Elland Boxers
Elland Boxers Junior Rugby League
With Rugby League at its zenith in the Calderdale with Halifax RLFC’s success in winning the First Division Championship and the Challenge Cup. Elland ARLFC were also going well and were a leading amateur club. There was a market for junior Rugby League. Traditional amateur Rugby League clubs in Halifax area, such as Ovenden and Sidda; already had junior teams.
So, there was room for another Juniors club in Elland.
A group formed a juniors club at the Elland Working Men’s Club. It was not initially linked directly with Elland’s senior club but later became part of the Elland ARLFC club.
Elland Boxers was formed in 1988 and took its name from their sponsor, Boxer Services of Elland. Their club motto was “ To win fairly and lose with honour”.
They were based at Elland Working Men’s Club, and later Greetland Dyers Club, home to the Elland open-age club, with whom they amalgamated.
They had five players in the Halifax Schools Under 11 side that featured in the 1991 Wembley Challenge Cup Final, Ian Gilmour scoring two tries. Differing age groups played in the West Riding League and Cup competitions, as well as the Halifax Cup, with some success over several seasons to this day.
Many senior players at Elland came through the Boxers including Junaid Malik and James Fairbank.
A snapshot of the mid-1990’s shows weekend fixtures with their scores. In the West Riding League.
Under 8’s Elland Boxers 12 Siddal 8
Under 10’s Elland Boxers 24 Illingworth 0
Under 12’s Elland Boxers 82 Underbank B 0
Under 14’s Elland Boxers 44 Todmorden 0
Under 16’s Elland Boxers 42 West Bowling 4
In the impressive 82-0 under 12’s victory over Underbank, Ben Jackson and Chris Harding both scored a hat-trick of tries and James Fairbank weighed in with a brace.
In the 1996-97 season, a typical match weekend fixture list for the Boxers in the West Riding Youth League included:
Under 18’s who finished the season in 6th place
Under 16’s who finished the season in 5th place
Under 15’s who finished the season in 3rd place
Under 14’s who finished the season in 8th place
Under 12’s who finished the season in 5th place
Under 11’s who finished the season in 2nd place
Under 10’s who finished the season in 11th place
Under 8’s who finished the season in 2nd place.
By February of the 1998-99 season, Elland Boxers Under 14’s were top of their league.
By 2000, the Boxers U16’s had some travelling to do even going as far as York Acorn where after a closely fought games they went don 14-0.
Open Age
Elland Boxers also entered an Open Age team in the 1991 Halifax Workshops competition where they faced some stiff competition. Calder Trades who were by 1991 Workshop veterans racked up a good score in this game.