Category: Rugby Union
When you flick through the County handbooks for the 1930s you get a picture of a sport that had recovered from the terrible impact of World War One and was thriving. The 1930s had begun with one hundred Yorkshire clubs playing regular fixtures. By the end of the decade the number of clubs hadn't increased, but participation in rugby union had. Most of the clubs in Yorkshire were able to field two or more teams every Saturday.
Headingley RUFC 1936
Headingley, probably the strongest club in Yorkshire, would on most weeks of the season be able to turn out a fifth team. Many of the players who featured regularly in the junior teams were very unlikely to ever progress to the first XV. There is probably little doubt that once a young man started playing for the club of his choice he probably remained loyal to that club irrespective of which team he was playing for. He would usually build his social life around the rugby club and expected to have a game of rugby every Saturday from the beginning of September until the end of April. The ambitious players and those that had played first XV rugby at the top public schools generally gravitated to clubs like Headingley, Bradford or Otley. Those clubs had fixtures outside the County and usually provided a majority of players for the Yorkshire team as well as some who gained international caps. The majority of players at the top clubs were also loyal and many remained at the same club their entire playing career before taking on administrative and committee roles after they retired from playing.
In the days before leagues were introduced into rugby union, clubs organized their own fixtures. The club fixture secretary would negotiate with other club fixture secretaries and agree dates and venues for the forthcoming season. In some cases, where two clubs had a long standing arrangement, fixtures would be agreed for more than one season. Ambitious clubs were always looking to improve their fixture list by agreeing a fixture against one of the senior or big clubs. Headingley, in Yorkshire, was a senior club as were clubs outside the County such as Leicester or Northampton. If a club trying to improve its fixture managed to agree a fixture with one of the stronger clubs the game would need to be competitive and played in a good spirit for regular fixtures to be agreed in the future.
The club scene in Yorkshire was healthy in the 1930s with the leading senior clubs always looking for opportunities to improve their fixture list. Headingley always had a number of big names in their fixture list. Clubs like Leicester, Bedford, Northampton and Oxford University were happy to travel to Clarence Field to face Yorkshire’s strongest club and there is little doubt that the visits of those big names were eagerly anticipated. Roundhay, the other strong club in the Leeds area, hadn’t got a fixture list to match that of Headingley, but did play clubs outside the County such as New Brighton, Heaton Moor and Instonians. Otley also had an impressive fixture list with Hartlepool Rovers, Sale and Durham City all regular visitors to Cross Green. Bradford, probably vying with Headingley to be regarded as the leading Yorkshire club. Edinburgh Academicals, Birkenhead Park and Blackheath were three of the top clubs that featured in Bradford's fixture list..The majority of Yorkshire junior clubs rarely played opponents from outside the County apart from perhaps on an Easter tour, a very popular feature of most clubs’ fixtures right up to the 1980s.
Some of the leading Yorkshire clubs in the 2020s such as Rotherham, Doncaster and Upper Wharfedale had fixture lists in the 1930s that included only the second and third teams of some of the senior clubs in the County. While, in contrast, Hornsea , for many years a Merit League club that only recently recently moved back into the Yorkshire League structure, ran three teams most seasons and had clubs like Roundhay, Hull and East Riding and Scarborough in its fixture list.
The 1930s, the decade that began with such optimism for the sport based on the massive increase in participation, ended with many people fearing that rugby and the Country they lived in would never be the same again.
Yorkshire Rugby Football Union
Headingley, probably the strongest club in Yorkshire, would on most weeks of the season be able to turn out a fifth team. Many of the players who featured regularly in the junior teams were very unlikely to ever progress to the first XV. There is probably little doubt that once a young man started playing for the club of his choice he probably remained loyal to that club irrespective of which team he was playing for. He would usually build his social life around the rugby club and expected to have a game of rugby every Saturday from the beginning of September until the end of April. The ambitious players and those that had played first XV rugby at the top public schools generally gravitated to clubs like Headingley, Bradford or Otley. Those clubs had fixtures outside the County and usually provided a majority of players for the Yorkshire team as well as some who gained international caps. The majority of players at the top clubs were also loyal and many remained at the same club their entire playing career before taking on administrative and committee roles after they retired from playing.
In the days before leagues were introduced into rugby union, clubs organized their own fixtures. The club fixture secretary would negotiate with other club fixture secretaries and agree dates and venues for the forthcoming season. In some cases, where two clubs had a long standing arrangement, fixtures would be agreed for more than one season. Ambitious clubs were always looking to improve their fixture list by agreeing a fixture against one of the senior or big clubs. Headingley, in Yorkshire, was a senior club as were clubs outside the County such as Leicester or Northampton. If a club trying to improve its fixture managed to agree a fixture with one of the stronger clubs the game would need to be competitive and played in a good spirit for regular fixtures to be agreed in the future.
The club scene in Yorkshire was healthy in the 1930s with the leading senior clubs always looking for opportunities to improve their fixture list. Headingley always had a number of big names in their fixture list. Clubs like Leicester, Bedford, Northampton and Oxford University were happy to travel to Clarence Field to face Yorkshire’s strongest club and there is little doubt that the visits of those big names were eagerly anticipated. Roundhay, the other strong club in the Leeds area, hadn’t got a fixture list to match that of Headingley, but did play clubs outside the County such as New Brighton, Heaton Moor and Instonians. Otley also had an impressive fixture list with Hartlepool Rovers, Sale and Durham City all regular visitors to Cross Green. Bradford, probably vying with Headingley to be regarded as the leading Yorkshire club. Edinburgh Academicals, Birkenhead Park and Blackheath were three of the top clubs that featured in Bradford's fixture list..The majority of Yorkshire junior clubs rarely played opponents from outside the County apart from perhaps on an Easter tour, a very popular feature of most clubs’ fixtures right up to the 1980s.
Some of the leading Yorkshire clubs in the 2020s such as Rotherham, Doncaster and Upper Wharfedale had fixture lists in the 1930s that included only the second and third teams of some of the senior clubs in the County. While, in contrast, Hornsea , for many years a Merit League club that only recently recently moved back into the Yorkshire League structure, ran three teams most seasons and had clubs like Roundhay, Hull and East Riding and Scarborough in its fixture list.
The 1930s, the decade that began with such optimism for the sport based on the massive increase in participation, ended with many people fearing that rugby and the Country they lived in would never be the same again.
