One of the game’s great old names are shining a light on the past, and a special era for the club, through their playing kit for 2026.

TIMES have long been lean for Swinton, who haven’t played in the top flight since 1992, the year they left their spiritual Station Road home.

But the Lions have a long and proud history, and amid plans for a new stadium which would mark a return to the M27 postcode area from where they originated, the club through their new navy blue shirt are marking the 100th anniversary of the second of their three proud Challenge Cup triumphs.

It’s based on that worn on Saturday, 1st May, 1926, with holders Oldham beaten 9-3 in the final at a wet and windswept Athletic Grounds in Rochdale, where 26,566 turned out to see two of the top teams of that era go head to head.

As the big match was being played out, talks were going on to try and avert what was to be known as the General Strike, called by the Trade Union Congress in response to poor working conditions and lessening of pay in Britain’s coal mines.

As the colliers walked out, workers from other industries joined them in a display of solidarity, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction, and it was estimated that at the height of the nine-day action, around three million were involved.

The factors which led to the strike meant many players in the rugby union heartland of South Wales were tempted by offers to turn professional, so allowing them to make money from both the oval-ball game and a day-to-day job.

Swinton, backed by local businessman Sir Lees Knowles, tempted a number of players north in the 1920s, including tricky Llanelli winger Frank Evans, Talywain centre Wilf Sulway and Billo Rees, a slick stand-off from Glanamman, all three of whom helped them in 1925 win the Lancashire League and reach the Championship Final, won 9-5 by Hull KR, also at Rochdale.

While raised locally, brothers Jack and Bryn Evans, a centre and scrum-half respectively, were the sons of former Wales rugby union international Jack snr, who was a second-row in Swinton’s 1900 Challenge Cup-winning team (Salford were defeated 16-8 at Fallowfield in Manchester).

Swinton also had a talismanic centre and leader in Hector Halsall, although while the man signed from Wigan’s second string skippered them in the Lancashire Cup finals of 1923-24 (won 17-0 by St Helens Recreation at Central Park, Wigan) and 1925-26 (when Wigan were beaten 15-11 at Broughton Rangers’ ground The Cliff in Salford), injuries kept him out of both the 1925 Championship Final and the 1926 Challenge Cup Final.

That meant Jack Evans was captain on both occasions, with Swinton reaching the latter by beating Batley 19-9 at Chorley Road, their ground prior to building Station Road in 1929, winning 20-3 in a second-round replay at Broughton after an 8-8 draw, defeating Hull KR 24-3 at home, then seeing off Hull FC 13-2 in a semi-final at Thrum Hall, Halifax.

On the same day at The Willows in Salford, Oldham were 15-6 winners in their semi-final against Wigan Highfield (not the cherry and whites from Central Park who had been knocked out at Leeds in round two).

Earlier in the competition, Oldham had won 18-6 at Leigh, 12-3 at home to Rochdale Hornets and 8-5 at home to Halifax, and by beating Highfield, clinched a second straight final appearance (they defeated Hull KR 16-3 at Headingley, Leeds in 1925) and sixth up to that point.

The side from Watersheddings (the club’s base from 1889 until 1997) had effective former rugby union players in Ernest Knapman, a full-back plucked from Torquay, and forwards Rothwell Marlor and Bob Sloman from Plymouth Albion and Ambrose Baker (Neath), while centre Sid Rix was a Great Britain international and scrum-half George Hesketh was shining after switching from Wigan.

The final was evenly matched, and with the wind behind them in the first half, Swinton made that advantage count.

Second-row Herbert Morris, another rugby union convert (from Coventry), registered the final’s first points with a penalty goal, and on 22 minutes, lively hooker Henry Blewer nipped over for a try (worth three points) after a field goal attempt by Rees came back off the bar.

Morris converted, then added a second penalty goal for a 9-0 half-time lead.

It was so far, soo good for Swinton, but it was clear that Oldham, who would have the help of the wind in the second half, certainly weren’t finished, and some alarm bells must have been ringing when Welsh winger Joe Corsi, who had started his rugby league career at Rochdale, crossed just five minutes in following a clever chip and chase.

However the Chorley Road side dug in, and with loose-forward Fred Beswick playing as an additional threequarter to counter Oldham’s backs (in particular nippy winger Albert Brough), they defended with spirit and tenacity, and held Oldham out to add the Challenge Cup to the Lancashire Cup.

It was the start of something special, for while Oldham avenged their defeat in the following season’s final repeat, winning 26-7 at Central Park, in 1927-28, Swinton, with captain Halsall influential, followed Hunslet (1907-08) and Huddersfield (1914-15) as the third team to win ‘All Four Cups’.

In their case it was the Lancashire Cup (Wigan were defeated 5-2 in the final at Watersheddings), Lancashire League, Challenge Cup (5-3 against Warrington in the final back at Central Park) and league title (having topped the table, Swinton beat Featherstone Rovers 11-0 in the Championship Final at Watersheddings).

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 517 (February 2026)