Radcliffe was a semi-professional

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

Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

, a town within the

Metropolitan Borough of Bury The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, just north of Manchester, to the east of Bolton and west of Rochdale. The borough is centred around the town of Bury, Greater Manchester, Bu ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

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 ...

. The club joined the Northern Union in 1901–02 and played for the single season in the Lancashire Senior Competition, which was effectively Division 2 (West).

History

The club had been founded in 1875 as Radcliffe Close Wesleyan FC. In 1896 the club joined the Northern Union playing in the Lancashire Second Competition . The club played in the inaugural Challenge Cup competition losing 3–0 away 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 the first round. The following year they entered the second Challenge Cup competition and lost again in the first round, this time away to

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

at the

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

by 19 points to nil. At the end of the 1900–01 season the club was promoted to the Lancashire Senior Competition but finished bottom on the competition and were not elected to the new second division of the Northern Rugby League at which time the club left the Northern Union.

Club league record

In the single season in which Radcliffe played semi-professional rugby league, 1901–02, the team only managed two wins and a draw out of 24 games played.

Heading Abbreviations
RL = Single Division; Pl = Games played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose; PF = Points for; PA = Points against; Diff = Points difference (+ or -); Pts = League points
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

References

External links

1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.comHull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97

Saints Heritage Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliffe RFC Defunct rugby league teams in England Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury Radcliffe, Greater Manchester Rugby league teams in Greater Manchester Rugby league teams in England 1901 establishments in England 1902 disestablishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1901

History

Club league record

See also

References

External links