Clubs > Ovenden > Juniors Rugby League

Juniors Rugby League

Ovenden ARLFC had a long history of fielding junior teams. In the club’s early years in the 1950’s and 1960’s this meant almost exclusively teams in age groups between U17 and U19.

The club formed an U18 side in the early fifties which included Alan Kellett, Graham Oddy, John Mitchell, Douggie Langhorn, Jack Scroby (formerly with Pellon) and Peter Shearn.

In the 1953-54 season, the U18’s played 22 games winning 21 with their only defeat coming against a “powerful Wakefield Trinity Juniors”. They scored a phenomenal 1022 points conceding only 90. The team also won the Halifax U18 Cup Final at Thrum Hall overcoming Pellon, having beaten Queensbury in the semi-final.

Things were not always easy for the Ovenden club, In the 1956-57 season the U17 team played up at Roils Head against St Joseph’s U17 team (from Huddersfield and who spent just a single season in the Halifax League). Newspaper reports from the time reveal that Ovenden U17’s were very short on players but St Joseph’s lent them sufficient players to make a team. Ovenden U17’s with some sterling performances by their “guest” players were victorious. The newspaper concluding the report
“St. Joseph’s may have lost the points due to their own generosity but they gained in prestige.”

Throughout the 1950’s Ovenden ran U17 and or U18/U19 teams every season, the only club to do so. There was a positive influx of players when the local St Malachy’s U17 team disbanded through lack of funds in the open years of the 1960. This led to players like David Sutcliffe joining Ovenden. These junior teams continued into the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Ovenden U17 team won the Halifax Cup at Thrum Hall in the early sixties. The players decided to celebrate in Halifax town centre. Several pubs into the tour of Halifax, one landlady noticed that these lads were having her fill the U17 Challenge Cup! David Sutcliffe recalls the event. His answer to the query from the landlady was “we’re all overage!” which brought the landlady’s response of “Sit down Bukkit”.

It was, however, with the advent of the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) in 1973 that junior Rugby League started to grow at all levels and Ovenden played their part.

In 1986, the then U19 side had a great run in the Yorkshire Cup beating Cumbrian side Millom in the semi-final at Four Fields to reach the final against Hull-based opposition in the form of the National Dock Labour Board U19. The final took place at Hull KR’s Craven Park ground. There was to be no victory for Ovenden on this day but it was a sterling effort to make the final.

By the 1989-90 season, Ovenden has teams at U12, U14, U16 and U18. Indeed, the U12 team reached the final of the 1989-90 Pennine Challenge Cup eventually finishing as runners up and this feat was mirrored by the U16 side who went down to Park Amateurs in their final. That year’s U19 even reached the quarter finals of the Yorkshire Youth Cup.

The following season 1990-91 the U16 side repeated their visit to the Final again finishing runners up and fought their way to the Yorkshire U19 Cup Final against Beverley East Hull being victorious 8-0. The two sides met again in the National U19 Cup Final played at Dewsbury’s Ram Stadium.

Ovenden U 12 side lifted their Pennine Challenge Cup. The U14 side were also winners of their Pennine Challenge Cup with an excellent win over local rivals Siddal by 42 points to 16.

The momentum continued in 1992-93 with junior teams from U8’s all the way through to U18 level. The U16 and U 10 sides won their Challenge Cups with victories over arch-rivals Siddal and the U8’s won the Alan Maskill Trophy.

1999, the very year the first team were expelled from the National Conference, the U16 side played some excellent Rugby League and had its most successful season ever. So successful that the team won every competition they entered. The list is impressive: BARLA National Cup, BARLA Yorkshire Cup. Yorkshire Junior League title, West Riding Challenge Cup, Yorkshire Junior Championship, Halifax U16 Cup and finally the West Riding Cup seven-a-side tournament.

By 2009, the Ovenden club was running boys U15 to U18 teams together with girls U13 (two teams), U15 and U16 teams. They were plans to establish a junior modified section from Emerging 8s to U12s.

In 2018 the U12 side finished runners up in their League and runners up in their Cup losing out to rivals, Siddal. The following year 2019, there were tots, U7’s and U13’s as the club looked to rebuild its junior set up.