‘A Club to Represent the Whole Town’
The history of organised Rugby Football in Rochdale started around 1866/1867 with the formation of the Rochdale Football Club. It was founded by a magistrate, numerous business owners and self-employed men but working class men were allowed to join within a year. Other clubs quickly followed among them Rochdale Wasps, Rochdale Juniors and Rakebank. (Juniors and Rakebank merged in 1871 to form Rochdale United).
The directors of Rochdale Wasps, Rochdale United and Rochdale Football Club then decided to join forces to form a senior team to represent the whole town.
Their first meeting was held on 20 April 1871 at the Roebuck Hotel in Rochdale with a key discussion focusing on the name of the club. Rochdale Wasps, Rochdale Butterflies and Rochdale Grasshoppers were all suggested but eventually Rochdale Hornets was agreed upon. It was decided they would play in amber and black.
Within 10 years, there were 57 clubs playing rugby in Rochdale and the district, fielding 80 teams regularly. By the eighteen nineties, the players were almost all working class.
Finding a Home:
At first Hornets played on Kershaw’s Athletic Grounds in Vavasour Street but by 1875 they had moved to the Rochdale Cricket Ground at Dane Street - currently the site of an Asda supermarket.
In 1879, a ground was leased behind Oakenrod Old Hall, but owing to poor gates they returned to the Cricket Ground at the end of the season.
They were to remain there until 1894, when they moved to the Athletic Grounds on Milnrow Road.
They went on to purchase the ground in 1913 referring to it as “what is generally considered to be the finest Football and Athletic Grounds in the North of England” in their Annual Report & Accounts from the 1912-13 season. It was to stay their home for the next 74 years.
A Player’s Life:
During the first seven years of Rochdale Hornets’ existence the players paid their own railway fares and provided their own kit. It was not until 6 June 1878 that the Hornets’ committee decided to pay half of a player’s second class railway fare if playing away from home. A year later they agreed to pay the full fare at third class.
At the Annual General Meeting on 26 May 1886 it was decided “That the Club provide Jerseys for the use of the Playing Members”. This was extended in 1891 to include boots and shorts. Minutes from that meeting state “That the Club provide Jerseys for the use of the Playing Members, and any Playing Member of the Club who may require Boots or Knickers must apply for the same to one of the Secretaries or Treasurer, and every application must be brought before the Committee for their approval”.
Club Colours
At the formation of the Club in 1871 the official colours were agreed as amber and black.
At some point these were then changed to cerise and grey (according to a reference in ‘A Centenary History of the Rochdale Hornets Football Club’ produced by Bob Fletcher in 1971).
In 1879 Rochdale Rovers joined Hornets and the Club adopted a white jersey.
By the time Hornets won the Lancashire County Cup in 1911, they were wearing the legendary green and black ‘hoops’. But in 1921 the colours were again changed, this time to red, white and blue – apparently due to the green and black strip deteriorating in the wash!
MEMORABLE MATCHES
Floodlit Pioneers
23 November 1878
The match on the night of Saturday 23 November 1878 against Halifax hit the record books with an attendance of 5,000; at the time a record for a football match in Rochdale. It was also played under electric light which in the 1870s was still a relatively new invention.
At their home match on the night of 24 February 1890 against ‘the best of the rest of the District’ Hornets played not by electric light but under Wells lights. These were large flares fuelled by paraffin (kerosene) from a floor-standing tank with the burner on a tall post above it. The ball was also white-washed ball to aid visibility.
The game against Swinton in the 1884-5 season is also worth noting as it was left unfinished. Hornets had scored a try and were looking to win the game with a conversion. However, with excitement running high the crowd broke onto the pitch, the game was suspended and the kick never taken.
The history of organised Rugby Football in Rochdale started around 1866/1867 with the formation of the Rochdale Football Club. It was founded by a magistrate, numerous business owners and self-employed men but working class men were allowed to join within a year. Other clubs quickly followed among them Rochdale Wasps, Rochdale Juniors and Rakebank. (Juniors and Rakebank merged in 1871 to form Rochdale United).
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| Where it all started: The Roebuck Newgate, Rochdale |
Their first meeting was held on 20 April 1871 at the Roebuck Hotel in Rochdale with a key discussion focusing on the name of the club. Rochdale Wasps, Rochdale Butterflies and Rochdale Grasshoppers were all suggested but eventually Rochdale Hornets was agreed upon. It was decided they would play in amber and black.
Within 10 years, there were 57 clubs playing rugby in Rochdale and the district, fielding 80 teams regularly. By the eighteen nineties, the players were almost all working class.
Finding a Home:
At first Hornets played on Kershaw’s Athletic Grounds in Vavasour Street but by 1875 they had moved to the Rochdale Cricket Ground at Dane Street - currently the site of an Asda supermarket.
 |
| Rochdale Hornets at Dane Street, 1875: note the different jersey designs, as players provided their own kit. |
They were to remain there until 1894, when they moved to the Athletic Grounds on Milnrow Road.
They went on to purchase the ground in 1913 referring to it as “what is generally considered to be the finest Football and Athletic Grounds in the North of England” in their Annual Report & Accounts from the 1912-13 season. It was to stay their home for the next 74 years.
A Player’s Life:
During the first seven years of Rochdale Hornets’ existence the players paid their own railway fares and provided their own kit. It was not until 6 June 1878 that the Hornets’ committee decided to pay half of a player’s second class railway fare if playing away from home. A year later they agreed to pay the full fare at third class.
At the Annual General Meeting on 26 May 1886 it was decided “That the Club provide Jerseys for the use of the Playing Members”. This was extended in 1891 to include boots and shorts. Minutes from that meeting state “That the Club provide Jerseys for the use of the Playing Members, and any Playing Member of the Club who may require Boots or Knickers must apply for the same to one of the Secretaries or Treasurer, and every application must be brought before the Committee for their approval”.
Club Colours
At the formation of the Club in 1871 the official colours were agreed as amber and black.
 |
| Rochdale Hornets - in the White Jersey. |
In 1879 Rochdale Rovers joined Hornets and the Club adopted a white jersey.
By the time Hornets won the Lancashire County Cup in 1911, they were wearing the legendary green and black ‘hoops’. But in 1921 the colours were again changed, this time to red, white and blue – apparently due to the green and black strip deteriorating in the wash!
MEMORABLE MATCHES
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| Newspaper ad. for the 'new' Wells Light |
23 November 1878
The match on the night of Saturday 23 November 1878 against Halifax hit the record books with an attendance of 5,000; at the time a record for a football match in Rochdale. It was also played under electric light which in the 1870s was still a relatively new invention.
At their home match on the night of 24 February 1890 against ‘the best of the rest of the District’ Hornets played not by electric light but under Wells lights. These were large flares fuelled by paraffin (kerosene) from a floor-standing tank with the burner on a tall post above it. The ball was also white-washed ball to aid visibility.
The game against Swinton in the 1884-5 season is also worth noting as it was left unfinished. Hornets had scored a try and were looking to win the game with a conversion. However, with excitement running high the crowd broke onto the pitch, the game was suspended and the kick never taken.
