Chapter 5. 1907 Revival

The summer of 1907 presented a new opportunity, when grants of around £20 (£2,000 in 2024 money) were made available by the Northern Union for the formation of Intermediate Leagues across Yorkshire and Lancashire. The just-completed season had seen a reduction to13-a-side, which not only led to more attractive rugby but also made it easier for junior/amateur club officials to raise a full team. And locally, Halifax had won the game’s first Championship Final, the fore-runner of today’s Grand Final, to further stimulate interest. On 18th June a meeting at the White Swan led to the formation of a new league for the town.

There were hopes of open age and Under-16 sections as well as the intermediates, but the outcome for 1907-8 was just an Intermediate League for Under-18s, such as were being formed elsewhere. The senior Halifax club were heavily involved again at this stage – the White Swan was also their headquarters and the meeting was chaired by their President, T.S.Dodd – and would have been well aware of the need to foster young players for their own purposes, so would have been in favour of backing an age-restricted section primarily, in much the same way as modern Super League teams support Academy football more than reserve grade. They wanted the league to be a training ground for juniors rather than a haven for old crocks.

They offered further grant assistance to clubs and arranged for a new trophy to be presented to each year’s winners. They had also gained first refusal on a few grounds, including at Exley and The Pheasant, which they could allocate and help with the rent.

The new league was given the name Halifax Intermediate League, there initially being twelve entries. Four of them were former Workshops entrants – Campbell’s, Royston’s (James Royston, Son and Co, Shroggs Wire Works) Market Hall (Halifax Market) and Victoria Iron Foundry (who joined as Brighouse Victoria). Most youngsters left school at the age of thirteen in 1907, so the organisations would have had lots of established employees in the relevant age group. There was also Caddy Field, Claremount, All Souls’ (from the church at Haley Hill), Sowerby Bridge, Bridge End (Hebden Bridge), Shamrocks and Stainland. Warley St John’s Church also had a team in the league for a short time, on a ground at Willowfield. “There’s now a healthy spirit about rugby football locally,” wrote the Courier correspondent. “It is far from dying out.”

Stainland were a new club with no known connection to the one that had folded in 1900, playing on a ground described in the press as being “nearer the top of the village”. However they were only to be members of the Intermediate League for one season.

Shamrocks, who may have had an affiliation with the Shamrock pub in Gaol Lane, but were more likely connected with St Mary’s Catholic church, also only lasted a single season. There had been a previous Halifax Shamrocks team playing briefly earlier in the century and there were lots of teams called Shamrocks in other nearby towns.

Brighouse Victoria (“The Vics”) shared the St James ground at The Lees in 1907-8, but when it was lost with the demise of that club, moved to Squire Hill at Brokfoot which was some distance away. They lasted only until 1909, many of their remaining players joining Rastrick.

Campbell’s were connected with Campbell’s Gas Engine Company on Gibraltar Road, who employed between 600 and 800 workers in this period, and up to 1500 during the First World War years when they were on munitions work. Composed of youths ranging from 17 to 24 years of age, the team played first on the Fountain Head ground until it was lost to the building of a new road, then at the nearby Pheasant ground. They had much success, getting to the Charity Cup semi-final in 1909 only to lose out to Halifax “A” at The Pheasant. In 1912 they opted to leave that ground for Ovenden Cross (behind the pub of that name), where the rent would have been lower. However they were to fold after the war. A prolonged strike in 1919 caused difficulties and the firm closed in 1928.

Sowerby Bridge played at Sterne Mills on Wakefield Road, later at Bairstow Lane, and in 1909 were in Norland on a field near the Blue Ball, but some did not have their own regular grounds and used fields allocated as and when by the League, at Ovenden Cross, by Shibden Mill Inn, by the Fountain Head pub and The Pheasant. Prospective new teams often had trouble finding anywhere at all to play – it was reported that there would be more if there were grounds for them to use. Both the Northern Union itself, and the Halifax club as well, tried to help financially when approached by a worthy cause.

These were all new clubs unconnected with previous ones; it was like a completely fresh start in a new era. All those that had tried to be part-time professional had fallen by the wayside, and other top clubs Thrum Hall (in 1907) and Saltehebble (in 1908) followed. Open-age teams that did remain, Rastrick and Brighouse St James, continued in the Bradford & District League, as did Salterhebble until their demise.

Caddy Field acquired a former ground of Bank Top Free Wanderers known as The Pump Field, Southowram, but also sometimes played at Siddal, taking over from Salterhebble as the prominent team in that area. In 1908 they became the first winners of the Intermediate League championship trophy, presented by league official Joe Nichol, a former Halifax player and joint owner of Nichol & Brown Sports shop in town. This later involved a top-four play off at the end of the season, with the final at Thrum Hall, the proceeds of which became the League’s chief source of revenue. There was a cup competition too, not for a separate Halifax cup, but rather as preliminary rounds for a newly-launched Yorkshire Intermediate Cup, the winners going through to that. Caddy Field proved their worth even more by going on to beat Hull Old Boys in the Yorkshire Final at Parkside, Hunslet.

The Halifax Intermediate sides were not really suited to the open-age Charity Cup, but two were granted entry, determined by those same preliminary rounds. Caddy Field were drawn against Halifax “A” at Thrum Hall in the first round. Although beaten, they kept the score to 17-6 – their only defeat in two full seasons. Their star product was Albert Akroyd, who went on to win county and international honours after turning professional with Halifax; he was said to have scored tries in every match in season 1910-11.

From season 1908-9 a new division was created for Over-18s. It was still age restricted though, being first for Under-21s , then in later years Under-24s, though the age limits became a regular cause of friction with multiple objections about over-age players. Caddy Field were winners again. The 2nd Division, for Under 18s still had All Souls’, Caddy Field , Campbell’s, Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse Victoria, plus new recruits Elland Wanderers, Halifax Crescent and Mill Bank, while a Holywell Brook team also briefly appeared. All Souls’ won the Under 18 league, then emulated Caddy Field by also taking the Yorkshire Intermediate Cup Final against Burley Lawn. The 1st Division (Under-21s) had Caddy Field, Campbell’s and Brighouse Victoria, along with Claremount (playing sometimes at Shibden Mill Inn), Beacon Hill Rangers, Savile Park Rangers (at Savile Park) and another former workshops team, H.Fletcher & Co.

H.Fletcher & Co, who played at Ovenden Cross, was the Harold Fletcher dyeworks at Bowling Dyke, who had earlier played under the Bowling Dyke name. This time round they only continued for two seasons.

Halifax Crescent was a name from the past, but they played only the one season, on a ground at Lane Head Farm in Norton Tower known as Sally Mattock’s, described in the press as being beyond the top side of the Paddock Lane racecourse.

Mill Bank, whose ground was said by the Courier to be on the “breezy heights” above Triangle, continued for a few seasons, producing future professionals in Arnold Holmes (who played and scored for Yorkshire against Lancashire in a 1916 county match) and Selwyn Whiteley.

Beacon Hill Rangers, later just Beacon Rangers, played at Long Lane in Southowram, sharing with Caddy Field. When it was lost in 1912 they moved to a field in nearby Pinnar Lane. They remained involved until 1913, though were to return in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Elland Wanderers, who had been playing friendlies in 1907, were a new team, though their choice of name suggests some sort of connection with the earlier Elland Free Wanderers who had folded in 1902. Rather than using their ground however, they acquired that of the other former Elland club at Old Earth, one of the best around. With a decent catchment area they became a similar power for several years.