Formation

The history and story of Halifax Irish Rugby League club goes back only to the 1990’s. Former Ovenden, Park Amateurs and Illingworth half back John Maguire came up with the idea of having an Irish team based in Halifax. With a proud Irish background, along with his father, John, they joined forces with the likes of other prolific amateur players Gary Waldron and brothers Andrew and Martin Beaumont to try and start a rugby team running, of course, from the Halifax Irish Centre.

The Halifax Irish Centre had always had an amateur football team, widely regarded as one of the best in the area, so John liked the idea of a Rugby League team to try to emulate their success and bring a whole new family of people to the club in the shape of players and spectators. This proved to be the start of a very successful club as the team went from strength to strength.