Tyldesley was a rugby league club in Tyldesley, Lancashire, England.

The club took part 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 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 (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 to win the 1895 Lancashire (Rugby Union) Cup at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington, 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 for "broken time" payments. And so Tyldesley, represented by a Mr. G Taylor, attended a meeting at The George Hotel, Huddersfield, together with representatives of 21 other clubs, and agreed to form the Northern Rugby Football Union.

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 in 1911.

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

Colours

The earliest recorded colours of the club are white shirts and navy blue knickers; by 1900 the club was wearing navy blue.

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 :-

SeasonCompetitionPosTeam Name PlWDLPWPADiffPts% PtsNo of teams in leagueNotesRef1895–96RL 6 Tyldesley 42 21 8 13260 164 96 50 22 Only limited County League information is available for this season.1896–97Lancs Sen Comp 3 Tyldesley 26 15 2 9 159 80 79 32 14 1897–98 Lancs Sen Comp 12 Tyldesley 26 8 1 17 111 281 -170 17 14 1898–99 Lancs Sen Comp 12 Tyldesley 26 3 5 18 82 240 -158 11 14 1899–1900 Lancs Sen Comp 14 Tyldesley 26 2 1 23 66 336 -270 5 20.83 14 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 :-

SeasonDateCompetitionOpponent VenueH/AResult Score AttNotesRef1895–96Sat 28 September 1895RlWiganFolly FieldADraw0-0" " 1 1895–96Sat 26 October 1895RLSt. HelensKnowsley RoadADraw3-3 1895–96 2 November 1895RlWidnesHomeHWon9-0 1895–96 30 November 1895RLWarringtonHomeHLost 3-10 1895–96Sat 28 December 1895RlHullBoulevardHWon3-0 1895–968 February 1896RLWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-11 2 1895–96 7 March 1896RlWarringtonWilderspoolHDraw 3-3 1895–96Sat 21 March 1896RLHullHomeHWon18-0 1895–96Sat 28 March 1896RlSt HelensHomeHWon11-10 1895–96Tue 21 April 1896RLWiganHomeHWon5-0 1896–97 -1 -1 1896Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneAWon8-4 2 1896–97Sat 26 September 1896Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-3 1896–97Sat 31 October 1896Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldAWon3-0 1 1896–97 7 November 1896Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHWon | 1896–97Sat 5 December 1896Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHWon8-0 1896–97 19 December 1896Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHWon 3-0 1896–97Sat 20 February 1897Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHWon12-9 1896–97 27 February 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHWon 6-0 1896–97 27 March 1897CC R2LeedsHomeHWon9-3 1896–97Sat 10 April 1897CC R4St HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-12 1897–98Sat 25 December 1897Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldALost2-3 1 1897–98 4 September 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHWon19-0 1897–98Sat 25 September 1897Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-11 1897–98Sat 9 October 1897Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHWon3-0 1897–98 13 November 1897Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost2-27 1897–98 4 December 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 0-9 18 97-98 18 December 1897Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-3 2 1897–98Sat 15 January 1898Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHWon8-3 1897–98Fri 8 April 1898FriendlyHullBoulevardHLost2-9 1898–99 1 October 1898Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost4-8 1898–99 29 October 1898Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 4-21 1898–99Sat 24 December 1898Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHDraw0-0 1898–99Mon 26 December 1898Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost5-9 1898–99 21 January 1899Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHLost 0-6 1898–99Sat 11 February 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHLost3-6 1898–99Sat 4 March 1899Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldADraw0-0 1 1898–99 15 April 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost2-14 2 1899–1900 26 October 1899Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 0-22 1899–1900 11 November 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost3-10 1899–1900 25 November 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-11 2 1899–1900Sat 2 December 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost3-26 1899–1900Sat 23 December 1899Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldALost6-15 1 1899–1900Sat 30 December 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHLost3-14 1899–1900 7 January 1900Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHLost 0-11 1899–1900Sat 13 January 1900Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHLost5-7 1899–1900Sat 24 February 1900Lanc Sen CompMillomHomeHLost7-111899–1900 17 April 1900SWL R1WidnesLowerhouse LaneALost6-23 2

Notes and Comments Folly Field is the stadium used by Wigan 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 Widnes. 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. Wigan became sub-tenants of Springfield Park, which they shared with Wigan United AFC, playing their first game there on 14 September 1901 at which a crowd of 4,000 saw them beat Morecambe 12–0, and the last game on 28 April 1902 when Wigan beat the Rest of Lancashire Senior Competition. A temporary ground was necessary to span the period between moving from Folly Field and the new ground at Central Park being constructed.

See also British rugby league system Cumberland League Rugby league county leagues List of defunct rugby league clubs

References

External links 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897 Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97 Saints Heritage Society Folly Field Normanton Knights History Eastmoor Dragons ARLFC - Club Info - History 2