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Huddersfield R.U.F.C.

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Huddersfield
Full nameHuddersfield Rugby Union Football Club
Nickname(s)The Field
Founded1909; 115 years ago (1909)
LocationHuddersfield
Ground(s)Lockwood Park (Capacity: 1,500 (500 seated))
ChairmanMark Birch
PresidentBilly Thornton
Coach(es)Gareth Lewis
Captain(s)Lewis Bradley
League(s)National League 2 North
2023–2414th (relegated to Regional 1 North East)
Team kit
Official website
huddersfieldrugby.com

Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The team plays in the domestic National League 2 North having won promotion from National League 3 North as champions at the end of the 2016–17 season. The club also competes in the Yorkshire Cup competition and play its home matches at Lockwood Park, which has a capacity of 1,500 with seating for 500. HRUFC also has an academy squad, feeding the senior team with new players.

History

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Rugby football was first played in Huddersfield in 1869 and the club established in 1870. Matches were initially played at the Rifle Field in Trinity Street and then, with the amalgamation of the St John's Cricket Club, at Fartown from 1879.

Huddersfield was playing in the top ranks of English clubs when, in August 1895, the town hosted a meeting at the George Hotel and was one of the 20 clubs that resigned from the Rugby Union to set up The Northern Rugby Football Union, which allowed players to be compensated for 'Broken Time.' This meant they could claim for wages lost by playing on Saturdays. They were not allowed to make a living from the game – they were not 'professional.' A new club was re-formed and named Huddersfield Old Boys in 1909.

The club's first ground was at the United Cricket Club in Luck Lane with changing facilities at the Croppers Arms.

World War I blew the whistle on the sport and games were not restarted until 1919 on a ground at Salendine Nook initially before the club took a lease on land at Waterloo. It was here that the club established their current colours of white, claret and gold. A stand was built and changing rooms completed for exclusive rugby use a luxury in those days. But the ground was plagued with drainage problems and another move was contemplated. In the event it was decided to buy the ground outright for £700 and invest in drainage. In 1935 £370 was invested in a new pavilion and bar and ladies were welcomed to a hitherto male bastion and they themselves began the tradition of post-match tea making. By 1964 the original pavilion was falling to bits and a new one, costing £11,000, was officially opened by Huddersfield's then MP J P W Mallalieu, himself a former Oxford Blue.

In 1946 the club changed their name to Huddersfield Rugby Union Football Club. The club sold part of its Waterloo property for £1.4 million to W Morrison's to help fund the purchase of the 26-acre (110,000 m2) former brewery estate at Lockwood Park from Bass in 1996 to create a major sports complex backed by a £1.84 million Sport Council lottery grant.

The club won the Yorkshire Cup in 2011 for the first time in its history, beating Hull RUFC 25–18 at York RUFC. The Huddersfield team which won the cup in 1890 was the direct antecedent of the Huddersfield Giants and is unconnected to the current Huddersfield RUFC.

Honours

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Notable players

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The following players have appeared in a Yorkshire Cup (T'owd Tin Pot) final, or are county, or international representatives before/during/after their time at Huddersfield RUFC

Associated clubs

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As well as being a rugby club Huddersfield RUFC also has clubs based at Lockwood Park catering for hockey, squash, road running, astronomy and a bowling club that boasts arguably the finest green in Yorkshire. Tucked away within the huge clubhouse is the Borough Club for the town's serious snooker players.

Lockwood Park

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Lockwood Park, home venue of Huddersfield RUFC

Lockwood Park is the home of Huddersfield RUFC and is a multi-sports complex with a capacity of 1,500 (with seating for 500). It is also the home of Huddersfield Dragons Hockey Club, Huddersfield Road Runners AC, Huddersfield Astronomical Society, HRUFC Bowling Club, Malcolm Pickup Academy Squash and the Borough Club which offers snooker facilities.

It was also the home ground of the Huddersfield Giants Rugby League Academy and Scholarship teams, who enjoyed relative success whilst at Lockwood Park.

Current standings

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2023–24 National League 2 North table
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts Result
1 Rotherham Titans (C) 26 25 0 1 970 472 +498 22 1 123 Promoted
2 Leeds Tykes 26 24 0 2 1111 483 +628 23 2 121
3 Sheffield 26 17 1 8 801 638 +163 18 4 92
4 Wharfedale 26 17 0 9 673 504 +169 13 3 84
5 Fylde 26 13 1 12 775 685 +90 18 7 79
6 Tynedale 26 13 1 12 705 680 +25 16 7 77
7 Sheffield Tigers 26 13 1 12 689 737 −48 12 2 68
8 Hull 26 13 1 12 683 799 −116 11 2 67
9 Otley 26 9 1 16 722 773 −51 14 9 61
10 Lymm 26 9 1 16 724 902 −178 12 5 55
11 Preston Grasshoppers 26 8 1 17 747 920 −173 14 6 54
12 Billingham 26 7 2 17 576 787 −211 9 3 44
13 Hull Ionians[a] 26 6 1 19 730 916 −186 11 7 44
14 Huddersfield (R) 26 2 1 23 574 1184 −610 11 2 23 Relegated
Updated to match(es) played on 27 April 2024. Source: National League 2 North RFU [2]
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
    (C) Champion; (R) Relegated
    Notes:
  1. ^ The liquidation of Jersey Reds meant that Hull Ionians were saved from relegation as the best 13th placed side in National 2.[1]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "National League Rugby – Promotion and Relegation: 2023-24". National League Rugby. 14 December 2023.
  2. ^ "National League 2 North". England Rugby.
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