The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.
History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athletic and Football Club
The idea of establishing a rugby football club in Dewsbury originated among a few friends at a meeting at the Little Saddle Inn in 1875. Established with immediate effect, Dewsbury Athletic and Football Club enrolled between 30 and 40 members.
On 20 November 1875, the first recorded match of Dewsbury Athletic and Football Club took place when they played Heckmondwike Church Society XV and lost by one goal, six tries and eight touch downs to nil. The first home game, it is generally held, took place on 4 December 1875 in a field off Sugar Lane, opposite the future Crown Flatt. In a 13-a-side "scratch" game, the two outfits – one selected by the Captain and the other by the Vice-Captain – fought out a draw. The club soon realised they needed a ground and the following year secured a sub tenancy at Crown Flatt for £200.
During the course of the 1879–80 season the club colours changed from blue and cardinal to black, crimson and yellow.
On 27 March 1880, the Yorkshire Cup semi-final against Wakefield Trinity drew an estimated 16,000 supporters to Crown Flatt which the local newspaper claimed to be the largest assemblage ever seen on a football ground in Yorkshire.
1881 saw the club's first success in the Yorkshire Challenge Cup beating Huddersfield, Bradford and Halifax before an Alfred Newsome drop goal gave them victory over Wakefield Trinity in the final.
When York F.C. paid a visit to Crown Flatt on 25 September 1886, the home team took to the field wearing white jerseys that incorporated the borough's coat of arms.
1888–1897: Dewsbury and Savile Cricket and Football Club
Crown Flatt was rapidly gaining the reputation as one of the best-equipped ground in Yorkshire. This was further enhanced when the club purchased the famous "Noah's Ark" stand at a cost of £250. In 1888, the club amalgamated with Savile Cricket Club and United Clerks' Cricket Club to form Dewsbury and Savile Cricket and Football Club.
After the 1890-91 season, Dewsbury along with other Yorkshire Senior clubs Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, 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.
The Yorkshire Senior Competition was formed in 1892 and Dewsbury immediately became members. They made their Senior Competition début at Liversedge on 10 September 1892, Dewsbury were beaten 2–10. The club struggled and finished in the bottom three due to financial problems. The arrival of competitive leagues meant that attendances were increasing connected to on-field success. Dewsbury failed to adapt to the new era: attendances from then onwards topped 2,000 only on rare occasions.
By 1895, Dewsbury were sporting blue and white. At the famous meeting at the George Hotel in Huddersfield, Dewsbury were the only members of the Yorkshire Senior Competition not to resign from the Rugby Football Union instead requesting permission to consult further. At a special meeting convened at the King's Arms Hotel, Market Place, on 2 September, they elected to remain in the Senior Competition. It was not a popular decision. A local journalist reported that 'there wasn't a single supporter who wouldn't say "Let us have the Northern Union and the sooner the better".' Dewsbury marginally improved their position in the league to 10th. Next season, however they were back at the bottom.
On 22 November 1897, the General Committee of Dewsbury and Savile Cricket and Football Club elected to abandon rugby union with immediate effect. Of the 12 league matches contested by the club that season, all but one – and that a draw – were lost. In reply to the 156 points conceded, the team registered just two tries. The 0–5 loss to Otley on 13 November 1897 was the final rugby union game played at Crown Flatt. By the time of its demise, the football section had contested more than 500 matches. They withdrew from the league concentrating on football instead.
1898–1910: Dewsbury R.L.F.C. On 21 April 1898, a historic meeting was held at the Black Bull public house to consider the possibility of forming a new Northern Union club. The question was discussed at some length and over £100 in donations was promised. Ironically it was local rivals Batley who helped Dewsbury gain election to the Northern Union. They were fully supportive of Dewsbury's bid and obviously looked forward to rekindling the rivalry, as well as their pockets, with the derby matches and also to thank the old Dewsbury supporters who had switched their support to Batley's Mount Pleasant ground during the two or three preceding seasons.
At a subsequent discussion at the parish church school on 5 May, it was announced that members of the committee had met with Mr Lipscomb, agent to Lord Savile, and had signed an agreement to lease the Crown Flatt estate as from 1 July 1898. Red, amber and black were adopted as club's colours during June 1898.
On 3 September 1898, the players travelled to Normanton for their Northern Union match, they were beaten 3–16. The first home game took place the very next Saturday with visitors Kinsley emerging victorious by a margin of 13–5. During the rest of the season the team played in Yorkshire No. 2 Competition.
In 1901–02 the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were combined to form a second division. Dewsbury was one of the new teams to join the second division.
1910–1944: Early success The club's first major success came in 1912, when they beat Oldham 8–5 in the Challenge Cup Final at Headingley. Dewsbury were even more successful, finishing champions in the 1915–16 and 1916–17 seasons; attracting players and crowds due to the town’s prominence as a manufacturer of woollen cloth for uniforms.
They beat the visiting Australasian team of the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain 13–6. When, in 1922, the Northern Union renamed itself the Rugby Football League, the club adopted the title of Dewsbury Rugby Football Club.
In 1929, Dewsbury also had the honour of playing in the first Wembley Challenge Cup final, losing 13–2 to Wigan.
Managed by Eddie Waring, Dewsbury enjoyed huge success during the Second World War when their side was boosted by the inclusion of a number of big-name guest players. Dewsbury won the Wartime Emergency League in 1941–42 and again the following season, though that championship was declared null and void when it was discovered they had played an ineligible player. They were also runners-up in 1943–44.
Post Second World War Vic Hey was player/coach at Dewsbury from 1944–47. In the first full season after the war, a new record transfer fee of £1,650 was set when Dewsbury bought Bill Davies from Huddersfield. James "Jimmy" Ledgard left Dewsbury for a record fee of £2,650 in January 1948, bought by Leigh.
In 1972, Maurice Bamford arrived at Dewsbury as a coach. Tommy Smales was the coach in 1973. Dewsbury's only championship title came in the 1972–73 season when they beat Leeds in the play-off final at Bradford Northern's Odsal Stadium 22–13. They had been hammered 36–9 by the same opposition in the Yorkshire Cup final earlier that season. Dewsbury, captained by Mike Stephenson finished 8th in the league but the title was to be decided through a series of play-offs in which they also defeated Oldham, Featherstone Rovers and Warrington on their way to glory.
Many people argued about the validity of the centenary celebrations held in 1975, holding that the centenary should not have been held until 1998. On 13 September 1988, at about 4pm, three youths deliberately set fire to the historic wooden stand erected in 1914. The stand was in excellent condition, the club having just spent £25,000 bringing it up to the required safety standards. The club also lost everything gathered over the past 113 years; programmes, records and memorabilia. However, the fire enabled the club to build a new state of the art stadium at Owl Lane, Shaw Cross, Dewsbury and on 14 April 1991 Dewsbury played their last home game at Crown Flatt against Barrow. As a result, they arranged to play their home games at Batley's Mount Pleasant while the new ground was being built.
1994–1995: New stadium
The club played their first home game at the new, £1.5 million, Crown Flatt stadium (often erroneously called New Crown Flatt) on 6 September 1994 in front of a full-house against Barrow; Dewsbury scoring 12 tries. Dewsbury finished 7th that season in the 16-team second division with the likes of Eddie Rombo and Les Holliday wowing the fans at their new home under coach Norman Smith.
Smith was replaced towards the end of that season by Tony Fisher whose time in charge of the first team will be remembered for the recruitment of several South African players. Having coached the national side during the 1995 world cup, Fisher brought Jaco Booysen, Kobus Van Deventer, Tim Fourie, Guy Coombe and Pierre Van Wyk to Dewsbury. The club lost the players from South Africa, when the club was dropped in to a financial crises deo to taxes not been paid. The lost of Jaco Booysen had a huge impact.
That season, rugby league's centenary year, the teams outside the Premiership were divided into two divisions. Dewsbury competed in the first division but finished bottom – A New Year's Eve victory over local rivals Huddersfield and the form of New Zealand prop Glenn Bell being two of the season's few highlights.
1996–1999: Summer era A momentous shift in the sport, triggered by significant investment from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation brought about the formation of the Super League and a switch to summer rugby. Despite finishing bottom the previous season, Dewsbury retained their place in the first division and, in the first season of a new era for the sport, the team, now coached by former player Neil Kelly, finished 9th.
It was under Kelly that the club would eventually blossom. Increased investment over the next three years saw the club steadily climb the league table season upon season. A 6th-place finish in 1997 was bettered the following year when the newly named Dewsbury 'Rams' finished 3rd, narrowly missing out on the division's play-off final.
With Richard Agar and Barry Eaton guiding the team around the park and Australians Brett Patterson and Brendan Williams giving the Rams real strike power, the club's on-the-pitch fortunes had hit a 15-year peak. Hopes were high of a push for a place in the Super League over the next few seasons, with Neil Kelly and chairman Bob McDermott pressing on with an ambitious recruitment drive.
In 1999, the Rams finished top of the Northern Ford Premiership, the league below the Super League, reaching the Grand Final at Headingley which unfortunately ended in a narrow defeat to local rivals Hunslet Hawks. The following year Dewsbury came back even stronger, winning the Trans-Pennine Cup with victory over Leigh and topping the league for the second season in a row. The club, once again, reached the Grand Final – this time taking on Leigh at Bury F.C.'s Gigg Lane stadium. A dramatic, late drop-goal from man of the match Richard Agar won the day for Dewsbury giving players, supporters and officials genuine hope of a place in Super League.