Blackpool Borough was a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club based in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, that played in the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

in 1988 and was renamed Chorley Borough; to

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

in 1989 and was renamed Trafford Borough, and finally back to Blackpool in 1992 as Blackpool Gladiators. It folded in 1997. The team wore tangerine, black and white jerseys.

History

Blackpool Borough

A Blackpool club were members of the Northern Union Lancashire Second Competition in 1898–99. The first unsuccessful application for a Blackpool team to join the Rugby League was made in December 1950. Blackpool Borough were accepted into the Rugby League for the 1954–55 season. In their early days, they were known as "the Babes". Their first ever league match was played at The Weaste, Salford 14th August 1954. They were defeated 24-13 with a young Wigan lad, Roy Thornley loose forward, scoring their first ever try in the league. The first ever victory was over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

. Borough played at

Blackpool Greyhound Stadium Blackpool Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound track in Blackpool, Lancashire. It is not to be confused with the Blackpool Squires Gate Greyhound Stadium, a short-lived track that was nearby to the south. Origins and opening Blackpool had emerged ...

in St Anne's Road but larger fixtures were played at Blackpool FC's Bloomfield Road Stadium. Their record attendance was 12,015 on 10 September 1955 when they drew with the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

tourists 24–24 at Bloomfield Road. The record attendance was set in 1957 at 22,000 for the third round

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

match against

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

. In the first eight years of their existence, they had never finished above 21st. Blackpool Greyhound Stadium was sold for housing and in April 1962.

Blackpool Borough Council Blackpool Council is the local authority of the Borough of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having the powers of a county council and district council combined. Political control Since be ...

granted a 21-year lease on a new ground – Borough Park – on the former gas works and coach park site at Rigby Road and Princess Street. The first match at Borough Park was played on Saturday 31 August 1963 when Blackpool beat

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

36–16. The record defeat came on 26 October 1963 when

won 77 points to 8. Rugby League

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

member

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who became the only player ever to have been induc ...

played for Blackpool Borough between 1962 and 1964 having retired from playing for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. In Bevan's first year Blackpool finished fourth in the Second Division. Fellow winger and Hall of Fame member Billy Boston also ended his career at Blackpool between 1969–71. Former Australian Representative Tim Pickup began his professional career with Blackpool, on loan from St. Helens. He was player of the year at Fullback for both the 1970 & 71 seasons. Pickup returned home and played for Australia as Five-eighth/Stand-off from 1972-75, returning to England as part of the 1973 Kangaroo Tour and was a member of Australia's victorious 1975 World Cup Squad. In 1978–79, Blackpool, coached by

Albert Fearnley Albert Fearnley (10 March 1924 – 4 May 1999) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, and coached in the 1960s and 1950s. Fearnley started his career at Rochdale Hornets and went on to play for Oldham ( Heritage № 552) ...

, won promotion to the First Division for the only time by finishing fourth in the Second Division. However the next season, they finished bottom and were relegated back to the Second Division. In April 1982, Borough were put into liquidation less than nine months after being taken over by a

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

businessman. A new company, Savoy Sports and Leisure Ltd, then bought the club and a new Blackpool Borough RLFC was formed on 4 August 1982 and accepted into the Rugby League for the new season. The club was ordered to carry out safety measures on the ground by Lancashire County Council by 1 February 1987 or quit the ground. Blackpool failed to get a safety grant aid of £65,000 from Blackpool Borough Council and were forced to leave. The final game at Borough Park being on 4 January 1987 when a crowd of 386 saw the club lose 8–5 to

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

. Their final six home games were played at Bloomfield Road.

Springfield Borough

Another consortium took over the club in April 1987 on condition that Borough left Blackpool. Their first new home was Springfield Park, the then home of

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Wigan RLFC were rumoured to have objected to the proposed 'Wigan Borough' name and so 'Springfield Borough' was adopted. Springfield Borough's club colours were dark blue, tangerine and white. The club logo was the same as the crest used by

Wigan Athletic F.C. Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

at the time. Springfield Borough beat

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

11–10 in the final rugby league match at Springfield Park. Despite good performances on the field the move was not successful; the pitch was suffering from overuse and in January 1988 Wigan Athletic gave Borough six months to quit.

Chorley Borough

The club relocated to Victory Park in

and played as ''Chorley Borough'' in the 1988–89 season. The club's colours initially consisted of black and white hooped jerseys, which changed later to a primarily black jersey with irregular white bands around the waist and on the sleeves. The club ended up finishing sixteenth out of twenty teams in the Second Division. The name Chorley Borough was later used between 1989 and 1995 by a different club.

Trafford Borough

Borough then became Trafford Borough when they moved to

Moss Lane Moss Lane (currently known as the J. Davidson Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a multi-purpose stadium in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is currently used primarily for football matches and is the home ground of Altrincham. The ...

(sharing with

Altrincham F.C. Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane. History Altrincham was established by ...

) for the 1989–90 season. This, however, caused a boardroom split leading to five Blackpool-based directors resigning to form a new club initially based in

. Trafford Borough adopted the local

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Ur ...

crest also used by

Trafford F.C. Trafford Football Club is an English football club based in Flixton, near Urmston in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester. The club are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One West and play at The ...

, depicting a

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a charge, a supporter, or as a crest. The attitude of an heraldic figure always precedes any reference to the tincture of the figure ...

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

, and their club colours consisted of royal blue and red jerseys, blue shorts and white socks. Their tenure at Altrincham was generally unsuccessful, with most home crowds averaging around the 200 mark. It was also during this period that the club achieved their highest defeat, being beat by St. Helens 104–12 on 15 September 1991. Trafford Borough survived three seasons before returning to Blackpool as Blackpool Gladiators.

Blackpool Gladiators

Blackpool Gladiators moved to Blackpool Mechanics FC ground in September 1992. In October 1992, the chairman Alan Sherrat put the club up for sale for £50,000. Once back in Blackpool the club colours were tangerine, purple and white jerseys, black shorts and socks. Rugby Football League chief executive Maurice Lindsay wanted to reduce the number of clubs in the lower division of the league in 1993. The three clubs finishing bottom of the Second Division would be demoted to the

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

. The season was a disaster which culminated in their final home game when they were beaten 90–5 by

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

. Blackpool along with the other two expelled clubs, pursued legal action against the RFL decision, but to no avail. Their last game as a professional club was on 11 April 1993 when they lost again to Dewsbury 56–0. In November 1994, the club were on the receiving end of both a world record score and world record losing margin when they lost 4-142 to

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

, this record stood for almost 24 years until April 2018 when

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

defeated

West Wales Raiders The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in RFL League 1, League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an ama ...

by 144-0. The following year, the club was relegated from the

Premier Division and left to join the Alliance reserve grade. After the 1997 Alliance season Blackpool Gladiators folded.

Past coaches

Also see '' :Blackpool Borough coaches'' * Stan Owen (1969) * Joe Egan (1970-1972) * Cecil Mountford (1972-1973) *

(1978-1979) * Geoff Lyon (1980-1982) *

Bob Eccles William Robert "Bob" Eccles (born 10 July 1957) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Lancashire, an ...

(1992-1993)

Players earning international caps while at Blackpool Borough

* Lionel Emmitt won a cap for ''Wales'' while at Blackpool Borough in 1959 against France. * Graeme Johns won caps for ''Wales'' while at Salford in 1979 against France (sub), and while at Blackpool Borough in 1984 against England (sub) * Donald "Don" Parry won caps for ''Wales'' while at Blackpool Borough in 1980 against France, and England, in 1981 against France, and England (2 matches), and in 1982 against Australia. 6-caps 1-try 3-points Hooker. * Peter Rowe won caps for ''Wales'' while at Wigan, Blackpool Borough, and Huddersfield 1969…1979 7-caps + 3-caps (sub), including while at Blackpool Borough in the 1975 Rugby League World Cup against Australia, England, and Australia. * Hugh Waddell won caps for ''England'' while at Blackpool Borough in 1984 against Wales, won caps for ''Scotland'', and won caps for ''Great Britain'' while at Oldham in 1988 against France (2 matches), Australia, and New Zealand, and while at Leeds in 1989 against France.

Other players

* Bak Diabira *

Norman Turley Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

circa 1978/79 (ex-

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

) * Alan Fairhurst circa 1979/80 * Ian Van Bellen circa 1979/80 * Brendan McLoughlin circa 1987/88 * Gary Ainsworth 1990/92 *

Charles Armitt Charles Armitt (10 January 1926 – 17 April 2004) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played at representative level for England and Lancashire, and at club level for Swinton, Huddersfiel ...

circa-1954/57 *

Ray Ashby Ray Ashby (birth unknown) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Liverpool City, Wigan ( Heritage No. 630), and Blackpool Borough, as ...

* David Bacon circa-1987/88 * Simon Bamber circa-1987/88 * Piers Bent 1991–93 *

* Geoff Bimson circa-1987/88 *

Tommy Bishop Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...

circa-1961 *

Dave Bolton David R. Bolton (27 April 1937 – 21 January 2021) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, who later became a coach in Australia's NSWRFL premiership. An international representative for G ...

* Billy Boston * Steve Brennan circa-1985-88 (ex Wigan RLFC 1981–1985) * Carl Briscoe circa-1987/88 (ex-

) * Paul Broston circa-1987/88 * David Brown circa-1987/88 * Keith Cole * John Corcoran circa-1981 *

Mark Daniels Mark Roy Daniels (1881 – 1952) was an architect, landscape architect, civil engineer, and city planner active in California. He was known for creating plans that incorporated existing natural features in order to preserve a sense of local char ...

circa-1992/93 *

Tony Daniels Tony Daniels is a Canadian voice actor. He is well known for providing the voices of Uncle Flippy in ''JoJo's Circus'', as well as Jedite and Wiseman in the original English dub of ''Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and ...

circa-1992/93 * Stan Davies 1956/58 * Steve Donlan circa-1987/88 * Ian Duane circa-1987/88 * Mick Ducie ex-Barrow *

circa-1987/88 * Cliff Eccles circa-1987/88 * Tony Feasey *

Dave Hewitt David Hewitt may refer to: *David Hewitt (rugby union, born 1939), retired Irish rugby union player *David Hewitt (rugby union, born 1980), Irish rugby union player, currently playing at Lansdowne *Dave Hewitt (rugby league) (born 1995), English rug ...

circa 1991/92 (ex-

) *

Peter Hilton Peter John Hilton (7 April 1923Peter Hilton, "On all Sorts of Automorphisms", '' The American Mathematical Monthly'', 92(9), November 1985, p. 6506 November 2010) was a British mathematician, noted for his contributions to homotopy theory and ...

circa-1990 - 92 and 1994 *

Allan Fallah Alan Fallah (born 11 March 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s for the Western Suburbs Magpies and was also an NRL touch judge. Background Fallah was born in Bankstown, New South ...

1993 * John Emson circa-1987/88 *

Peter Fearis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

circa-1956/67 later of St. Helens * Gary French circa-1987/88 * Tommy Frodsham circa-1987/88 * Paul Gamble (

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

1982) circa-1987/88 on * Chris Ganley circa-1987/88 * Steve Garner circa-1987/88 * Paul Garnett 1990/94 (player and player coach) * Jimmy Green circa-1987/88 * Denis Gregson circa 1956 ex Salford * Steve Griffiths circa-1987/88 * Tracey Grundy circa-1987/88 (ex-

) * Harry Gerrard Hall circa 1966 until 1976 (ex-Warrington Academy) *

Jimmy Hamilton Jimmy Hamilton (May 25, 1917 – September 20, 1994) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Biography Hamilton was born in Dillon, South Carolina, United States, and grew up in Phi ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

1977 Player's No.6 Trophy final * Paul Hankinson circa-1987/88 * Tony Hodson circa-1987/88 *

Keith Holden Charles Keith Holden (31 July 1937-Oct 2006) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Leigh ( Heritage № 637), Wigan (two spel ...

* Roy Howarth circa-1987/88 * Jon Hughes 1991–93 * Robert Irving 1981-82 *

Denis Jackson Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402– ...

ex-Barrow * Geoff Jamieson circa-1987/88 * Jimmy Johnson early-1970s * Frank Jones ex-Barrow * Graham Karalius circa-1987/88 * Joe Lewis circa 1972-76 * Denis Litherland circa-1987/88 * Bobby Little ex-Barrow * Dave Macko ex-Widnes circa 1982 * George Matthews ex-Barrow * Wally McArthur circa-1956 (ex-

) * Terry McCarrick goal-kicking circa-1960s * Dave McFarland circa-1987/88 * xIan McKenzie circa-1987/88 * Brian McTigue * Alec Maitland (Blackpool lad) circa-1963 *

Dave Maloney David Wilfred Maloney (born July 31, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 NHL season, 1974–75 until 1984–85 NHL season, 19 ...

circa-1987/88 * Steve Melling circa-1987/88 * Jim Molyneux (from

) circa-1970s, and 1980s, 3-times Kilkenny Trophy winner *

Mick Nanyn Mick Nanyn (born 3 June 1982) is a former Scotland national rugby league team, Scotland international rugby league footballer. He played as a and was a specialist Goal (sport)#Rugby football, goal-kicker. He set point scoring records at severa ...

circa-1987/88 (ex-

) * Mike O'Hara circa-1987/88 * Bill Oxley ex-Barrow * Brian Parkes circa-1987/88 *

Malcolm Pattinson Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máel C ...

* Thomas Perenara * Tim Pickup 1969-71.Australian Rep.1972-75 * Billy Price circa-1987/88 * Andy Ripon 1990–93 *

John Risman John V. Risman (birth registered fourth ¼ 1944) is the President of Scotland Rugby League, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Wales, and at club level for ...

* Paul Roberts circa-1987/88 * Derrick Seabrook circa-1987/88 * Joe Smith circa-1987/88 * Mike Smith

circa-1987/88 * Michael Stewart circa-1987/88 * Adrian Swindells circa-1987/88 * Courtney Thompson circa-1987/88 * Mark Viller circa-1987/88 * Tony Waller circa 1987/88 *

Les Smith Keith Leslie Smith is a former British keyboardist, once in the bands Anathema (1996, 2001–2011) and Cradle of Filth (1998–2000). Biography He was born in 1967 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. Smith undertook session work on keyboar ...

circa - 1978/82 & 1986/87 ex Halifax. * Dave Walsh circa-1987/88 (ex-

) * Paul Williams 1991/93 * Ste Wills circa 1982/87 * Danny Wilson circa-1987/88 * Ian Winnard circa-1987/88 * Brian Winstanley player-of-the-year 1966/67 * Chuck Wiseman circa-1960s from USA * David Wood circa-1987/88 (ex-

)