Where was rugby league invented?

Answer 1

The grass roots of Rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games which bear little resemblance to modern sports. It is then important to acknowledge the development of the modern football codes and two separate schisms in football history. In 19th century England, football was most prominently played in private schools. Each school had its own rules based on whatever playing field was available to them. The rules could be categorised as either handling or kicking forms of football. The kicking and handling forms were later codified by The Football Association and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) respectively. Rugby football, as is was widely known, had its main origins at Rugby School, Warwickshire, England. In 1895 rugby football was beset with a schism that resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). Although many factors played a part in the split, including the success of working class northern teams, the main division was caused by the RFU decision to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing 'broken time payments' to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams typically had more working class players (coal miners, mill workers etc.) who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. There were similar movements in other countries. In 1895 a decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged led to the famous meeting on 29 August 1895. Twenty-two clubs (plus Stockport who negotiated by telephone) met at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and formed the "Northern Rugby Football Union". There should have been another two persons present, representing the Morley Rugby Football Club, but as travel in those days could only be done by train, and was considered a long journey, the two representatives decided to fortify themselves in readiness for their arduous trip. This they did by calling at several hostelries on route to the station, meaning that they missed their train. This is why the Morley club - despite being based in the Rugby League heartland of South Leeds - still play the 15-man game. Within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution.

Answer 2

The "professional code" split from the amateur union in 1895 because the norther clubs believed to have the best players they needed to fund the game - Union more southern didn't like that but the northern teams needed to survive so they set up the paid, professional option

Answer 3

The RFU had been formed in 1871 by representatives of 21 clubs - all of which were located in southern England and most were within London. By the early 1890's rugby was widespread and well over half the RFU's clubs were in northern England. The working classes of the north of England and South Wales were particularly taken with rugby over soccer.

As with rugby clubs right across England, the majority of the clubs of the North were created and operated by men of the ruling classes. However, as the majority of the population in Yorkshire and Lancashire was working class, the clubs, teams and crowds quickly displayed a cross-class nature. Hull FC was formed in 1865 by a young gentlemen who had been at Rugby School and immediately took on members who were plumbers and glaziers. An ever rarer example was Leeds Athletic which was started by working men on their own initiative. It began with an advertisement in a local newspaper placed by a rail clerk.

Other clubs had religious affiliations at the start which are now long forgotten, but others such as Wakefield Trinity were marked by this for the rest of their existence. Wakefield was formed in 1873 as a sporting arm of the Holy Trinity Church Young Men's Society.

In Lancashire, rugby was started at Rochdale in 1867 by a magistrate and numerous business owners and self-employed men. Within a year they were all playing alongside new members when working class men were allowed to join as well. This club was the forerunner of the Rochdale Hornets who arrived in 1871 with an open door approach to membership. At Rochdale they were also able to insist on gate money as they played on an enclosed field. This became an increasing tendency in the North. Some clubs though, like Wigan, did not have an enclosed field and had to rely on crowd donations from collection boxes.

Answer 4

In 1922 the Northern Rugby Union, typically the strand of the game seen to be more working class, adopted the name Rugby League for their set of rules and the new sport was born. This was brought about by complaints from some Union clubs seeing their players being lured away to play for more northerly teams. The incentive for this was based on money. Following an investigation the Rugby Football Union insisted that the union ode remain armature and NO money would change hands. This cause the drain on many northern clubs when work dried up good players moved to the more financial sound southern areas for employment and then saw these men join union clubs there. In 1922 in Huddersfield England a meeting was form by the effected 12 clubs who voted to leave the union and set up a "league" of their own where they could pay their players and retain the talent. This saw the formation of the NRL and new game rules created.

Answer 5

Rugby League originated in north England Huddersfield in 1985

Answer 6

Sometime during 1908.

Answer 7

Northern England.