Sixty years ago, Bramley left their historic Barley Mow home for a new ground and a new era at McLaren Field. 

BOTH the club and the ground are long gone.

But back in 1966, even the most pessimistic rugby league follower might have found it hard to foresee the sad demise of Bramley.

Okay, they might always have lived in the shadow of their far more powerful neighbours Leeds, as well as, at that time, Hunslet, who had played at Wembley in the 1965 Challenge Cup Final, edged by Wigan.

But sixty years ago, there was an air of optimism as the Yorkshire city’s ‘third’ team, who traced their roots back to 1879 and the Muscular Christianity religious movement, which emphasised physical health, athletic skill, and a vigorous expression of masculinity as paths to spiritual and moral development, began a new era at a new venue, McLaren Field.

The move from their previous Barley Mow ground, Bramley’s base since 1881, a home of rugby league since the club joined the Northern Union in 1896, the location of the first match involving a touring rugby league team (the New Zealand ‘All Golds’ beat them 25-6 in October 1907) and euphemistically described as ‘homely’, had been long in the making.

Aware of the limitations of Barley Mow – named after the bordering pub, which also incorporated the dressing rooms (visiting teams up a narrow flight of rickety stairs, Bramley at ground level, according to local legend) – club officials had long been exploring alternatives.

In the late 1940s, they investigated buying eight acres on the other side of the Leeds to Bradford road which runs through Bramley in order to construct a ‘sports village’ which would have included football and cricket pitches.

And they also attempted to persuade the old Leeds Corporation’s town planning committee to compulsorily purchase land adjoining Barley Mow and lease it back to the club so they could turn the pitch at right angles and redevelop the surrounds.

Bramley also tried unsuccessfully to buy the land from owner Edith McLaren, the widow of a managing director of an engineering firm.

So it was a major surprise when, upon her death, they found it had been bequeathed to them with the condition that any new facility be named McLaren Field.

When given notice that part of the existing Barley Mow ground was required to build a new pub car park, the club swung into action.

New grounds had been created at Leigh (Hilton Park in 1947), Liverpool (Knotty Ash in 1950), Doncaster (Tattersfield in 1953), Workington (Derwent Park in 1956) and Blackpool (Borough Park in 1963), and now Bramley joined the list.

There was a £35,000 main stand, with new-style tip-up seats and dressing rooms included, providing a fine view of a pitch laid with turf from the gardens of Harewood House, the country pile north of Leeds.

While there was no doubt the new Bramley ground was an improvement on the old, some were uncertain about the name.

“In my view, it will always be Barley Mow,” said the pub landlord Les Goodwin. “I’ve no complaint about the change of name, but I doubt people will use it. And will we be changing the name of the pub to McLaren Field? Not likely.”

Fittingly, the first match, on Saturday, 20th August,e 1966, was against neighbours Leeds, and Bramley, in their white shirts with a black and yellow chest band, black shorts and white socks, were bolstered by a number of close-season signings.

Player-coach Keith Holliday, the ex-Wakefield half-back who had moved to loose forward, had brought in former Trinity team-mates Dave Sampson (centre), Terry Hopwood (scrum-half) and Peter Barlow (hooker), and all featured in front of a 4,350 crowd.

Bramley full-back Terry Hollindrake, the former Keighley and Hull player, scored the first points with a penalty goal, but Leeds hit back and went on to win 16-11, with winger Geoff Wriglesworth crossing for two tries.

A social club was opened at McLaren Field in 1968, and for a spell proved successful, while five years later, Bramley were finally to enjoy some success on the field.

Ironically, the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was won in broad daylight, with the decider against Widnes at Naughton Park, which Arthur Keegan’s underdogs won 15-7, taking place in the afternoon, rather than evening, of Tuesday, 18th December 1973, because of Government restrictions on power use due to the ongoing national fuel crisis.

Bramley, who had recorded a McLaren Field record attendance of 7,500 in beating Bradford 8-5 in the second round of the Challenge Cup in 1971-72, also reached the semi-finals of the Player’s No6 Trophy in 1973-74, losing 14-2 at Rochdale just weeks after the Floodlit Trophy final.

And in 1976-77, under Peter Fox, they went up from the Second Division (which had been in existence for four seasons, with Bramley relegated from the First Division in 1974-75), only to stay at the higher level for a single campaign.

There was one further promotion, from the newly formed Third Division in 1991-92, when Roy Dickinson was the coach, but within seven years, the club had folded, having sold McLaren Field in 1995 in a bid to settle mounting debts.

After a stint at Clarence Field, once home of the old Headingley rugby union club and now Leeds’ Kirkstall Training Ground, where they achieved a club-record 74-0 win over Chorley in the third tier in 1995-96, the game’s final winter season, Bramley spent their last three years alongside Leeds at Headingley Stadium.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 524 (September 2026)