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Brighouse Rangers RFC
Club information
Full nameBrighouse Rangers Rugby Football Club
Exited1906; 118 years ago (1906)
Former details
Ground(s)
  • Waterloo Road
    Lane Head,
    Brighouse
Plaque celebrating the birth of Rugby League

Brighouse Rangers was a rugby league club in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England.

The club was involved in the meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895, and after the schism became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League), playing for eleven seasons from 1895–96 to 1905–06.

After a break, a new club, also called Brighouse Rangers, appeared in 1915 and played in the Emergency War Leagues in 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18 and 1918–19.

History

Early history

Brighouse Rangers Football Club were founded in the 1870s, and joined the RFU in 1879.[1]

After the 1890-91 season, Brighouse along with other Yorkshire Senior clubs Batley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Liversedge, Manningham and Wakefield decided that they wanted their own county league starting in 1891 along the lines of a similar competition that had been played in Lancashire. The clubs wanted full control of the league but the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union would not sanction the competition as it meant giving up control of rugby football to the senior clubs.

In 1895, on 20 April, Brighouse Rangers won "T'owd Tin Pot", beating Morley R.F.C. 16–4 in the Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley, Leeds before a crowd of in the region of 20,000.[2]

Northern Union

Brighouse Rangers, like many other clubs from Lancashire (and Yorkshire), had suffered punishment by the RFU for "broken time" payments. After their annual general meeting in London, the RFU issued a decree banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged,[3] and so Brighouse Rangers, represented by H H Waller, attended a meeting at The George Hotel, Huddersfield, together with the representatives of 21 other clubs, and agreed to form a Northern Rugby Football Union.

After the Great Schism[4] in 1895, Brighouse Rangers were one of the founder members of the new league and the same H H Waller of Brighouse Rangers was elected the first Northern Rugby Football Union chairman.

In the first season 1895–96 the league consisted of 22 clubs and Brighouse Rangers, continuing their recent Rugby Union form, finished in 5th position.

In season 1896–97 the league was divided into Yorkshire and Lancashire. Brighouse Rangers, playing in the former section, finished in 1st position out of 16 teams, 2 points ahead of second placed Manningham and a full eight points above third place Halifax. Brighouse Rangers were crowned Yorkshire Champions.

In the following four seasons, still in the Yorkshire section, seasons 1897–98, 1898–99, 1899–1900 & 1900–01 the club finished in 13th, 10th and 12th before moving up to a mid-table 7th in the respective seasons, each time out of the 16 clubs.

For the next season, 1901–02 the top seven clubs in each of the County Senior Leagues decided to break from the rest of the clubs and form "The Northern Rugby League". This is the first time these terms had been used. Brighouse Rangers, after finishing 7th (and beating Hull Kingston Rovers team with the same points by a better points scoring difference of 6), were included to this first division.

Brighouse Rangers finishing 14th and bottom with a playing record of 5 points (4 wins and 1 draw) out of 26 matches played.

The Rugby League made yet another change to the league structure for the next 1902–03 by renaming the top league as the 1st Division and increasing the number of clubs to 18, thus preventing any threatened relegations. Brighouse remained in the first division. In this following season, Brighouse Rangers again finished bottom out of the 18 teams, but this time only 2 points adrift of second bottom St. Helens and 8 points away from third bottom Wigan. This time both Brighouse Rangers and St. Helens were relegated.

For the next two seasons 1903–04 and 1904–05, Brighouse Rangers in the 2nd Division where they finished 6th out of 17 and then 11th out of 14 respectively.

The following season 1905–06 the two leagues were combined into one. Also, clubs arranged all their own fixtures with the condition that any team they played they did so twice, both home and away. This meant that the league positions were decided on a % basis (i.e. the actual points gained divided by the number of points possible if the club had won every game – the answer multiplied by a hundred). In this, Brighouse Rangers' last season, they finished bottom equal with Morecambe, bottom with 8 points out of a possible 52 and bottom with a 15.38% winning percentage.

At their annual general meeting in summer 1906 Brighouse Rangers took the decision to disband.[1]

Successor clubs

After a break, another club with the same name Brighouse Rangers appeared during the First World War and played in the Emergency War League in season 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18 and the 1918–19 (Jan) wartime league but not in the shortened 1919 (Feb – May) Victory League.

Brighouse Rugby League club have reformed numerous times since.[1] The current club are amateurs Brighouse Rangers ARLFC.

In the 1970s Brighouse Rangers (ARLFC) were reformed by former Luddenden and Ovenden player Jeff Greenwood and former Bradford Northern player John Chase they played at Wellholme Park, near the Brighouse Cricket Club. Towards the end of the new millennium 2000, Tesco bought the site including the Brighouse ARLFC clubhouse and with the money, the club built a new ground on Russell Way, off Bradford Road. As at 2022 they play in the Premier Div, Yorkshire League also run a ladies team and a number of age group teams .[1]

Honours

Club name

According to the official Rugby League records the Club was called Brighouse Rangers[5] Some sites and books refer to the club as Brighouse Rovers though.

Player earning international caps while at Brighouse Rangers

Ground

The club's first ground was at Fink Hill. In 1883 they moved to Waterloo Road, Lane Head (now the site of St Andrews Junior School and adjacent allotments), where they stayed until their demise in 1906.[1]

Records

Club league performance

In a Season
Details Season Competition Comments Notes Ref
Highest League Position 5 1895–96 RL out of clubs
or 1 1896–97 Yorks Sen out of clubs
Lowest League Position 31 1905–06 RL out of clubs
and 14 1901–02 RL out of clubs
and 18 1902–03 1st Div out of clubs
Most League Points 56 1895–96 RL out of possible 84 = 67%
or 48 1896–97 Yorks Sen out of possible 60 = 80%
Least League Points 7 1901–02 RL out of possible 52 = 14%
Most Points Scored (PF) 247 1895–96 RL In 42 games = 5.88/game
or 213 1896–97 Yorks Sen In 30 games = 2.18/game
Most Points Conceded (PA) 333 1905–06 RL In 26 games = 3.35/game
Least Points Scored (PF) 74 1901–02 RL In 26 games = 2.85/game
or (PF) 79 1902–03 1st Div In 34 games = 2.32/game
Least Points Conceded (PA) 68 1896–97 Yorks Sen In 30 games = 7.1/game
Best Points Difference 145 1896–97 Yorks Sen In 30 games
Worst Points Difference −250 1901–02 RL In 26 games

Club trophies

Club league record

Season Competition Pos Team Name Pl W D L PW PA Diff Pts % No of teams in league Notes Ref
1895–96 RL 5 Brighouse Rangers 42 27 2 13 247 129 118 56
1896–97 Yorks Sen 1 Brighouse Rangers 30 22 4 4 213 68 145 48
1897–98 Yorks Sen 13 Brighouse Rangers 30 9 5 16 143 172 −9 23
1898–99 Yorks Sen 10 Brighouse Rangers 30 12 2 16 114 191 −77 26
1899–1900 Yorks Sen 12 Brighouse Rangers 30 9 3 18 80 231 −151 21
1900–01 Yorks Sen 7 Brighouse Rangers 30 16 0 14 194 162 32 32
1901–02 RL 14 Brighouse Rangers 26 3 1 22 74 324 −250 7
1902–03 1st Div 18 Brighouse Rangers 34 7 4 23 79 270 −191 18
1903–04 2nd Div 6 Brighouse Rangers 32 19 3 10 192 136 56 41
1904–05 2nd Div 11 Brighouse Rangers 26 8 1 17 111 169 −58 17
1905–06 RL 31 Brighouse Rangers 26 3 2 21 87 333 −246 8 15.38

Heading Abbreviations
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.

Several fixtures and results

The following a selection of Brighouse Rangers' fixtures in the seasons in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League:- [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Season Date Competition Opponent Venue H/A Result Score Att Notes Ref
1895–96 Mon 14 October 1895 RL Wigan Lane Head H Draw 3–3 [7]
1895–96 Sat 2 November 1895 RL Hull Boulevard A Lost 0–5 [10]
1895–96 23 November 1895 RL Widnes Lowerhouse Lane A Won 3–0 [8]
1895–96 14 December 1895 RL Warrington unknown ? Won 13–3 [11]
1895–96 Sat 28 December 1895 RL Wigan Folly Fields A Draw 0–0 [7]
1895–96 Sat 4 January 1896 RL St. Helens Lane Head H Won 6–4 [9]
1895–96 14 March 1896 RL Widnes Lane Head H Won 11–0 [8]
1895–96 28 March 1896 RL Warrington unknown ? Won 13–7 [11]
1895–96 Mon 6 April 1896 RL St. Helens Knowsley Rd A Draw 0–0 [9]
1895–96 Mon 20 April 1896 RL Hull Lane Head H Won 6–3 [10]
1896–97 Sat 31 October 1896 YSC Hull Boulevard A Draw 3–3 [10]
1896–97 Wed 10 March 1897 YSC Hull Lane Head H Won 6–0 [10]
1896–97 Sat 20 March 1897 CC R1 ? ?
1896–97 Sat 27 March 1897 CC R2 Wakefield Trinity Lane Head 13–4
1896–97 Sat 3 April 1897 CC R3 ? ? lost to
1897–98 Sat 13 November 1897 YSC Hull Boulevard A Draw 0–0 [10]
1897–98 Sat 19 February 1898 YSC Hull Lane Head H Won 7–3 [10]
1898–99 Sat 24 September 1898 YSC Hull Boulevard A Lost 0–14 [10]
1898–99 Sat 31 December 1898 YSC Hull Lane Head H Lost 0–21 [10]
1899–1900 Sat 23 September 1899 YSC Hull Lane Head H Lost 5–10 [10]
1899–1900 Sat 30 December 1899 YSC Hull Boulevard A Won 5–3 [10]
1900–01 Sat 1 September 1900 YSC Hull Boulevard A Lost 0–13 [10]
1900–01 Sat 15 December 1900 YSC Hull Lane Head H Won 7–4 [10]
1901–02 Sat 21 September 1901 RL Hull Boulevard A Lost 0–3 [10]
1901–02 2 November 1901 RL Warrington Wilderspool A Lost 2–7 [11]
1901–02 15 February 1902 RL Warrington Lane Head H Lost 0–2 [11]
1901–02 Sat 1 March 1902 RL Hull Lane Head H Won 4–3 [10]
1902–03 13 September 1902 1st Div Warrington Wilderspool A Lost 0–3 [11]
1902–03 Sat 27 September 1902 1st Div St. Helens Lane Head H Lost 3–4 [9]
1902–03 Sat 8 November 1902 1st Div Hull Lane Head H Won 5–3 [10]
1902–03 Sat 13 December 1902 1st Div Wigan Folly Fields A Lost 0–12 [7]
1902–03 20 December 1902 1st Div Widnes Lane Head H Lost 2–5 [8]
1902–03 10 January 1903 1st Div Warrington Lane Head H Won 7–0 [11]
1902–03 Sat 24 January 1903 1st Div St. Helens Knowsley Rd A Won 7–0 [9]
1902–03 Sat 11 April 1903 1st Div Wigan Lane Head H Won 3–0 [7]
1902–03 Mon 13 April 1903 1st Div Hull Boulevard A Lost 2–23 [10]
1902–03 18 April 1903 1st Div Widnes Lowerhouse Lane A Draw 5–5 [8]
1903–04 Sat 31 October 1903 2nd Div St. Helens Knowsley Rd A Lost 0–10 [9]
1903–04 Sat 27 February 1904 2nd Div St. Helens Lane Head H Won 3–0 [9]
1905–06 Sat 16 December 1905 RL Hull H Lost 7–13 [10]
1905–06 23 December 1905 RL Widnes Lane Head H Draw 0–0 [8]
1905–06 Sat 24 March 1906 RL Hull Boulevard A Lost 2–30 [10]
1905–06 7 April 1906 RL Widnes Lowerhouse Lane A Lost 0–22 [8]

Heading Abbreviations
CC Rx = Challenge Cup Round x; TSC = Yorkshire Senior Competition;

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Brighouse Rangers ARLFC – History".
  2. ^ "Morley RUFC – History". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  3. ^ "South Wales Scorpions – A brief history to the origins of Rugby League".
  4. ^ J C Lindley with personal recollections by D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby – The History of Wakefield Trinity Football Club. The Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. pp. 34 and 35.
  5. ^ "RFL Past Chairmen of the council". Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  6. ^ Williams, Graham; Lush, Peter; Farrar, David (2009). The British Rugby League Records Book. London League. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-903659-49-6.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Cherry and White".
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Widnes History".
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Saints Heritage Society".
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Hull&Proud". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Warington History". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
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