16 teams.

In the following four seasons, still in the Yorkshire section, seasons 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899-00 & 1900-01 they finished bottom in every season except 1898-99 when they managed to finish second bottom, in each case out of the 16 clubs.

In the final season, 1901-02
1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

 they yet again won the wooden spoon, finishing 14th out of 14 teams, with only six points.

Liversedge dropped out of the league after the end of season 1901-02
1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

, (or as described in Cherry and White "disappeared”).

Successor Clubs

A local article states “Although Liversedge RFC were founder members of the Rugby League, strangely they have no team now, and no particular Rugby League heritage. The game is still popular locally with many supporting other local teams namely Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....

. Dewsbury Rams
Dewsbury Rams
Dewsbury Rams RLFC is a professional rugby league club based in the West Yorkshire town of Dewsbury. They are arguably most famous for becoming Champions in 1972-73 after finishing the regular season in 8th place. In the playoffs they beat Featherstone away, Warrington away, and then Leeds in the...

 & Batley Bulldogs
Batley Bulldogs
Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club from Batley, West Yorkshire. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Batley is one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895...

 although strangely not Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....

”, which maybe shows that the club were just in the right place at the right time (or maybe “wrong” time).

And the history of Liversedge F.C.
Liversedge F.C.
Liversedge F.C. are a football club based in Cleckheaton, England, on the border with Hightown in Liversedge and members of the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division for the 2011–12 season....

 states that “Liversedge Football Club was founded in 1910 following the demise of the old Liversedge Rugby Club which had been a member of the Northern Union which, in turn, was the forerunner to the Rugby League. It was one of a number of clubs which switched codes around that time”.

If this statement is true, it could be assumed that after losing the position in the Yorkshire Senior Competition, the club played for several years in a lower league.

Today the town is represented by Liversedge ARLFC who play at Primrose Lane (off Bradford Road)

Players of Note

Harry Varley
Harry Varley
Henry "Harry" Varley was a rugby union and professional rugby union footballer of the 1890s who at representative level played rugby union for England, and at club level for Liversedge, playing Scrum-half, i.e...

 (b 25/11/1867 to d 21/11/1915) played rugby union for England v Scotland 1892 and at club level for Liversedge.
He later played Rugby League for Liversedge and Oldham
Oldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....

.

Robert "Bob" Wood
Robert Wood (rugby)
Robert "Bob" Wood was a rugby union footballer of the 1890s who at representative level played for England, and at club level for Liversedge, playing Half-back, i.e. number 9, or 10...

 (b 1873) played rugby union for England v Ireland in 1894 and at club level for Liversedge. He later played Rugby League for Liversedge.

Club Scoring Record

In a Season
Details Season Competition Notes Ref
Highest League Position 15 1895-96 RL out of 22 clubs
Lowest League Position 16 1897-98 Yorks Sen out of 16 clubs
and 16 1899-00 Yorks Sen out of 16 clubs
and 16 1900-01 Yorks Sen out of 16 clubs
Most League Points 34 1895-96 RL out of possible 84 = 41%
or 16 1896-97 Yorks Sen out of possible 60 = 43%
Least League Points 6 1900-01 Yorks Sen out of possible 60 = 10%
Most Points Scored (PF) 261 1895-96 RL In 42 games = 6.21/game
Most Points Conceded (PA) 449 1897-98 Yorks Sen In 30 games = 2.53/game >- Least Points Scored (PF) 43 1900-01 Yorks Sen In 30 games = 1.43/game
Least Points Conceded (PA) 233 1896-97 Yorks Sen In 30 games = 5.87/game
Best Points Difference
1896-97 Yorks Sen In 30 games
Worst Points Difference
1900-01 Yorks Sen In 30 games

Club League Record

Season Competition Pos Team Name Pl W D L PW PA Diff Pts % No of teams in league Notes Ref
1895-96 RL 15 Liversedge 42 15 4 23 261 355
34 22
1896-97 Yorks Sen 11 Liversedge 30 13 0 17 176 233
26 16
1897-98 Yorks Sen 16 Liversedge 30 3 1 26 76 449
7 16
1898-99 Yorks Sen 15 Liversedge 30 5 3 22 131 439
13 16
1899-00 Yorks Sen 16 Liversedge 30 5 1 24 94 303
11 16
1900-01 Yorks Sen 16 Liversedge 30 2 2 26 43 386
6 16
1901-02 Yorks Sen 14 Liversedge 6 14
Only limited County League information is available for this season.


Pl = Games Played: W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose; PF = Points For; PA = Points Against; Diff = Points Difference (+ or -); Pts = League Points

League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


Several fixtures & results

The following are a selection of Liversedge's fixturesfrom the seven seasons in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League :-


Season Date Competition Opponent Venue H/A Result Score Att Notes Ref
1895-96 Sat 14-09-1895 RL Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

H H Lost 0-3
1895-96 Sat 21-09-1895 RL Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 0-3
1895-96 12-10-1895 RL Widnes
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

Lowerhouse Lane
Halton Stadium
The Stobart Stadium Halton is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, England. The Widnes Vikings play their home games there as do Everton Reserves...

A Won 15-5 2
1895-96 Sat 04-01-1896 RL Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Lost 0-15
1895-96 11-01-1896 RL Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

unknown ? Won 8-3
1895-96 22-02-1896 RL Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

unknown ? Lost 4-27
1895-96 Sat 07-03-1896 RL Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

Folly Fields  A Lost 0-25 1
1895-96 07-04-1896 RL Widnes
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

H H Won 6-0
1895-96 Thu 16-04-1896 RL St Helens H H Won 7-14
1895 -96 Thu 16-04-1896 RL St Helens Knowsley Rd
Knowsley Road
Knowsley Road was a stadium located in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home of St Helens RLFC from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted Liverpool FC Reserves...

A Lost 13-3
1896-97 Sat 26-0 9-1896 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Lost 0-5
1896-97 Sat 02-01-1897 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 0-13
1896-97 03-04-1897 CC R3 Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

Wilderspool
Wilderspool Stadium
Wilderspool Stadium is a rugby league stadium located in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. It holds just over 9,000, after substantial decreases for crowd safety...

A Lost 0-6
1897-98 Sat 30-10-1897 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Won 3-0
1898-99 Mon 02-01-1898 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Lost 0-8
1897-98 Sat 05-02-1898 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 0-25
1897-98 26-02-1898 CC R1 Widnes
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

Lowerhouse Lane
Halton Stadium
The Stobart Stadium Halton is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, England. The Widnes Vikings play their home games there as do Everton Reserves...

A Lost 0-26 2
1898-99 Tue 11-10-1898 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 2-36
1899-00 Sat 07-10-1899 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Lost 10-11
1899-00 Sat 13-01-1900 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 0-32
1900-01 Sat 08-12-1900 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

Boulevard
The Boulevard (Stadium)
The Boulevard was a multi-purpose stadium in Hull, England. The venue was saved from demolition and reopened on 25 October 2007 as the home of greyhound racing in the city. It can also be used as a community stadium hosting amateur rugby league matches...

A Lost 0-30
1900-01 Mon 08-04-1901 YSC Hull
Hull FC
Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull FC, is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition...

H H Lost 3-16


CC Rx = Challenge Cup Round x; YC Rx =Yorkshire Cup Competition; YSC =Yorkshire Senior Competition

See also

British rugby league system
British rugby league system
The British rugby league system is based on four separate structures: the professional leagues administered by the Rugby Football League, the reserve leagues, the amateur leagues administered by British Amateur Rugby League Association and the Rugby League Conference.There is no system of automatic...



1895-96 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1895-96 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the first ever season of semi-professional rugby football, which formed the foundation of the modern-day sport of rugby league. Twenty-two Northern English teams from both sides of the Pennines broke away from the Rugby Football Union to create...



1896-97 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1896-97 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the second ever season of rugby league football. Following the success of the Northern Union's first season, several more clubs from the established Rugby Football Union joined the rebel competition...



1897-98 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1897-98 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the third season of rugby league football.-Summary:The leading try scorer this season was Hoskins of Salford, who crossed the line 30 times. The leading goal scorer was Goldthorpe of Hunslet who was successful 66 times...



1898-99 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1898-99 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the fourth season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The Lancashire Senior Competition was won by Broughton Rangers and the Yorkshire Senior Competition by Batley.-Lancashire Senior Competition:...



1899-00 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1899-00 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1899–1900 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the fifth season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The Lancashire Senior Competition was won by Runcorn and the Yorkshire Senior Competition by Bradford....



1900-01 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1900-01 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1900–01 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the sixth season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The Lancashire Senior Competition was won by Oldham and the Yorkshire Senior Competition by Bradford....



1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season
The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...



The Great Schism – Rugby League View

The Great Schism – Rugby Union View

Rugby league county leagues
Rugby league county leagues
The Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...



List of defunct rugby league clubs 

Harry Varley
Harry Varley
Henry "Harry" Varley was a rugby union and professional rugby union footballer of the 1890s who at representative level played rugby union for England, and at club level for Liversedge, playing Scrum-half, i.e...

 

Robert “Bob” Wood
Robert Wood (rugby)
Robert "Bob" Wood was a rugby union footballer of the 1890s who at representative level played for England, and at club level for Liversedge, playing Half-back, i.e. number 9, or 10...

 

Liversedge sporting history

External links

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