Underbank Rangers are 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 11 ...

team based in

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly cons ...

near

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

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 ...

. They play in the Premier Division of 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 club also competes in the Yorkshire Men's League.Underbank are the second oldest rugby league club in the world - but the longest running rugby league club in the world (with the oldest having folded a few times)

History

The club was founded in 1884. During the early 1900s Underbank launched the career of rugby league legend

Harold Wagstaff Harold Wagstaff (9 May 1891 – 19 July 1939), also known by the nickname of "Waggy", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played as a and was nicknamed the ''Prince of Centres''. A c ...

who would go on to be the first name in the Rugby League’s Hall of Fame. A Holliday Cup and promotion double was achieved in 1981/82 when Neil Fox was player / coach, this was repeated by the more recent team of 2015 including the likes of Joe Bellas, Tom Stringer, Dayle King and Oliver Moorhouse. Rangers struggled in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the establishment of the rival Newsome club took its toll. However, the club achieved a two-year revival at the end of the 1992/93 season, culminating in winning the Holliday Cup and gaining promotion to the Pennine Premier Division. Season 1999-2000 witnessed the Rangers finish second, their highest ever position, in the Pennine League Premier division. The following season, 2000-2001, again saw Rangers riding high in the Premier Division and top of the table at Christmas. However, the club suffered badly with the foot and mouth crisis, the ground was closed and the nomadic Rangers won only one of their last nine matches. The next couple of seasons witnessed the Rangers struggle and they couldn’t maintain their Pennine Premier League status. They were founder members of National League Three in 2003, in which they competed as ''Huddersfield Underbank Rangers''. They went on to finish sixth out of the ten competing teams. Seasons 2004 to 2006 saw the team miss out on the play-offs. The league was renamed Rugby League Conference National Division and came within the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England ...

structure in 2007. Rangers improved and finished fifth and reached the play-offs before losing in the second round at

Warrington Wizards Woolston Rovers are a rugby league team based in Warrington. The open age teams play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference. History Woolston Rovers ''Woolston Rovers Rugby Club'' was founded at the Lido Country Club on Manches ...

. The team again finished fifth in 2008 exiting the competition in the first round of the play-offs after a defeat at

Featherstone Lions Featherstone Lions are an amateur rugby league club from Featherstone, West Yorkshire who play in the National Conference League and the Yorkshire Men's League The juniors (U7 - U18) play in the Yorkshire Junior & Youth League. The club also ha ...

. They were among nine clubs invited to join the

for the 2013 season. They reverted to the original ''Underbank Rangers'' name. In 2020 the club made it to the fourth round of the Challenge Cup for the first time, defeating Lock Lane, Distington and League 1 side

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 ...

in the first three rounds before losing to 5 times winners

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

at Dewsbury.

Club honours

* RLC National Division: 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underbank Rangers Rugby League Conference teams BARLA teams Sport in Kirklees Rugby clubs established in 1884 1884 establishments in England Rugby league teams in West Yorkshire English rugby league teams