29 August 1895
On 29 August 1895 the Northern Rugby Football Union was founded at a historic meeting in the George Hotel, Huddersfield.
Delegates from twenty-two Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire clubs unanimously adopted the resolution “That the clubs here represented decide to form a Northern Rugby Football Union, and pledge themselves to push forward, without delay, its establishment on the principle of payment for bona-fide broken-time only”.
The dispute had arisen with the sport’s governing body the Rugby Football Union over legalising payment to players for the loss of working time - the issue of ‘broken time’ as it was called.
By 1886 the increasing influence of working-class players and spectators on the game in the North, and in particular Yorkshire, had become a cause for much concern in the leadership of the RFU and the county rugby unions. They feared that ‘gentlemen’ would no longer be able to dominate the game as they had done in the past.
Their plan to win back control centred around insisting upon an amateur status for the game. They felt that the players shouldn’t be paid to play. They should remain amateurs with only their expenses being reimbursed. But for many working-class men, playing (even if that were on a Saturday) meant giving up half a day’s pay. They didn’t want to be full-time, professional rugby league players but they did want to be compensated for their loss of earnings.
As the Hornets’ president and representative at the George Hotel, Mr J. R. Hartley put it “If a man loses a portion or all of his day’s wages through playing a match, he was to be paid a certain amount of money [this was later confirmed as 6 shillings]. It was not intended that a man should be paid as a professional for services rendered as a player”.
Following the historic meeting on 29 August, a special meeting of Rochdale Hornets Football Club members was held on 2 September 1895 and confirmed the decision that had been taken by the Club representatives.
The clubs attending the meeting at the George Hotel were Batley, Bradford, Brighouse Rangers, Broughton Rangers, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Leigh, Liversedge, Manningham, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, Runcorn, St Helens, Tyldesley, Wakefield Trinity, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan. Stockport was not present at the meeting but were asked to join and immediately dispatched a representative to take part in the gathering.
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| The George Hotel, Huddersfield. The birthplace of Rugby League |
Delegates from twenty-two Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire clubs unanimously adopted the resolution “That the clubs here represented decide to form a Northern Rugby Football Union, and pledge themselves to push forward, without delay, its establishment on the principle of payment for bona-fide broken-time only”.
The dispute had arisen with the sport’s governing body the Rugby Football Union over legalising payment to players for the loss of working time - the issue of ‘broken time’ as it was called.
By 1886 the increasing influence of working-class players and spectators on the game in the North, and in particular Yorkshire, had become a cause for much concern in the leadership of the RFU and the county rugby unions. They feared that ‘gentlemen’ would no longer be able to dominate the game as they had done in the past.
Their plan to win back control centred around insisting upon an amateur status for the game. They felt that the players shouldn’t be paid to play. They should remain amateurs with only their expenses being reimbursed. But for many working-class men, playing (even if that were on a Saturday) meant giving up half a day’s pay. They didn’t want to be full-time, professional rugby league players but they did want to be compensated for their loss of earnings.
As the Hornets’ president and representative at the George Hotel, Mr J. R. Hartley put it “If a man loses a portion or all of his day’s wages through playing a match, he was to be paid a certain amount of money [this was later confirmed as 6 shillings]. It was not intended that a man should be paid as a professional for services rendered as a player”.
Following the historic meeting on 29 August, a special meeting of Rochdale Hornets Football Club members was held on 2 September 1895 and confirmed the decision that had been taken by the Club representatives.The clubs attending the meeting at the George Hotel were Batley, Bradford, Brighouse Rangers, Broughton Rangers, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Leigh, Liversedge, Manningham, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, Runcorn, St Helens, Tyldesley, Wakefield Trinity, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan. Stockport was not present at the meeting but were asked to join and immediately dispatched a representative to take part in the gathering.
