Tyldesley FC

Tyldesley was a (semi) professional rugby league club, with the nickname of 'The Mighty Bongers'.

The club was based in Tyldesley (pronounced 'tɪlzli'), a town (population approx. 35,000) within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester,[1] England. Historically it is part of Lancashire. The club took their place around the table at the momentous meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895. And after the schism, the club became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League) and played 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 decide to move from Garrett Hall to Tyldesley and become Tyldesley Football Club.[2]

There are two items of interest to note during this first period of playing under RFU rules, 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.[3]

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 a Northern Rugby Football Union

After the Great Schism[4] 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, 1899-00 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

For the 1901–02 season there is no mention of the club, and so assume that they dropped down to the lower divisions. They do turn up again in 1911 when they become the first club to successfully return to the Rugby Union code after playing Northern Union. They cite as the reason that the "cost prove too much of a burden in the "Professional" game".

In 1926, Landowning Club President (Mr. William Hesketh Ramsden[5]) gave the Well Street ground in trust to the Club.

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 :-[6]

Season Competition Pos Team Name Pl W D L PW PA Diff Pts % Pts No of teams in league Notes Ref
1895–96RL 6 Tyldesley 42 21 8 13260 164 96 50 22 [7]
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
1899–00 Lancs Sen Comp 14 Tyldesley 26 2 1 23 66 336 -270 5 20.83 14
a founder members) in 1911 successfully re-apply to the RFU after cost prove too much a burden in the "Professional" game

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 :- [7][8][9][10][11]

Season Date Competition Opponent Venue H/A Result Score Att Notes Ref
1895–96Sat 28 09 1895RlWiganFolly FieldADraw0-0" " 1 [7]
1895–96Sat 26 10 1895RLSt HelensKnowsley RoadADraw3-3 [10]
1895–96 02 11 1895RlWidnesHomeHWon9-0 [11]
1895–96 30 11 1895RLWarringtonHomeHLost 3-10 [9]
1895–96Sat 28-12-1895RlHullBoulevardHWon3-0 [8]
1895–9608-02-1896RLWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-11 2 [11]
1895–96 07 03 1896RlWarringtonWilderspoolHDraw 3-3 [9]
1895–96Sat 21 03 1896RLHullHomeHWon18-0 [8]
1895–96Sat 28 03 1896RlSt HelensHomeHWon11-10 [10]
1895–96Tue 21 04 1896RLWiganHomeHWon5-0 [7]
1896–97 -1 -1 1896Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneAWon8-4 2 [11]
1896–97Sat 26 09 1896Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-3 [10]
1896–97Sat 31 10 1896Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldAWon3-0 1 [7]
1896–97 07 11 1896Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHWon | [11]
1896–97Sat 05 12 1896Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHWon8-0 [7]
1896–97 19 12 1896Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHWon 3-0 [9]
1896–97Sat 20 02 1897Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHWon12-9 [10]
1896–97 27 02 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHWon 6-0 [9]
1896–97 27 03 1897CC R2LeedsHomeHWon9-3
1896–97Sat 10 04 1897CC R4St HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-12 [10]
1897–98Sat 25 12 1897Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldALost2-3 1 [7]
1897–98 04 09 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHWon19-0 [9]
1897–98Sat 25 09 1897Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost0-11 [10]
1897–98Sat 09 10 1897Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHWon3-0 [7]
1897–98 13 11 1897Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost2-27 [11]
1897–98 04 12 1897Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 0-9 [9]
18 97-98 18 12 1897Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-3 2 [11]
1897–98Sat 15 01 1898Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHWon8-3 [10]
1897–98Fri 08-04-1898FriendlyHullBoulevardHLost2-9 [8]
1898–99 01 10 1898Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost4-8 [11]
1898–99 29 10 1898Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 4-21 [9]
1898–99Sat 24 12 1898Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHDraw0-0 [7]
1898–99Mon 26 12 1898Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost5-9 [10]
1898–99 21 01 1899Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHLost 0-6 [9]
1898–99Sat 11 02 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHLost3-6 [10]
1898–99Sat 04 03 1899Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldADraw0-0 1 [7]
1898–99 15 04 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost2-14 2 [11]
1899–00 26 10 1899Lanc Sen CompWarringtonWilderspoolHLost 0-22 [9]
1899–00 11 11 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesHomeHLost3-10 [11]
1899–00 25 11 1899Lanc Sen CompWidnesLowerhouse LaneALost0-11 2 [11]
1899–00Sat 02 12 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensKnowsley RoadALost3-26 [10]
1899–00Sat 23 12 1899Lanc Sen CompWiganFolly FieldALost6-15 1 [7]
1899–00Sat 30 12 1899Lanc Sen CompSt HelensHomeHLost3-14 [10]
1899–00 07 01 1900Lanc Sen CompWarringtonHomeHLost 0-11 [9]
1899–00Sat 13 01 1900Lanc Sen CompWiganHomeHLost5-7 [7]
1899–00 17 04 1900SWL R1WidnesLowerhouse LaneALost6-23 2 [11]

Notes and Comments

  1. Folly Fields is the stadium used by Wigan at the time until 1901. They then became sub-tenants of Springfield Park See below - Note 3.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 Fields and the new ground at Central Park being constructed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Greater Manchester Gazetteer, [[Greater Manchester County Record <br />Office]], 3 June 2010, retrieved 3 June 2010
  2. ↑ "Tyldesley RUFC - Club History".
  3. ↑ "International Statistics at scrum.com". scrum.com. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  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. ↑ London Gazette (PDF). 21 December 1900 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/27258/pages/8649/page.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1975). John Player Rugby League Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Cherry and White".
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Warrington Wolves results and archives".
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Saints Heritage Society".
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Widnes Seasons in Review".

External links

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