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Rugby History Thread


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give over, yer daft bat! Billy Boston, Green Vigo etc?

Wow!...somebody was picked on for being green?!?!

With Halloween coming up I decided to go to my local fancy dress shop to see if I could get a Dracula costume. After a few minutes the assistant handed me a Hull KR shirt asking "Is this suitable?", I replied "I think you may have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count."
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A few weeks ago I mentioned online player archives and, belatedly, here are some links. I know Mike Latham has done the Leigh stats but I'm not sure whether they are online anywhere.

 

All of the below are conspicuously Lancastrian. Any links for other clubs anyone?

 

 

Oldham

 

http://www.orl-heritagetrust.org.uk/stats/to1997.shtml

 

Warrington

 

http://wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk/search.asp?code=A

 

Saints

 

http://www.saints.org.uk/home/players.php

 

Wigan

 

http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=503

 

 

Widnes

 

http://rugby.widnes.tv/playersearch.php

 

AND

 

http://rugby.widnes.tv/playerlist.php?mids=a

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A few weeks ago I mentioned online player archives and, belatedly, here are some links. I know Mike Latham has done the Leigh stats but I'm not sure whether they are online anywhere.

 

All of the below are conspicuously Lancastrian. Any links for other clubs anyone?

 

 

Oldham

 

http://www.orl-heritagetrust.org.uk/stats/to1997.shtml

 

Warrington

 

http://wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk/search.asp?code=A

 

Saints

 

http://www.saints.org.uk/home/players.php

 

Wigan

 

http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=503

 

 

Widnes

 

http://rugby.widnes.tv/playersearch.php

 

AND

 

http://rugby.widnes.tv/playerlist.php?mids=a

The Huddersfield archive is brilliant. Still awaiting many others to appear though. Someone did have a Castleford history online a while ago, but it was an unofficial site and disappeared at some point.

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The Huddersfield archive is brilliant. Still awaiting many others to appear though. Someone did have a Castleford history online a while ago, but it was an unofficial site and disappeared at some point.

 

That Huddersfield archive is superb. As you say, it would be wonderful of other clubs could do similar justice to their heritage.

 

Just to add for anyone who hasn't downloaded my Widnes archive yet (link in my message a couple of posts up), it's every page of every Widnes home match programme 1945-1993 and all but a couple of annual reports for the same period. 

 

There are some pre-war progs and reports but hopefully people will come forward with missing editions to help fill the gaps for future editions of the archive. 

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Here are a couple of links that some of you may find interesting.

 

The first is to the British Newspaper Archive, which is expanding and adding more titles every month. There's plenty of papers available on-line from RL's heartland. The downside to this site is that it costs about a tenner a month to access, though you do get a few freebie searches first. It's worth the money, IMO.

 

http://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

 

The second is link to a wiki page that lists archives worldwide, with many in League-playing nations. Many of the sites are free to access.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives

 

Happy hunting!

 

That's a wonderful resource, Graeme. Thanks for posting it on here. I've always been interested in, at some point, compiling a list of Ulverston's results for their period from formation to when they reverted to amateur rugby league in 1902.

 

This snippet from, of all places, the Westmorland Gazette, of 22nd January 1898, shows what a lost opportunity rugby league had in the Morecambe Bay area.

 

Commenting on a Westmorland v Yorkshire rugby union county match:

 

It seems anomolous that a county which does not now contain a single Rugby Union club should be able to take part in the Rugby Union county championship tournament. That is the position of Westmorland. The few clubs in the county have been drawn into Northern Unionism, and the county has a team made up of players who are not regularly engaged in the game, with the assistance of a few who play outside the county.

 

 

and further down, in the Northern Union results...

 

Two local Rugby teams were in the field on Saturday, but neither gained a victory. Carnforth, who opposed Barrow reserves at Barrow, certainly did better than Haverthwaite, who were playing Ulverston Parish Church at home. The Haverthwaite men coul not cross the Ulverston line, whilst theirs was crossed twice. The Barrow and Carnforth match was very well contested, but throughout the Barrovians were slightly superior and the score of 14 points to 5 is a fair criterion of play.

 

disques vogue

The club where Eurovision isn't a dirty word. A waltz through the leopard skin lined world of Tom Jones, Bert Kampfert and Burt Bacharach. Step out to the sound of the happy hammond and swing to the seductive sounds of the samba.

DJ's, raffles, cocktails and wide collars. Please dress smart. Gentlemen might like to wear a suit.

Same price. Same music. Same rubbish prizes.

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A few years ago, when I was back in Carlisle briefly, I started a personal project (still unfinished!!) to document RL in Cumberland before the First War. It remains unfinished because I moved back to Croydon.

 

Yes, the story of the early years of the sport in what is now Cumbria is fascinating and one that should be heard - maybe I'll finish it one day. I do, however, have a list of all the results & tables I could find for all comps in Cumberland between 1897 (when clubs started to switch) and 1914, and some years/comps include Ulverston. PM me your email address and I'll send them to you.

 

Speaking of Westmorland, for a short time there were a few clubs in the county - Kendal, Ambleside, Windermere and, amazingly, Coniston. 

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A few years ago, when I was back in Carlisle briefly, I started a personal project (still unfinished!!) to document RL in Cumberland before the First War. It remains unfinished because I moved back to Croydon.

 

Yes, the story of the early years of the sport in what is now Cumbria is fascinating and one that should be heard - maybe I'll finish it one day. I do, however, have a list of all the results & tables I could find for all comps in Cumberland between 1897 (when clubs started to switch) and 1914, and some years/comps include Ulverston. PM me your email address and I'll send them to you.

 

Speaking of Westmorland, for a short time there were a few clubs in the county - Kendal, Ambleside, Windermere and, amazingly, Coniston. 

 

Yes, plus Holme, Kirkby Lonsdale and several in Kendal. I can understand Coniston - around 1900 the village was an industrial community dominated by quarrymen and miners; I can imagine that they would have made up the majority of players and hence paying broken time would have been an attraction. Even within the farming community there was an expectation that you would be paid for playing sport - Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling, fell running and hound trailing were all professional in the Victorian era. In a comparison to the rugby league-union relationship, Amateur Athletic Association members received bans for entering  Lakeland sports and professionalism as recently as the 1990s!

 

Some years later, my great-uncle was from Coniston and played for Whitehaven in the 1940s and '50s. When my dad lived in the village as a boy, Coniston folk getting the train to Barrow for games was not uncommon, although that would have been in the Willie Horne years.

 

In the early years of the Northern Union, the Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth area ran a 10-a-side workshops league with such great teams as Carnforth Swifts and Freehold Athletic.

Edited by Jonty

disques vogue

The club where Eurovision isn't a dirty word. A waltz through the leopard skin lined world of Tom Jones, Bert Kampfert and Burt Bacharach. Step out to the sound of the happy hammond and swing to the seductive sounds of the samba.

DJ's, raffles, cocktails and wide collars. Please dress smart. Gentlemen might like to wear a suit.

Same price. Same music. Same rubbish prizes.

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I've mentioned this before but Rugby League Cares do some super stuff. For real history buffs how often do you get offered a NU shirt of which only 22 are made. Talk about exclusive! They are well made and will last a lifetime:-

"For those of you still struggling with the perfect gift for a loved one this Christmas, we have some great ideas that can help!

  Why not give one of our exclusive original 22 Founding Northern Union club shirts. Made specifically to celebrate 120 years of Rugby League, these replicas of the 1st jerseys of the Northern Union have been limited to no more than 22 of each clubs design and are not to be missed. We still have some available from Broughton Rangers, Liversedge, Bradford (only a few!), Runcorn, Rochdale (only a few!), St Helens, Manningham, Widnes, Brighouse, Tyldesley and Stockport. Shirts cost only £50 and £45 for our members. On 22 were made for each club so they’re pretty unique!

·         We have replicated the first England International shirt, worn in the 1907-8 tour to France, New Zealand and Australia. Each shirt is embroidered with its own unique number from 1-120. Only 120 have been made. At the RL Cares member discounted rate, they are just £45 and £50 normal rate.

"13 Inspirations" – 13 chapters on 13 Rugby League heroes, by 13 contributors. £9.99 at the RL Cares member discounted rate. All profits to RL Cares"

Do support them.

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Interesting piece on the late great Clive Sullivan by the club's official historian, Bil Dalton, on Hull's website today.

 

54 YEARS AGO TODAY: SULLIVAN MAKES HIS HULL DEBUT

 

The Hull Daily Mail also did a piece. The great thing about the Mail's article is that it has the original match report as well as the greyhound results from Craven Park and a striking example of how times have changed.

 

Clive Sullivan bags debut hat-trick for Hull FC

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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Sad to see the George Hotel up for sale again. I hope the dentist who bought it to make a boutique hotel has not trashed the key meeting rooms and someone who cares for the game takes it over.

Said dentist bought it for £900K and now wants three million for it.

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A remarkable old colour photo of what may have been Papua New Guinea's first ever tour to these shores.

 

11564920-large.jpg

 

The bloke on the left looks a bit like John Okul but if that's correct then someone's done a bit of photoshopping as that must surely be a "youngish" Stanley Gene on the right.

With Halloween coming up I decided to go to my local fancy dress shop to see if I could get a Dracula costume. After a few minutes the assistant handed me a Hull KR shirt asking "Is this suitable?", I replied "I think you may have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count."
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Surely PNG's first tour was long before the careers of Okul & Gene?? Bal Numapo led PNG here in 1987.

Before the career of Stanley Gene? That's not a thing.

 

Though I seem to remember seeing PNG take on a Humberside select amateur side at the Boulevard around about the time you say. An old team mate of mine was on the first BARLA tour to PNG which will have been around 1979/80 time. 

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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A remarkable old colour photo of what may have been Papua New Guinea's first ever tour to these shores.

 

11564920-large.jpg

 

The bloke on the left looks a bit like John Okul but if that's correct then someone's done a bit of photoshopping as that must surely be a "youngish" Stanley Gene on the right.

Great photo and it's definitely John Okul on the left. I think it might be from their first winter at Hull KR though (although if it was taken at Craven Park it could be any season).

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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They signed to KR after the 1995 RWC, and that was the first time either of them had seen snow, so the photo is from late 1995 or early 1996.

 

It was in Stanley's very funny autobiography 'Daydream Believer', if you're looking for a late Christmas present recommendation.

Edited by Futtocks

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Surely PNG's first tour was long before the careers of Okul & Gene?? Bal Numapo led PNG here in 1987.

Bit of a woosh moment I'm afraid there Mark, I was just jesting about old Stan's age.

 

I uploaded the photo from here.

With Halloween coming up I decided to go to my local fancy dress shop to see if I could get a Dracula costume. After a few minutes the assistant handed me a Hull KR shirt asking "Is this suitable?", I replied "I think you may have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count."
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Surely PNG's first tour was long before the careers of Okul & Gene?? Bal Numapo led PNG here in 1987.

Did indeed. Played us at Chiswick in what was one of the best days we ever had there - guests of honour including Neil Kinnock (courtesy of his mate, Colin Welland), the High Commissioners for PNG and Australia and the Agent for New South Wales. Anyone who has or can find a copy of 'From Fulham to Wembley' will see a couple of the pictures I took on the day. I remember the then Featherstone secretary Terry Jones saying to me that when they played at Post Office Road (as it was then) the PNG players spent about an hour in the bath after the game in an attempt to get warm!

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