History of Rugby LeagueThe history of rugby league began with a split of 1895 in Rugby football. There are now two forms of "rugby": rugby league and rugby union. Although similar, they have different laws and governing bodies. The disagreement that led to the split was over the issue of "broken time" payments, and first came to a head in northern England in the late 19th century.
Before the split:
Although many forms of football had been played across the world, it was only during the second half of the 19th century that these games began to be codified. In 1871 that English clubs playing the version of football associated with Rugby School (which involved much more handling of the ball than Association Football) met to form the Rugby Football Union. Many new clubs were formed, and it was in the northern English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire that the game really took hold. Here rugby was largely a working-class game, whilst the southern clubs were largely middle-class. Rugby spread to Australia and New Zealand, especially the cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Christchurch and Auckland. Here too there was a clear divide between the working- and upper-class players.
The strength of support for rugby grew over the following years, and large paying crowds were attracted to major matches, particular in Yorkshire, where matches in the Yorkshire Cup (T’owd Tin Pot) soon became major events. England teams of the era were dominated by Lancashire and Yorkshire players. However these players were forbidden to earn any of the spoils of this newly-rich game. Predominantly working-class teams found it difficult to play to their full potential because in many cases player recreational time was limited by the need to earn a wage. Even if they could take time off to play regularly, training time was often curtailed. A further limit on the playing ability of working class-teams was the fact that rugby is a contact sport, hence working-class players had to be careful how hard they played. If injured, they had to pay their own medical bills and possibly take time off work, which for a man earning a weekly wage could easily lead to financial hardship.
The split in England:
In 1892, charges of professionalism were laid against clubs in Bradford and Leeds, both in Yorkshire, after they compensated players for missing work. This was despite the fact that the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was allowing other players to be paid, such as the 1888 England team that toured Australia, and the account of Harry Hamill of his payments to represent New South Wales (NSW) against England in 1904.
In 1893 Yorkshire clubs complained that southern clubs were over-represented on the RFU committee and that committee meetings were held in London at times that made it difficult for northern members to attend. By implication they were arguing that this affected the RFU's decisions on the issue of "broken time" payments (as compensation for the loss of income) to the detriment of northern clubs, who made up the majority of English rugby clubs. Payment for broken time was a proposal put forward by Yorkshire clubs that would allow players to receive up to six shillings when they missed work because of match commitments. The idea was voted down by the RFU, and widespread suspensions of northern clubs and players began. The professional Football League had been formed in 1888, comprising 12 football (soccer) clubs from northern England, and this may have inspired the northern rugby officials to form their own professional league. On 27 August 1895, as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester, prominent Lancashire clubs Broughton Rangers, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan declared that they would support their Yorkshire colleagues in their proposal to form a Northern Union.
Two days later, on 29 August 1895, representatives of 21 clubs met in the George Hotel, Huddersfield to form the "Northern Rugby Football Union" (usually termed Northern Union or NU). Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Union, but Dewsbury, felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting. The 22 clubs and their years of foundation were: Batley FC 1880, Bradford FC 1863, Brighouse Rovers FC 1878, Broughton Rangers FC 1877, Halifax FC 1873, Huddersfield FC 1864, Hull FC 1865, Hunslet FC 1883, Leeds FC 1864, LeighFC 1878, Liversedge FC 1877, Manningham FC 1876, Oldham FC 1876, Rochdale Hornets FC 1871, Runcorn 1895, Stockport 1895, St Helens FC 1873, Tyldesley FC 1879, Wakefield Trinity FC 1873, Warrington FC 1875, Widnes FC 1873, Wigan FC 1872.
The rugby union authorities took drastic action, issuing sanctions against clubs, players and officials involved in the new organisation. This extended even to amateurs who played with or against Northern Union sides. Consequentially, northern clubs that existed purely for social and recreational rugby began to affiliate to the Northern Union, whilst retaining amateur status. By 1904 the new body had more clubs affiliated to it than the RFU.
The separate Lancashire and Yorkshire competitions of the NRFU merged in 1901, forming the Northern Rugby League, the first time the phrase rugby league was used officially. Also in 1901, James Lomas became the first £100 transfer, from Bramley to Salford. The NRFU became the Northern Rugby Football League in the summer of 1922.
The early years:
Initially the Northern Union continued to play under rugby union laws. The first minor change (awarding a penalty for a deliberate knock-on) was introduced during the first season of the game. Other new laws were gradually introduced until, by the arrival of the All Golds in 1907 the major differences between the games had been introduced. These major difference were:
During this period the Northern Union began to develop the British game's major tournaments. The league championship, after initially being played as one competition, was split into two sections, the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues, with only a limited number of inter-county games. This necessitated a play-off structure to determine the overall champions. A nationwide cup, the Challenge Cup was introduced, and soon became the biggest draw in the sport. Finally, in 1905, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Cups were introduced, thus completing a structure that was to last until the 1960s. There were therefore four trophies on offer to any one club, and the "Holy Grail" was to win "All Four Cups".
As it became obvious that two codes of rugby were going to co-exist for the foreseeable future, those interested in the game needed to be able to distinguish between them. It became customary to describe those teams affiliated to the NU as 'playing in the league' hence "rugby league" while those which remained affiliated to the RFU (who did not play in a league) as playing "rugby union".
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