NCL Grand Final

Evie Godfrey

colour photo of the Siddal team celebrating on the pitch in a group, in front of the Arriva Trains Conference Champions banner

Clubs > Siddal > NCL Grand Final

NCL Grand Final

Siddal has the best record by far of any Halifax team in the National Conference League. Since their debut in the 1997-98 season, they have been ever-present and have continued to challenge in the Premier Division since their promotion to the top tier in 2000-01.

Their record in the NCL Grand Final is also impressive.

colour photo of the Siddal team celebrating on the pitch in a group, in front of the Arriva Trains Conference Champions bannerThey were NCL Grand Final winners in 2003 against West Hull,  in 2004 against West Hull and again in 2009 against  East Hull and in 2016 against  Leigh Miners Rangers.

Their 2016 win was by a record margin 42-4 at Widnes’ Halton Stadium. Prop Iain Davies score three tries in the victory. The full game is available on YouTube:

https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/ncl-grand-final-siddal-crush-miners-to-claim-amateur-games-top-prize-1184943

Siddal also reached the Grand Final in  both 2010 and 2015 only to be beaten by Leigh East and  Leigh Miners Rangers, respectively. They made it three consecutive Grand Finals with another appearance in 2017 when they were beaten by Thatto Heath Crusaders. They finished as league leaders in the NCL Premier Division that season.

Siddal could not extend their run in the Grand Final to four as in 2018 they finished in 7th place. A strange feeling as they missed out on the play-offs first the first time in many years.

They were back in the play offs in 2019 although they finished only in 6th place. They won through to the semi final where they met old rivals Thatto Heath. It was a game too far and Thatto ran out winners by 33 – 4.

Due to the Covid pandemic the 2021 NCL had a temporary structure as travel was still restricted. Teams played a round robin in regional groups. Siddal finished top of Group D winning 13 of 14 games. They lost at the quarter final stage of the play off, again going down to Thatto Heath. This time it was a much closer game finishing 14-12.

In 2022, Siddal had a good 5th place finish in the NCL Premier Division and beat Lock Lane (Castleford) in the Elimination game in the play-offs. They sadly lost a close game to Hunslet Parkside in the elimination semi-final losing by 18 points to 14.

Defeat in the play off semi final to Rochdale Mayfield by 14-8 brought Siddal’s 2023 campaign to a close, During the regular season, they had finished 5th to qualify for the play offs.

Their latest appearance was in the 2024 Grand Final  where they met the now amalgamated Hunslet ARLFC and went down by 24 -12

The full game is available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=zl-JiT_uiyw