1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season

none April 2022 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season Championship rugby league 42 Rounds, September 1895 to April 1896 22 1895–96 season Manningham (1st title) Champions Halifax ENG Cooper (Bradford F.C.)ENG George Lorimer (Manningham) (106) ENG Jack Hurst (Oldham) (28) 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season 1896–97 The 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the first season of semi-professional rugby football, which formed the foundation of the modern-day sport of rugby league. Twenty-two Northern English teams from both sides of the Pennines broke away from the Rugby Football Union to create and compete in their own competition.Spracklen Karl Ben Carrington Ian McDonald 'Race', sport, and British society https://books.google.com/books?id=T3NMCF79r6wC Routledge 2001 73 Chapter 4: 'Black Pearl, Black Diamonds' Exploring racial identities in rugby league https://books.google.com/books?id=T3NMCF79r6wC&dq=%27Black+Pearl,+Black+Diamonds%27+Exploring+racial+identities+in+rugby+league&pg=PA70 978-0-415-24629-3 The inaugural Championship ran from September 1895 until April 1896. The Northern Union's first season would prove so popular that the following season saw the addition of several more clubs, and the tournament was split into two separate county competitions. Background The Rugby Football Union (RFU) had been organising the British rugby football season for much of the late 19th century, maintaining rules of strict amateurism. However clubs from the largely working-class areas of Northern England believed that their players should be compensated for time taken off work as a result of playing rugby. It was put forth in an RFU meeting that broken time payments should be allowed, but the motion was voted down and all clubs were required to prove their amateurism or face expulsion from the Union. On Thursday, 29 August 1895 delegates from twelve Yorkshire and nine Lancashire clubs met at The George Hotel in Huddersfield to discuss their dispute with the RFU over compensating players. http://www.examiner.co.uk/travel-news/page.cfm?objectid=81895&method=full&siteid=50060&headline=Birthplace%2520of%2520Rugby%2520League Huddersfield Examiner Birthplace of Rugby League Huddersfield Daily Examiner 2000-12-08 2009-07-06 They voted unanimously to resign from the RFU and set up the Northern Rugby Football Union (to later be renamed the Rugby Football League) and run a competition of their own in which broken time payments were allowed.The History Of Rugby League https://www.napit.co.uk/viewus/infobank/rugby/superleague/history.php Rugby League Information napit.co.uk 2 January 2014 Mr H. H. Waller, chairman of the Brighouse club, was elected the first ever chairman of the Northern Rugby Football Union. Of the clubs at that meeting, only Dewsbury backed out for the time being, but two Cheshire clubs, Stockport and Runcorn had joined up by the time the new 'Northern Union' played its first games on 7 September. Rule changes Each team was to play all other teams twice – once at home and once away. This meant a longer than normal football season so it started a fortnight earlier than usual. In addition to the overall Northern Union championship, these games' results also counted towards final placings in the separate county competitions. The team with the highest standing on the table at the end of the season would be crowned champions of the tournament. The points system for the Northern Union's rugby was as follows: Converted try – 5 pts. Drop goal 4 pts. Try alone – 3 pts. Penalty goal – 3 pts. A penalty would now be awarded for a deliberate knock-on. Operational rules Broken time payments: Although full-time professionalism was still banned, payments up to a maximum of six shillings per day were permitted for loss of a player's earnings as a result of playing (based on increases in average earnings, this would have been approximately £118.70 in 2013).http://www.warringtonwolves.org/HistoryB.ink Warrington Wolves The Northern Union Warrington Wolves 2009-07-06 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080828182311/http://www.warringtonwolves.org/HistoryB.ink 2008-08-28 https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ Measuring Worth – Relative Value of UK Pounds Measuring Worth 31 December 2014 1 January 2015 Season summary The new Northern Union competition kicked off on Saturday, 7 September 1895 and, before it had got properly started (before the second weekend's fixtures), there was a move to change the rules of the game to further the interest of spectators and to make rugby that was distinctively different from that authorised by the RFU. In an experimental game at Valley Parade on 1 October between Manningham and Halifax, thirteen players were on each side, line-outs were abolished and, for part of the game, a round ball was used. A fair crowd was attracted and virtually all the officials of the Northern Union looked on. Play was started with the round ball, but midway through the first half it burst. A conventional oval ball replaced it until another round ball could be found in the second half. Little attempt was made to dribble and kick the round ball and it was thus deemed not to be a success. The game ended 3–3, but the long-term ramifications for the Northern Union were to be great indeed. thumb|250px|The Manningham team that won the 1896 championship, posing with the shield awarded Early Days http://www.bantamspast.co.uk/history/earlydays.html A History of Bradford City Football Club bantamspast.co.uk 2 January 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20131030135851/http://www.bantamspast.co.uk/history/earlydays.html 2013-10-30 dead The championship hung in the balance until the final game of the tournament. Manningham needed travel to Hunslet and win in order to beat Halifax by a single point and claim the first Northern Union title. The Manningham team left Bradford Market Street station at 2.10, but the committee elected to travel in two stagecoaches. A large following travelled with the team and the road adjacent to the ground was crowded with various vehicles flying banners, flags and even Chinese umbrellas in Manningham's claret and amber colours. The match was played at a furious pace. A crowd of around 15,000 saw the game swing from end to end. The referee at one point had to halt the match in order to caution the players of both sides as the game was getting extremely rough. The match remained scoreless until the second half when Manningham's Jack Brown attempted a drop kick. The ball struck the post, but flew over the bar to wild cheers. Manningham won 4–0 and thereby became the first ever champions of the Northern Union.Baker Andrew 100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era Independent, The independent.co.uk 1995-08-20 https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/100-years-of-rugby-league-from-the-great-divide-to-the-super-era-1597130.html 2009-09-25 The Northern Union held an additional contest, for determining county champions, and it was won by Lancashire with Yorkshire second and Cheshire third. League Champions: Manningham Lancashire League Winners: Runcorn (from Cheshire) Yorkshire League Winners: Manningham The season ended on 29 April, which made it three weeks longer than the footballers at the time were used to. Some clubs had also found the regular trans-Pennine journeys more difficult than they'd expected. Therefore, before the season was over the Union had decided to discontinue the championship for the foreseeable future, and instead run enlarged county senior competitions. The leading try scorer for the season was Jack Hurst from Oldham who crossed the line 28 times.Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995–1996 Raymond Fletcher David Howes 1995 Headline Book Publishing London 0-7472-7817-2 164 The leading goalkicker for the season was George Lorimer of the Champions, Manningham, who was successful 35 times. The leading point scorer was shared between Cooper of Bradford and George Lorimer of Manningham with a total of 106 points each. Table main WDL MAN HFX RUN OLD BRI TYL HUN HUL LEI WIG BRA LEE WAR STH LIV WID STO BAT WAK HUD BRR ROC 12 7 23 137 298 18 9 15 254 175 8 8 26 165 244 22 9 11 247 129 33 0 9 367 158 30 5 7 312 139 24 2 16 279 207 23 3 16 259 158 10 4 28 194 274 21 4 17 214 269 20 3 19 258 247 15 4 23 261 355 24 8 10 314 143 27 2 13 374 194 21 8 13 260 164 4 8 30 78 388 12 8 22 171 315 15 8 19 195 230 17 5 20 198 240 13 4 25 156 318 14 4 24 177 323 19 7 16 245 147 2 1 21 72 634 C -2 St Helens deducted 2 points for fielding by an ineligible player batley 16 Batley bradford 16 Bradford F.C. Cronulla 16 Broughton Rangers DEWSBURY 16 Brighouse Rangers Halifax 16 Halifax Hull fc 16 Hull F.C. hunslet 16 Hunslet Huddersfield 16 Huddersfield wakefield 16 Wakefield Trinity rochdale 16 Rochdale Hornets Runcorn Halifax 16 Liversedge Leeds 16 Leeds leigh 16 Leigh St helens 16 St Helens north sydney 16 Stockport Tyldesley oldham 16 Oldham brisbane 16 Manningham warrington 16 Warrington Widnes 16 Widnes wigan 16 Wigan 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored; points complete R.L.Yearbook 1995–96 cited in "The Vault" 2 1 0 C red1 Relegated to the Second Division See also Rugby Football League History of rugby league Sources External links The Great Schism at rugbyfootballhistory.com Rugby League's first season at rlhalloffame.org.uk 1895: The Birth of Rugby League at rl1908.com 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com Manningham's first season at bantamspast.co.uk Rugby League History at rlheritage.co.uk Birthplace of Rugby League – article at examiner.co.uk Category:1895 in English rugby league Category:1896 in English rugby league Category:History of rugby league Category:Northern Rugby Football Union seasons