Rugby in Spen Valley

2025-08-26T19:18:50+01:00

The version of football that we know today as rugby first became established in the Spen Valley in the early 1870s when the Heckmondwike club was formed. Cleckheaton Football Club followed in 1875, with Liversedge beginning activities in 1877.

For the next eighteen years the fortunes of the three clubs ebbed and flowed. Liversedge had gained the status of leading club when the momentous events of 1895 took place and twenty two Northern clubs broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Union. The Spen Valley had by 1895 become a stronghold of the handling code with numerous junior clubs also playing regular fixtures. Attendances in those days were remarkable considering the size of the settlements. Many teams must have visited the Spen Valley with trepidation. They were given a hard game and partisan crowds filled the grounds to cheer on their heroes.

However, within eleven years of the formation of the Northern Union the clubs and the sport had disappeared from the Spen Valley. In his book called 'Spen Valley Rugby Reminiscences' published in 1921 George Cooper argues that professionalism was a retrograde step and that it was the move to the Northern Union that caused the decline and final demise of the game in the Spen Valley. The sports correspondent in the Cleckheaton Guardian in an article published on the 26th of September 1902 argued that the Spen Valley did not have a sufficiently large population to sustain successful Northern Union clubs. He suggested that the future of the game lay with those clubs in larger towns and cities.
Since its demise in 1906 Rugby League, as Northern Union was called after 1922, has only been played in the Spen Valley at an amateur level and by clubs that in many cases were only in existence for a few years. The hotbed of rugby, as the Spen Valley was in 1895, has been transformed into what could be described as a ‘rugby league desert’. The Spen Valley, surrounded by long established professional and amateur rugby league clubs, is one of many pockets of population in the North of England that does not have a rugby league tradition.

Heckmondwike Athletic Club

The Heckmondwike Athletic Club was formed by two vicars, the Reverend W.T. Storrs and the Reverend J.C. Blackmore in the early 1870s. From the athletic club a football team developed that was made up of soccer players. However, its first match was against a rugby team and from that point on rugby became the sport played by Heckmondwike. The earliest reference to the club appears in the Cleckheaton Advertiser on the 8th of January 1875 and this was a report of an away game at Halifax. The game was played on the 2nd of January 1875 in poor conditions following snow and a sudden thaw with the game ending in a draw. It appears obvious from the report that Heckmondwike had been playing regular fixtures for a number of years, but no reports of those games are in existence.
By the early 1890s the Heckmondwike club had become established at Beck Lane, a ground close to the centre of the town. Beck Lane is still used as a sports ground, although these days it is soccer that is played there.

This extract from the 1894 Ordinance Survey map shows the location of the ground

Heckmondwike Northern Union Club 1896

Some interesting events took place during the thirty years that Heckmondwike existed as a rugby club.
Local derbies in the Spen Valley usually attracted good attendances and often created controversy. Heckmondwike provided the opposition for the first official fixture played by Cleckheaton on the 26th of January 1876, a game won easily by Heckmondwike. Relations between the two clubs deteriorated in the late 1870s when allegations of biting led to the cancellation of fixtures for a few seasons. Liversedge played their second official game against Heckmondwike at Hightown on the 5th of January 1878. This game seems to have marked the beginning of another difficult relationship. Liversedge won the game, claiming the opposition was Heckmondwike's second team, while Heckmondwike said that it was in fact their third team. Correspondence in the local press regarding this issue continued for weeks, with both sides claiming they were right!

Heckmondwike played three home games under floodlights in the late 1870s; two were under electric lights and one under gas lights. The latter took place in January 1879 and Dewsbury provided the opposition. One of the games played under electric lights was against Bradford Albion and, although there were gate receipts of £70, most of the money taken at the gate went on the cost of the floodlights. This was perhaps the reason why Heckmondwike only ever played three floodlit games.

In 1887 Heckmondwike was banned by the rugby union authorities for alleged professionalism. They were allowed to return to regular competition in 1891 and by the beginning of the 1892/93 season, Heckmondwike were acknowledged as champions of the Spen Valley. The club had a good financial balance, plans for ground improvements, and in their captain, R.E. (Dickie) Lockwood, they had a man described as 'the prince of three-quarter backs'.
In 1896/97, their first season as members of the Northern Union, enthusiasm was obviously running high and the local derby with Liversedge played at Beck Lane, in heavy rain, produced an attendance of between three and four thousand.

Heckmondwike played four seasons as a semi - professional Northern Union club, but unfortunately during their time in the Northern Union they struggled to win many matches. In the 1896/97 season Heckmondwike, with only three wins, finished bottom of the newly created Yorkshire Senior Competition. Their second season was a little better as nine victories meant they managed to improve one place in the league, finishing next to bottom. In the third season only four wins were achieved and the club returned to bottom place. Heckmondwike left the Yorkshire Senior Competition in 1899 returning in 1901. Unfortunately, the 1901/02 season did not see very much improvement as the club finished eleventh in a league of fourteen teams. The Heckmondwike Athletic Club rugby section folded at the end of the 1901/02 season.

Cleckheaton Football Club

The club was formed at a meeting held at the Royal Hotel, in the town, on Tuesday the 21st of December 1875. It was reported in the Cleckheaton Advertiser on the 23rd of December 1875 that there was ‘a satisfactory attendance of young men and that a resolution be adopted that the club be called Cleckheaton Football Club and that there was to be an entrance fee of one shilling per member.' A committee was formed at the meeting in order to secure a field, and Mr George Siddall was appointed secretary and treasurer. It was also agreed that rugby rules would be followed by the club.

Prior to the meeting at the Royal Hotel, a notice had appeared in the Cleckheaton notes in the Cleckheaton Advertiser on the 10th of December 1875. The notice posed the following question that was being asked by young men in the district: 'Cannot a football club be formed in Cleckheaton and other places?' The newspaper article used a quote from Shakespeare's play ‘A Comedy of Errors’ to support the argument of the young men. Apparently a speech by Dromio, one of the characters in the play, in which he complains to his mistress about his ill treatment at the hands of his master, mentions a football. Quite what relevance a quote from Shakespeare, who had obviously never heard of rugby, had on the debate regarding the formation of a Cleckheaton club is not clear. However, it is clear that the Cleckheaton Advertiser thought the quote was relevant and, as a new club was formed, they seemed to have been proved right.

Cleckheaton played four games in their first season 1875/76, two against Heckmondwike and two against Bierley. Their first ground was Waterslacks, a field off Balne Lane, that after a few games proved unsuitable as it had ruts and holes and in wet weather miniature lakes formed on the pitch. The club eventually developed its home ground at Whitcliffe Mount, a site now occupied by school buildings.

Cleckheaton did not join the Northern Union until a merger with Liversedge in 1900. Under the Liversedge name, the club took part in the Yorkshire Senior Competition. The Cleckheaton section was the dominant partner and, even though the club was known as Liversedge, games were played at Cleckheaton's Whitcliffe Ground. The Cleckheaton colours of red and white were also adopted and the club had Cleckheaton based officials. The club name was finally changed to Cleckheaton at a meeting at the Punch Bowl Hotel on Monday the 18th of August 1902. The club continued to play in the Yorkshire Senior Competition until 1905/06 and then in the Yorkshire Combination. In its final season, Cleckheaton took part in a series of Workshop Competitions.

Cleckheaton's decision not to join the Northern Union when both their near neighbours Liversedge and Heckmondwike did, was thought to be one of the causes of the club's decline during the late 1890s. The local derbies against Liversedge and Heckmondwike had ceased and, because of the Northern Union opportunities offered at Liversedge and Heckmondwike, the fortunes of the club were described in 1900 by a Mr Balderson, one of the members, as at 'a very low ebb'. At the 1902 Annual General Meeting Mr B. Roberts, the club treasurer, said that not joining the Second Division of the Northern Union in 1900, as the players had wished to do, had resulted in a missed opportunity for Cleckheaton.

Soccer became the dominate sport in Cleckheaton in the 1900s and, following the demise of Cleckheaton Football Club, it was nearly twenty years before Cleckheaton Rugby Union club was formed and rugby was again part of the sporting scene in the Spen Valley.

Liversedge Football Club

Liversedge Football Club had a very successful 1894/95 season finishing as champions of the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union’s Yorkshire Senior Competition replacing Heckmondwike as the leading club in the Spen Valley. So, after that successful season along with twenty one other clubs, they club took the momentous decision to leave the Rugby Football Union and become a Northern Union club.

Liversedge, probably the smallest club in the Northern Union, found life much more difficult in its first season playing Northern Union. Only fifteen of its forty two games were won and the club finished in 15th place. Competing against some of the bigger clubs based in the big cities in the North of England proved tough.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manningham	42	33	0	9	367	158	+209	66
2	Halifax	42	30	5	7	312	139	+173	65
3	Runcorn	42	24	8	10	314	143	+171	56
4	Oldham	42	27	2	13	374	194	+180	56
5	Brighouse Rangers	42	22	9	11	247	129	+118	53
6	Tyldesley	42	21	8	13	260	164	+96	50
7	Hunslet	42	24	2	16	279	207	+72	50
8	Hull F.C.	42	23	3	16	259	158	+101	49
9	Leigh	42	21	4	17	214	269	−55	46
10	Wigan	42	19	7	16	245	147	+98	45
11	Bradford F.C.	42	18	9	15	254	175	+79	45
12	Leeds	42	20	3	19	258	247	+11	43
13	Warrington	42	17	5	20	198	240	−42	39
14	St Helens	42	15	8	19	195	230	−35	36[a]
15	Liversedge	42	15	4	23	261	355	−94	34
16	Widnes	42	14	4	24	177	323	−146	32
17	Stockport	42	12	8	22	171	315	−144	32
18	Batley	42	12	7	23	137	298	−161	31
19	Wakefield Trinity	42	13	4	25	156	318	−162	30
20	Huddersfield	42	10	4	28	194	274	−80	24
21	Broughton Rangers	42	8	8	26	165	244	−79	24
22	Rochdale Hornets	42	4	8	30	78	388	−310	16

On Friday the 12th of June 1896 Liversedge Football Club held its first Annual General Meeting since joining the Northern Union. The report given by the secretary, Mr J.E. Hampshire, published in the Cleckheaton Guardian on the 19th of June 1896 makes interesting reading.

Mr Hampshire said:

‘As you are all aware the past season has been a very peculiar and exceptional one. A new Union has been formed by twenty two of the best clubs in the North of England. The latest events have proved that it was a step in the right direction, and something that should have been done years ago. As we are situated today, each club connected with the Northern Union has a voice at headquarters and may have a representative there to defend anything that may be brought against his club, which was not the case under the old rules. I think I may venture to say that before five years today the Northern Union will be the only one in the North of England, and if we make the same rapid strides we have done this season less than that time will see all the clubs members of the new organisation. It is all very well and sounds large for such gentlemen as Mr Mark Newsome, Mr J.A. Miller, Mr H.H. Watson and Mr A. Hartley to talk about pure amateurism when they know perfectly well that there is no such thing in the Yorkshire Union. This season, if anyone will take the trouble to get one or all the balance sheets of the clubs connected with the Northern Union, I will be bound they will find that the expenses of players have been curtailed to the extent of £100 to £400, which speaks volumes for the new Union.’

The balance sheet presented by Mr G.W. Halmshaw, the financial secretary, also made interesting reading. Liversedge’s gate receipts from their first season as members of the Northern Union were £294 compared with the previous season as members of the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union, when £817 was taken in gate receipts. It seems that even in the 1890s gates were greatly affected by results on the field. Attendances at Liversedge games declined as the season progressed, obviously reflecting the decline in playing performances. The largest home gate of the season was £30 7s, when Bradford visited Liversedge. The Manningham gate of £25 12s 3d was the next best, with only the home games against Leeds £20 18s 9d and Brighouse Rangers £21 12s producing receipts in excess of £20. Despite these poor gate receipts, Mr Halmshaw gave a positive report suggesting that the situation was not as disastrous as many people thought it would be. He pointed out that the club’s capital account showed a balance in favour of the club of £19 4s 3d. Liversedge had some interesting assets as you will see below.

Liabilities

	£	s	d
New Grand Stand Shares	127	0	0
New Grand Stand Shares 3 years interest	19	1	0
Accounts owing	103	11	0
Owing Bank	44	2	3
Balance Assets in excess of Liabilities	19	4	6
	312	18	6

Assets

	£	s	d
Grand Stands, Field Fencing, Tackling and Football Requisites, Billiard Table, Bath and Club Rooms fittings, as per stock book (less depreciation)	289	0	0
Outstanding Members Subscriptions	21	11	0
Stock of Aerated Waters and Cigars in Club Room Curator’s hands		15	6
Cash in Club Room Curator’s hands		19	0
Cash in Treasurer’s hands		13	0
	319	18	6

After that difficult first season as members of the Northern Union the next season was one of consolidation for Liversedge Football Club. At the end of the 1895/96 season the Northern Union had decided to spit into Lancashire and Yorkshire sections, a change that would help clubs with the cost of travel. Travel costs were certainly an issue for small organisations like Liversedge.

On the field the club was a little more consistent, finishing in 11th place in a league of sixteen clubs. There were also some notable victories, including a10 points to 0 away win at Huddersfield and a 23 points to 7 home win against Wakefield Trinity. In the 1896/97 season the club also had the advantage of return of local derbies against near neighbours Heckmondwike. The home game against Heckmondwike, on the 16th of January 1897, produced one of the best gates of the season, with receipts of £29 6s and 10d. However, it wasn’t the league games that produced the best gates that season; it was the Northern Union Challenge Cup. On the 27th of March 1897, Liversedge were drawn at home, in the first round, against local rivals Heckmondwike and won the cup-tie by 9 points to 4. Better still was a half share of the gate receipts that amounted to £37 15s 10d. In the next round of the Challenge Cup on Saturday 3rd of April Liversedge had to travel to Warrington. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a successful visit on the field, as Liversedge lost by 6 points to 0, but off the field it was a different story - a half share of the gate amounting to £40 8s 2d, was easily the best of the season.

During the previous close season the club had undertaken some fund raising, so that when the financial secretary, presented his balance sheet it showed that £50 9s 3d was owed to the bank. This balance was regarded as quite acceptable by the President, Mr Herbert Heaton JP. He felt that as long as every player and member continued to work hard, then the club could look forward to reducing its liabilities. He also said that the sum owed was very small for a club like Liversedge.

The large attendance of members at the Annual General Meeting on the 28th of June 1897 must have left the Liversedge club rooms encouraged by what they had heard and were looking forward to September and the start of the new season.

Unfortunately, the enthusiasm generated at the meeting wasn’t enough to prevent the club from having a disastrous third season in the Northern Union. Liversedge finished bottom of the Yorkshire Senior Competition recording only three wins from its thirty games. The 1898/99 season wasn’t much better. Only five wins were recorded and Liversedge finished next to bottom. In 1900 the merger with their neighbours Cleckheaton took place. In 1902 when the Northern Union decided to restructure its competition into two divisions based on the previous season’s league placings Liversedge’s name didn’t appear in either division. The high hopes of Liversedge Football Club and its supporters, following its successful 1894/95 season, had been shattered in just seven years.

During its seven years in the Northern Union Liversedge used two grounds.

The Liversedge Ground

Liversedge Football Club played its first few home games on a field owned by a Mr Hemingway. It is not clear where in Liversedge the pitch was located, but it was described in match reports as hilly terrain. Presumably, that meant that the pitch had a slope from one end to the other. In the 1880s Liversedge developed a ground in Hightown on an area of land next to Halifax Road that is now called the King George V Playing Fields. The ground was enclosed. It had a stand and for some of the time Liversedge played there it also had a clubroom.

During the period that the club used the ground in Hightown it also used a number of local public houses as its headquarters. One of them the Shoulder of Mutton, about a mile from the ground, was demolished a few years ago.

The stand, clubroom and pitch boundaries were made of wood and, as you can see from the photograph below of the King George V Playing Fields taken in the 1990s no trace of the ground remains.

The Cleckheaton Ground

Cleckheaton’s ground at Whitcliffe Mount was, in 1892, described as ‘well looked after’. The ground had baths and turnstiles. The boundary had been improved. The hoardings around the field had been repaired and the boards at the White Chapel end of the ground had been moved back to allow more spectators. When Liversedge merged with Cleckheaton presumably the Cleckheaton based officials of the merged club insisted on home games being played in Cleckheaton.

West End Park, as you can see from the map above was next to the ground and is still in existence, but all traces of the Cleckheaton Football Club’s ground disappeared long ago