The Beginning

The Illingworth Rugby League club was formed on the 17^th August 1961 at a meeting held at the Junction Inn public House at Holmfield. The organiser was pub landlord Geoff Slater who got together a few lads to talk about forming a Rugby League team. The Junction Inn quickly became the club’s first headquarters. The club officers elected at the inaugural meeting were Councilor C Warne (President), Mr. L Warne (Secretary) and Mr. Harry Taylor was the chairman with Mr. J Bowers, Mr. D Main and Mr. J Bullough also joining the committee. With the 1961-62 season just about to start the club quickly appointed Maurice Perret – ex Dewsbury- as coach and Peter Clayton as captain. Maurice reportedly had strange coaching/ training once telling players not bring any boots, just trainers. He loaded the team in van, drove them miles out of Halifax and told them to run back to club!

The club had secured a pitch rented from 2pm until 5pm on a Saturday afternoon which was on a sloping farmer’s field adjacent to Whitehill Road at Tar Hill. One requirement was to move the farmer’s cows to another field prior to the game and clear the pitch of cow dung! The post-match washing facilities were back at the Junction Inn some half a mile away. The facilities were basic to say the least: they were the two sinks in the pub’s Ladies toilets.

The first match was a friendly between the new Illingworth and an U18 team from Wakefield. Illingworth did not have their own kit at this stage and played in a second-hand red and white hooped kit purchased from Ovenden.

Captain, Peter Clayton, remembers the game well:

“a game was arranged with an U18 team from Wakefield. No one told us they had won the Yorkshire Cup the season before! We went out onto the pitch still asking, “has anyone played hooker before?” We didn’t win a lot. During the season, one night, we were all singing in the pub and were asked had Illingworth won. No, we said but we scored a try!”