Tyldesley 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 in

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

, Lancashire, England. The club took part in the meeting at the

George Hotel, Huddersfield The George Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, is a Grade II listed building famous as the birthplace of rugby league football in 1895. The 60 bed hotel was built in 1851 and closed in January 2013, with the receivers looking for a n ...

in 1895 and, after the schism, became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now

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 ...

), playing for five seasons from 1895–96 to 1899–1900

History

Early Days

The first rugby club in Tyldesley was formed in 1881 when, after a meeting of local businessmen and rugby players from other clubs, they decided to move from Garrett Hall to Tyldesley and become Tyldesley Football Club. In 1891, Tyldesley signed future England International Half-back John "Buff" Berry from Kendal Hornets. He went on to win caps for

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 ...

(RU) while at Tyldesley in 1891 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. He continued playing for Tyldesley under the Northern Union rules as a stand-off half. Tyldesley beat

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

to win the 1895 Lancashire (Rugby Union) Cup at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

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 front of around 15,000 spectators.

Northern Union

Prior to the Schism, Tyldesley, like many other clubs from Lancashire (and Yorkshire), had suffered punishment by the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

for " broken time" payments. And so Tyldesley, represented by a Mr. G Taylor, attended a meeting at The

, together with representatives of 21 other clubs, and agreed to form the

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. After the Great Schism in 1895, Tyldesley were one of the founder members of the new league. In the first season 1895-96 the league consisted of 22 clubs and Tyldesley finished in a very creditable 6th position. In season 1896-97 the league was divided into Yorkshire and Lancashire, Tyldesley playing in the latter section, where they would stay for the remainder of their (semi) professional existence. They again had a quite successful season finishing in 3rd position out of 14 teams In the two following seasons, still in the Lancashire section, season 1897-98 & 1898-99 they could only manage a lowly 12th position (out of 14 teams). In the final season, 1899–1900 they won the wooden spoon, finishing 14th out of 14 teams, with only five points thanks to two wins and one draw.

Revert to Rugby Union

At the end of the 1901–02 season the club, which had played in the Lancashire second competition, disbanded as the club had amassed substantial liabilities. A reformed Tyldesley club was admitted to the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

in 1911. In 1926, landowning Club President (Mr. William Hesketh Ramsden) gave the Well Street ground in trust to the Club.

Club League Record

The League positions for Tyldesley for the 5 years in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League are given in the following table :- 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
% Pts = A percentage system was used to determine league positions due to clubs playing varying number of fixtures and against different opponents
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Several fixtures & results

The following are just a few of Tyldesley's fixtures during the five seasons (and other times) in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League :-

Notes and Comments

# Folly Fields is the stadium used by

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 ...

at the time until 1901. They then became sub-tenants of Springfield Park See below - Note 3. # Lowerhouse Lane is the original site of the current ground used by

. It was renamed Naughton Park in 1932 in honour of club secretary, Tom Naughton - and later renamed Halton Stadium after being completely rebuilt in 1997. #

became sub-tenants of Springfield Park, which they shared with

Wigan United AFC Wigan United A.F.C. was an association football club existing from around 1896 into the early 1900s, and was based in Wigan, Lancashire, England. History The 1900–01 season saw the club in the Lancashire League, and rumours circulating arou ...

, playing their first game there on 14 September 1901 at which a crowd of 4,000 saw them beat

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

12–0, and the last game on 28 April 1902 when

beat the Rest of Lancashire Senior Competition. A temporary ground was necessary to span the period between moving from Folly Fields and the new ground at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

being constructed.

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 - 1896-97Saints Heritage SocietyFolly FieldNormanton Knights HistoryEastmoor Dragons ARLFC - Club Info - History 2
{{NRFL Defunct rugby league teams in England Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Rugby clubs established in 1881 Founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union Rugby league teams in Greater Manchester Tyldesley Rugby league teams in Cheshire 1881 establishments in England