222 replies to this topic

[Maximus Decimus]

Was looking through an old Rothmans annual and it has a list of amateur clubs that had played in the Challenge Cup against professional opposition. Came across some cracking names, would be interesting to see what happened to them.

The best of the lot was the Widnes Dragons circa 1950, who says that monikers are a modern concept!

Couple of other names were the ACE amateurs, York Irish National League, Healey Street Adults, UNOs Dabs, Triangle Valve and Wakefield Lokomotiv.

[l'angelo mysterioso]

Was looking through an old Rothmans annual and it has a list of amateur clubs that had played in the Challenge Cup against professional opposition. Came across some cracking names, would be interesting to see what happened to them.

The best of the lot was the Widnes Dragons circa 1950, who says that monikers are a modern concept!

Couple of other names were the ACE amateurs, York Irish National League, Healey Street Adults, UNOs Dabs, Triangle Valve and Wakefield Lokomotiv.

I used to like Brassmoulders. It had a real south leeds artisan name about it. Although it was in fact a pub. The pub was next to the sun in near Beza bridge. The sun in still exists(last time I looked), and where the brass moulders arms was is still a patch of wasteland.

[paley]

Was looking through an old Rothmans annual and it has a list of amateur clubs that had played in the Challenge Cup against professional opposition. Came across some cracking names, would be interesting to see what happened to them.

The best of the lot was the Widnes Dragons circa 1950, who says that monikers are a modern concept!

Couple of other names were the ACE amateurs, York Irish National League, Healey Street Adults, UNOs Dabs, Triangle Valve and Wakefield Lokomotiv.

Was Triangle Valve from Triangle or was it a company team? My father's business bought a company called Triangle about 30 years ago - they made actuators and valves.

[JohnM]

What a coincidence! I've just received my copy of Valve User Magazine. It was packaged in with The Engineer.

Edited by JohnM, 26 March 2011 - 07:16 PM.

[bowes]

Those were the days when there was nothing between the professional league (and its reserve grade) and town leagues which seems strange now.

Some clubs have renamed or merged so could still be around in some form but I'm not sure if any of them are, the 1970s bottleneck is a large factor in why there's relatively few really old amateur clubs.

Some of my favourite old club names are Portobello Playboys and Basingstoke Beasts.

[Number 16]

Didn't Ellery Hanley start out at a club called Corpus Christi? What was that all about?

Going back one of most famous amateur clubs was Brookland Rovers from Maryport. They qualified for the CC on many occasions up to the fifties. Sadly, the club folded in the early 60s.

I played against Basingstoke Beasts in the mid-90s. They were a two season wonder!

[Maximus Decimus]

Didn't Ellery Hanley start out at a club called Corpus Christi? What was that all about?

Going back one of most famous amateur clubs was Brookland Rovers from Maryport. They qualified for the CC on many occasions up to the fifties. Sadly, the club folded in the early 60s.

I played against Basingstoke Beasts in the mid-90s. They were a two season wonder!

Corpus Christi is quite a common Catholic name for things.

[Maximus Decimus]

Those were the days when there was nothing between the professional league (and its reserve grade) and town leagues which seems strange now.

Some clubs have renamed or merged so could still be around in some form but I'm not sure if any of them are, the 1970s bottleneck is a large factor in why there's relatively few really old amateur clubs.

Some of my favourite old club names are Portobello Playboys and Basingstoke Beasts.

What do you mean by the 1970's bottleneck factor?

[Number 16]

What do you mean by the 1970's bottleneck factor?

I thought he was making some retro fashion statement.

[bowes]

What do you mean by the 1970's bottleneck factor?

Basically before BARLA were formed in 1973 the amateur game was dying and many of the clubs left had no league to play in especially in Lancashire (only the Warrington League, Manchester League and Barrow League still existed and I think even the Warrington League may have just folded by then), Yorkshire merged leagues and/or ran on Sundays to keep something together. Outside of the heartlands there were just 3 clubs, all amateur and all from London playing in the Southern ARL (now London ARL). Usually if you wanted to enter a league you'd usually have to play the top local amateur sides from the start.

BARLA merged the leagues into viable competitions and got loads of new clubs forming especially in the 1980s boom (much of this outside the heartlands), unfortunately neglect eventually set in.

[paley]

What a coincidence! I've just received my copy of Valve User Magazine. It was packaged in with The Engineer.

Ah there you go - Rotork on the front cover of one of them. Exeeco, my father's business, was eventually bought by Rotork

[Maximus Decimus]

Basically before BARLA were formed in 1973 the amateur game was dying and many of the clubs left had no league to play in especially in Lancashire (only the Warrington League, Manchester League and Barrow League still existed and I think even the Warrington League may have just folded by then), Yorkshire merged leagues and/or ran on Sundays to keep something together. Outside of the heartlands there were just 3 clubs, all amateur and all from London playing in the Southern ARL (now London ARL). Usually if you wanted to enter a league you'd usually have to play the top local amateur sides from the start.

BARLA merged the leagues into viable competitions and got loads of new clubs forming especially in the 1980s boom (much of this outside the heartlands), unfortunately neglect eventually set in.

What was the situation like in the 1940's/50's then?

Was it a case of it you wanted to play RL in Widnes then, that there was a Widnes league of teams that played each other and not teams from elsewhere?

[bowes]

What was the situation like in the 1940's/50's then?

Was it a case of it you wanted to play RL in Widnes then, that there was a Widnes league of teams that played each other and not teams from elsewhere?

As far as I know yes. Up til at least the late 1920s non-league Lancashire clubs could enter the professional reserve grade and there was a Yorkshire Senior League as well (which was first teams) for clubs to step up to from the district leagues. When this stopped I don't know, I just can't find a record of it after that. Featherstone and Castleford joined from the Yorkshire Senior League and Wigan Highfield from the Lancashire Combination (i.e. reserve grade) all in the 1920s but would have thought it had long since gone by the 40s/50s.

In the first season of BARLA (1973-74) only the following playing leagues:

Leeds (Saturday and Sunday, the latter 11-a-side)
York (Saturday and Sunday, though only 2 clubs in the Saturday league!)
Castleford and Wakefield (Sunday)
Halifax & Huddersfield
Hull
Manchester
Barrow
Cumberland
Southern (3 clubs!)

http://www.totalrl.com/index.php?showtopic=193852

More on there and the solution to the problem

Juniors was just:

Hull Juniors (unsure which age)
Leeds Juniors (Under 19, under 17, under 16)
Manchester Under 17
Cumberland (Under 17s and Under 19s)
Barrow (Under 17s and 19s)

Edited by bowes, 26 March 2011 - 09:42 PM.

[deluded pom?]

Ah there you go - Rotork on the front cover of one of them. Exeeco, my father's business, was eventually bought by Rotork

I always thought you were born with a silver spoon in your gob paley.

[Marv Woodburn]

before my day NWC side Hindpool were called corporation combine. Think it had something to do with the council.
I always remember it on the changing room door when you used to get changed in the cellar of the pub across the road. Great days.

[Griff9of13]

A few names I remember playing against in the early 80s:

Thames Board, Warrington (paper mill works team AFAIR)
Boilermakers, St Helens (coached by the very recently retired Saints hard man, Dave Chisnall)
ICI Thornton & Cleavleys (another now defunct works team)
Heinz Kitt Green, Wigan also had a team, but never had the 'pleasure' of playing them.

[Bitofaboogie]

Was looking through an old Rothmans annual and it has a list of amateur clubs that had played in the Challenge Cup against professional opposition. Came across some cracking names, would be interesting to see what happened to them.

The best of the lot was the Widnes Dragons circa 1950, who says that monikers are a modern concept!

Couple of other names were the ACE amateurs, York Irish National League, Healey Street Adults, UNOs Dabs, Triangle Valve and Wakefield Lokomotiv.

I think that if you look back far enough, you can find a team who competed in the Challenge Cup under the magnificent moniker of "Twelve Apostles." I believe they were from the Leigh area, maybe a church/parish team - do any of the Lobbygobblers in here know for certain?

[Bitofaboogie]

Was Triangle Valve from Triangle or was it a company team? My father's business bought a company called Triangle about 30 years ago - they made actuators and valves.

Triangle valve were a works-based team.

[deluded pom?]

They never played in the CC but one of Myton Warriors earlier incarnations was Knaggs Electrical.

[bowes]

NDLB (think that's the right initials) are now West Hull I believe. Think Ace Amateurs were Hull but can't remember if they became anyone