The Recs Rugby Football Club is an amateur

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 11 ...

team based in St Helens, Merseyside.

History

In 1949 a group of Pilkington Glass employees submitted an application to the Pilkington Recreation Club Committee at Grove Street to form an amateur rugby league team. Their first match was on 27 August 1949 against a local amateur side, Vine Tavern, and was played away. The Recs lost 32–3 in front of a 2,000 strong crowd. However, later in the season the Recs won a return match by 15–13 in front of an estimated 4,000 crowd. On 13 February 1977 the Recs drew a home fixture in the Challenge Cup against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

. The game was played at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

, as the City Road venue could not accommodate the number of spectators expected. In the 2016 Challenge Cup, Pilks were drawn at home to League One outfit

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

for the 3rd round. Despite an instant offer from St Helens to play the game at Langtree Park, Pilks managed to gain acceptance from 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 ...

(RFL) to play the game at Ruskin Drive after it met a suitability criteria. Recs won that fixture 13–0 in front of an estimated sell out crowd of 500 people. Playing in the 4th round of the competition, on 19 March 2016 Pilks lost 0–78 to Halifax at 'home' in the Challenge Cup 4th round, the game was played at

Langtree Park Totally Wicked Stadium is a rugby league stadium in the Peasley Cross area of St. Helens. Known as Langtree Park until 2017, it has a capacity of over 18,000 and is the home ground of St Helens R.F.C. The stadium was granted full planning perm ...

in front of 987 people.

Club house fire

On 10 June 2011, it was reported that the team's clubhouse on City Road was on fire. Club officials, who had been alerted to the blaze, scrambled to save kit and equipment from the changing rooms before the fire tore through the building. They were among nine clubs invited to join 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 ...

for the 2013 season. Pilks started in NCL Division 3 (4th tier), however 3 consecutive promotions in their first 3 seasons means as of 2016, Pilks will compete in the NCL Premier Division for the first time since 1986.

2023 Squad

Notable players

* Tom Armstrong * Bob Dagnall * Geoff Fletcher * Carl Forster *

Gareth Frodsham Gareth Frodsham (born ) is an English professional rugby league footballer, formerly of Pilkington Recs, St. Helens, Batley Bulldogs and North Wales Crusaders. He has also played for the Rhode Island Rebellion in the USA Rugby League Th ...

Kurt Haggerty Kurt Haggerty (born 8 January 1989) is a professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He played in the 2000s and 2010s as a and . As a player, he played for the Bradford Bulls, ...

* Luke Thompson *

Dave McConnell Dave McConnell (born ) is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer who played for St Helens and the London Broncos in the Super League. He has also played for Chorley Lynx, Leigh Centurions and the Rochdale Hornets. McConnell's ...

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington Recs Arlfc BARLA teams Rugby clubs established in 1949 1949 establishments in England Rugby league teams in Merseyside English rugby league teams