Sowerby Bridge was a (semi) professional rugby league club. The club was based in

Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once muc ...

, a small

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

(population approx. 10,000) that lies within the

Upper Calder Valley The Upper Calder Valley lies in West Yorkshire, in northern England, and covers the towns of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, and Sowerby Bridge, as well as a number of smaller settlements such as Portsmouth, Cornholme, Wa ...

in the district of

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, northern

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 ...

, and approximately 3 miles from Halifax. The club joined the

Northern Union 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 ...

in 1901-02 and played for the single season in the Yorkshire Senior Competition.

History

Sowerby Bridge rugby club was formed in the mid-1880s. In April 1899 the club won the Yorkshire Cup beating Alverthorpe 4–0 in a replay after the first game ended 0–0. Just four months later, the club changed codes to join the Northern Union and was elected to the Yorkshire Second Competition. The following season the team was promoted to the Yorkshire Senior Competition but finished 13th out of 14 in the competition with just seven wins from 26 games. At the end of the 1901-02 season, the County Leagues elected 18 teams to join the new Northern Rugby League Second Division. Sowerby Bridge did not apply to be in the new second division. After spending the following season in the Yorkshire Senior Competition, now reduced to the third-tier of the sport, the club left the Northern Union in July 1903 and the club folded soon after.

League record

In the single season in which Sowerby Bridge played professional rugby league the club played 26 games winning just 7 and having 2 points deducted for breaches of the professional rules. 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.

Notable players

R. Helliwell of Sowerby Bridge played in The Rest's 7-5 defeat by

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the 1901–02 Yorkshire Senior Competition Champions versus The Rest match at

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, comprising two separate grounds; Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium, linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities. The grounds a ...

on Saturday 19 April 1902.Dalby, Ken (1955). ''The Headingley Story - 1890-1955 - Volume One - Rugby''. The Leeds Cricket, Football & Athletic Co. Ltd ASIN: B0018JNGVM

References

{{reflist Rugby league teams in West Yorkshire Defunct rugby league teams in England Sport in Calderdale Sowerby Bridge

History

League record

Notable players

See also

References