133-608: The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in League One , the third tier of British rugby league . Keighley have never won a major honour. Their main rivals are Bradford Bulls . The club was formed at a meeting held on 17 October 1876 under the presidency of the Reverend Marriner. A committee
266-825: A schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The success of working class northern teams led to some compensating players who otherwise would be on their job and earning income on Saturdays. This led to the RFU reacting to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing "broken time payments" to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams typically had more working class players (coal miners, mill workers etc.) who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain
399-546: A Northern Union. Two days later, on Thursday 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 Football Union , but Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to
532-745: A bitterly cold day there was a gate of 2,000 of which over half had travelled from Keighley. Keighley won 6–3. This heralded a run of success which saw them win the First Competition championship in 1899–1900 after having been runners-up the two preceding years. On 12 April 1900, Keighley Rugby Union Club decided to apply for membership of the Northern Union . Keighley were elected into the Yorkshire Second Competition on 14 July 1900. Two days after deciding to change to rugby league , Keighley played Manningham , in
665-420: A faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended. In rugby league, points are scored by carrying an oval ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing team's goal line; this is called a try , and is the primary method of scoring, worth four points. The opposing team attempts to stop the attacking side scoring points by tackling
798-651: A high-profile individual for 1–2 years with the aim of promoting the game. Source: The Rugby Football League began in 1895 as a rival governing body for rugby in England (rugby league and rugby union had not yet formally diverged at this time) and operated in Northern England only. By 1907, rugby league had begun in Wales with Welsh clubs being incorporated into the Northern English league and saw
931-408: A lesser extent, France . Traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the shirt usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons. These colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of
1064-523: A major financial crisis, the existing members of the board resigned and were replaced by an entirely new board. Share capital was increased from £3,000 to £10,000 through the issuing of an additional 7,000 £1 shares. The traditional playing colours of blue and white were discarded in favour of the present colours of red, white and green. In 1957 the board bought the Lawkholme Lane rugby ground, cricket ground, bowling green and cottages for £10,000. In
1197-640: A match with Hunslet F.C. was played under Association rules which ended in a draw. It may be the only Association game ever played by the town's club. In April 1885, the club merged with Keighley Cricket and Football Club, and from that time the club played on the Lawkholme Lane ground. Soon membership had risen to 300 and dressing rooms and headquarters were established at the Black Horse Hotel. The first game at Lawkholme took place on 10 October 1885, against Liversedge. The club's fixture list
1330-611: A matter of three points. Prop-forward Chris Brereton became player-coach on 15 June 1948. Keighley's highest attendance was set at 14,500 for the Challenge Cup clash against Halifax on 3 March 1951. For the second time in their history, Keighley reached the final of the Yorkshire Cup in 1951. On their way to the final held at Fartown, they defeated Castleford, Halifax and Hunslet. Until half-time Keighley were well placed against their opponents – Wakefield Trinity. But in
1463-437: A mix of the two sports' rules. Much more so than rugby union, rugby league shares significant similarities with North American gridiron codes. Although described as evolving from both rugby and association football , the basic structures of American and Canadian football are remarkably similar to rugby league through a process of parallel evolution: a try-and-goal based scoring system, a set number of plays before handover of
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#17327879085121596-637: A new simpler game that was intended to be a faster-paced form of rugby football. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves "rugby football league s" and introducing Northern Union rules. In 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as "rugby league" football. In 1895,
1729-633: A professional level. 45 national teams are ranked by the RLIF and a further 32 are officially recognized and unranked. The strongest rugby league nations are Australia , England , New Zealand , Samoa and Tonga . The Rugby League World Cup is the highest form of representative rugby league. Countries that have contested are Australia , Cook Islands , England , Fiji , France , Ireland , Italy , Jamaica , Lebanon , New Zealand , Papua New Guinea , Russia , Samoa , Scotland , South Africa , Tonga , US and Wales . The 2021 Rugby League World Cup, which
1862-548: A record for a first round tie. The club became a limited company in 1929, but failed to make any immediate improvement. During the 1930s, Keighley began to make progress. Major Norman Harrison, the club secretary/manager, was responsible for signing a side that was to reach great heights. The big coup in 1932, when Ted Spillane , the New Zealand halfback signed for the side. That season saw hundreds of lost supporters return and gates reached unprecedented heights. The result
1995-453: A result play stops much less frequently in rugby league, with the ball typically in play for 50 out of the 80 minutes compared to around 35 minutes for professional rugby union. Other differences include that there are fewer players in rugby league (13 compared to 15) and different rules for tackling . Rugby union has more detailed rules than rugby league and has changed less since the 1895 schism. Since rugby union turned professional in
2128-586: A revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team , who also represented Wales , Scotland and Ireland . The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. As of 2023, the team now participates in all World Cups and Test matches. The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan . Since then, and right up until
2261-614: A separate short lived Wales only league being ran by the RFL. 1909 saw the sport's introduced in Scotland, but did not see the same response as Wales. Despite this, the RFL established itself as the governing body for rugby league in Great Britain . This was the norm until 1994 and the founding of Scotland Rugby League and Wales Rugby League a year later. These bodies became the official governing body for Scotland and Wales leaving
2394-411: A slender 5–2 advantage in the first leg at Odsal Stadium , and held Keighley to a 5–5 draw in the return encounter at Lawkholme Lane a week later. That second leg attracted Keighley's biggest wartime 'gate' of 9,487 (£694). Keighley again met Northern in the second round of the Challenge Cup later the same season. They lost both home and away. And in the 1944–45 season the sides met in the third round of
2527-415: A team's creative unit or 'playmakers'. During the interactions between a team's 'key' players (five-eighth, half-back, fullback, lock forward, and hooker), the five-eighth and half-back will usually be involved in most passing moves. These two positions are commonly called the "halves". The forwards' two responsibilities can be broken into "normal play" and "scrum play". For information on a forward's role in
2660-584: A try at the Intermediate Competition and finished sixth with a record of eleven wins and eleven defeats. The following season the club did badly and finished tenth, but in 1895–96, the side came into its own again and finished fourth. The sweet taste of success came Keighley's way in 1896–97 when they won the Second Competition championship. The final match of the competition took place at Mytholmroyd on 3 April 1897, and despite
2793-401: A value of 2 points when kicked from beyond the 40 metre line. Field position is crucial in rugby league, achieved by running with or kicking the ball. Passing in rugby league may only be in a backward or sideways direction. Teammates, therefore, have to remain on-side by not moving ahead of the player with the ball. The ball may be kicked ahead, but if teammates are in front of the kicker when
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#17327879085122926-476: Is a popular sport in countries such as England , Australia , New Zealand , France , Tonga , Fiji , Samoa , Lebanon , Jamaica , and Malta . The first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the first World Cup of either rugby code, and has been held sporadically ever since, settling into a four-yearly cycle in the 2010s; as of 2023 , the holders are Australia . A short-sided version of
3059-474: Is conducted under the direction of the Federation of International Touch (FIT). Though it shares similarities and history with rugby league , it is recognised as a sport in its own right due to its differences which have been developed over the sport's lifetime. Touch is a variation of rugby league with the tackling of opposing players replaced by a touch. As touches must be made with minimal force, touch
3192-465: Is one of the two major codes of rugby football , the other being rugby union . It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield , Yorkshire , England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing
3325-540: Is planned that the Great Britain team will come together in future only for occasional tours, similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union . The RFL board consists of the following: The RFL launched the Young People's Advisory Panel in 2010, a group consisting of young people aged 16–25 from across England. The national panel meet at least three times a year at the RFL's headquarters to discuss and debate
3458-585: Is the current captain. The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed the "Great Britain Lions", or simply "The Lions". For most of the 20th century the Great Britain team was assembled to go on tours overseas, and to play against foreign touring teams, as well as competing in Rugby League World Cup tournaments. They were one of
3591-432: Is the dominant winter sport in the eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland . The game is also among the predominant sports of Tonga and is played in other Pacific nations such as Samoa and Fiji . Researchers have found that rugby league has been able to help with improving development in the islands. In Australia, and indeed the rest of the region, the annual State of Origin series ranks among
3724-555: Is therefore considered a limited-contact sport. The original basic rules of touch were established in the 1960s by members of the South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club in Sydney, Australia . OzTag is a non-contact form of rugby league, and can be seen as a variation of British tag rugby. Cronulla Sharks and St George Dragons halfback Perry Haddock introduced the sport in Australia while coaching
3857-413: Is worth. One of the main differences is the rules of possession. When the ball goes into touch , possession in rugby union is contested through a line-out , while in rugby league a scrum restarts play. The lesser focus on contesting possession means that play focuses more on powerful running, hard tackling, forward progression and the contest for field position (commonly compared to an "arm wrestle"); as
3990-602: The 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay at Odsal Stadium , Bradford , England, setting a new record for attendance at a rugby football match of either code. Also in 1954, the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on
4123-469: The 1984–85 season , which again included 31 debutantes. Despite this, Keighley's results improved and they finished 15th in the league, winning 11 games. 100 years of rugby at Lawkholme Lane was celebrated during the 1985–86 season. With mounting debts and a ground in need of investment in light of the Taylor Report . In October 1985 Keighley were served a winding-up order by Inland Revenue , which
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4256-425: The 1999 NRL season . Figure shown is the total attendance which is officially counted for both games. ** The official attendance of the 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay was 102,569. Unofficial estimates put the attendance as high as 150,000, Bradford Police confirming 120,000. Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League ( RFL ) is the governing body for rugby league in England . Founded in 1895 as
4389-454: The ARL and NZRL . Since rugby league was introduced to Australia in 1908, it has become the largest television sport and 3rd most attended sport in Australia. Neighbouring Papua New Guinea is one of two countries to have rugby league as its national sport (with Cook Islands ). Australia's elite club competition also features a team from Auckland , New Zealand's biggest city. Rugby league
4522-569: The Baskerville Shield , as well the Tri-Nations series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also played in series and tours against other nations such as France , Papua New Guinea and Fiji . In 2006, the RFL announced that after the 2007 All Golds Tour the Great Britain team would no longer compete on a regular basis, and that players would be able to represent England , Wales and Scotland at Test level. It
4655-685: The England national team The Rugby Football League has been a member of the International Rugby League (IRL) since 1948 and European Rugby League (ERL) since its foundation in 2003. On Tuesday 27 August 1895, as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester , prominent Lancashire rugby 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
4788-649: The New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Bateman's Hotel in George Street. Unlike in England, where both codes maintained their own geographic areas of dominance, in Australia rugby league went on to displace rugby union entirely as the primary football code in New South Wales and Queensland , while Australian rules football dominated the rest of Australia. On 5 May 1954, 102,569 spectators watched
4921-532: The Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union , it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Football League . Based at Sportcity in Manchester , it is responsible for organising professional competitions and, in association with the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA), the community game. It also provides match officials for every level as well as administering
5054-749: The Ottawa Aces were scheduled to join the English league pyramid, becoming the only Canadian team in the system after the Wolfpack were denied re-entry. The club subsequently relocated to Penryn, Cornwall , and are now known as Cornwall R.L.F.C. In 2021, the North American Rugby League announced an attempt to be North America's professional championship, with Canadian club Toronto Wolfpack joining several USA Rugby League clubs, New York Freedom and Cleveland Rugby League to form
5187-598: The Rugby League European Federation and Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation expanding the game to new areas such as Chile , Canada , Ghana , Philippines , Czech Republic , Germany , The Netherlands , Sweden , Norway , Spain , Sri Lanka , Hungary , Turkey , Thailand and Brazil to name a few. The two most prominent full-time professional leagues are the Australian National Rugby League and
5320-497: The 1918–19 season. When the game returned to normal there was a hectic period of team rebuilding, and following a really bad season in 1921, six new players were signed from the Furness district. The 1925–26 season was memorable for a first round Challenge Cup tie with Bradford Northern which had to be replayed twice. The aggregate attendance for those three games was nearly 47,000 and the total gate receipts of £3,043 constituted
5453-496: The 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France and Wales became the only regular opponents. Even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup
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5586-526: The 1990s, when News Corporation paid for worldwide broadcasting rights. The media giant's "Super League" movement created changes for the traditional administrators of the game. In Europe, it resulted in a move from Rugby League being a winter sport to a summer one, as the new Super League competition tried to expand its market. In Australasia, the Super League war resulted in long and costly legal battles and changing loyalties, causing significant damage to
5719-518: The 1992 St George Jersey Flegg side. Together with Chris Parkes, the two took the sport to fields across Australia. Today, it is played by over 200,000 players in organised leagues across the country. League Tag replaces tackling with the removal of one of two tags carried on an opponent's hips, attached directly to specific League Tag shorts with Velcro patches, but otherwise retains almost all other rules of traditional rugby league (such as kicking). A number of additional rules are also added relating to
5852-515: The 2017 Kingstone Press League 1 in their inaugural season and earned promotion to the 2018 Rugby League Championship. In 2019 The Wolfpack won promotion to the Super League, lasting only a few months before having to withdraw due to the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic . New ownership is currently trying to revive the club with matches against amateur clubs in the US and Canada. Beginning in 2022,
5985-543: The A-team coach, took over and this immediately led to an eight-game unbeaten streak. However this could not be kept up and a spate of injuries helped to create inconsistency, especially away from home. Keighley finished the season in ninth place in the league, winning 15, drawing 5 and losing 12. The 1983–84 season saw the worst results, since World War Two. Lee Greenwood was released after a 30–0 defeat by bottom club, Doncaster on 24 August 1983. His replacement, Geoff Peggs ,
6118-674: The British Super League (with teams from New Zealand and France respectively). Other professional and semi professional leagues include Australia's Queensland Cup (which includes a team from Papua New Guinea ) and NSW Cup , the British RFL Championship and RFL League 1 , the French Super XIII and Elite 2 . The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League operates as a semi-professional competition and enjoys nationwide media coverage, being
6251-528: The Challenge Cup final moved to the national stadium . In 1933, an Ashes match was held in France. The following year, with the help of the RFL, the French Rugby League Federation was formed and rugby league reached its fourth country. In 1954, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France and was won by Great Britain. In 1971, the RFL introduced the 6 tackle rule. The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA)
6384-414: The Challenge Cup when Northern comfortably won on aggregate (35–8) after Keighley had established a 5–0 advantage in the first leg at Lawkholme Lane. Guest players who had played for Keighley during the war years returned to their own clubs when regular competition was resumed in 1945. There were also a number of local players who had joined the club during the war years who blossomed into notable members of
6517-534: The National Rugby League, this was reduced to ten prior to the 2008 season and further reduced to eight prior to the 2016 season. If a team has to interchange a player due to the blood bin rule or due to injury, and this was the result of misconduct from the opposing team, the compromised team does not have to use one of its allocated interchanges to take the player in question off the field. The backs are generally smaller, faster and more agile than
6650-462: The Northern Union reduced the sport from 15-a-side to 13-a-side. In 1907, the Northern Union's brand of rugby was introduced to New Zealand and saw the first ever rugby league tours of New Zealand to Great Britain . For this tour the Wales national rugby league team was formed with the match between Wales and New Zealand being the first recognised international test match by the International Rugby League . On this tour New Zealand played England, and
6783-549: The RFL as the official governing body for rugby league in England only. Despite this, Scotland Rugby League is partnered with the RFL in attempt to aid the sport's development in Scotland, and Wales Rugby League shares governance with the RFL over the domestic competition but has full control of the national team. The RFL never attempted to govern rugby league in Ireland but does assist the sport's development with Rugby League Ireland who were formed in 1988. Internationally,
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#17327879085126916-634: The RFL created the World Club Challenge , seeing the British champions play the champions of Australia, the only other major rugby league. 1991 saw the introduced of a formalised youth leagues. Maurice Lindsay became the Chief Executive of the RFL in 1992, proposing the Super League , which replaced Championship as the sport's premier league competition from 1996 onwards. Lindsay returned to Wigan in 1999 for his second stint at
7049-404: The RFL established the England national rugby league team in 1904, and Wales and Great Britain in 1907. English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish players were selected for Great Britain. National teams of Scotland and Ireland were never established under the RFL. The Wales national team has been run by Wales Rugby League since 1995. The RFL operates a five-tier system and is responsible for running
7182-475: The amateur principle. In 1895, a decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged led to twenty-two clubs (including Stockport, who negotiated by telephone) meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield , on 29 August 1895 and forming the "Northern Rugby Football Union". Within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join
7315-452: The annual meeting of the club in 1878, shortly after the headquarters had been moved to Dalton Lane, a second XV was formed. Keighley Athletic were formed on 27 October 1879. There was some rivalry with those who had set up the new club, but a couple of years later these differences had been settled, and on 24 March 1881 a merger was agreed between the two clubs. Keighley officially joined the Rugby Football Union on Tuesday, 8 April 1879, and
7448-447: The ball comes into contact with the ground. An attacking team gets a maximum of six tackles to progress up the field before possession is changed over. Once the tackle is completed, the ball-carrier must be allowed to get to his feet to ' play-the-ball '. Ball control is also important in rugby league, as a fumble of the ball on the ground forces a handover, unless the ball is fumbled backwards. The ball can also be turned over by going over
7581-421: The ball is kicked, they are deemed off-side. Tackling is a key component of rugby league play. Only the player holding the ball may be tackled. A tackle is complete, for example, when the player is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball, or when the player is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding
7714-594: The bodies that split to create a new form of rugby, distinct from that run by the Rugby Football Unions, in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand between 1895 and 1908. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union , was established in 1895 as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU). Both organisations played the game under the same rules at first, although the Northern Union began to modify rules almost immediately, thus creating
7847-538: The club after Sir Rodney Walker , then chairman of the RFL, sacked him from the RFL after a campaign to unseat him failed. In 1995, the RFL appointed its first Development Officer for Ireland with the aim of assisting Rugby League Ireland in the sports development across the Irish Sea . 1995 also saw the Great Britain side reserved to tours with England and Wales competing separately in the World Cup . 1996 saw
7980-469: The code in an extremely competitive sporting market. In 1997 two competitions were run alongside each other in Australia, after which a peace deal in the form of the National Rugby League was formed. The NRL has since become recognised as the sport's flagship competition and since that time has set record TV ratings and crowd figures. The objective in rugby league is to score more points through tries , goals and field goals (also known as drop goals) than
8113-607: The end of 2001, shortly before a major restructuring of the governing body and the appointment of Richard Lewis as executive chairman in May 2002. Within a year of joining the RFL, he oversaw reunification with BARLA after nearly 30 years of division. Lewis left in 2012 to become Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club . The RFL net value has been positive every year since 2004, being £1.7 million in 2011. In 2002, London Skolars became
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#17327879085128246-513: The end of season play-offs. The 1988–89 season was another year of consolidation. Keighley again completed the season in eighth position, winning 16 from 28 games. The average attendance again increased by 135 to 1,193, the best since the 1981–82 season. For the 1989–90 season Colin Dixon moved up onto the board of directors and Les Coulter took over as head coach. The season featured a run of eleven matches with only two victories. Keighley finished
8379-399: The field, attributed to the signing of experienced players Trevor Skerrett , Gary Moorby and Brenden White. Attendances increased, averaging 951 in the league and a 2–16 defeat to Widnes in the second round of the Challenge Cup drew a crowd of 4,358 watched Keighley lose 2–16. Keighley finished in eighth position, winning 15 from 28 games and eventually lost to league leaders Oldham , 24–34 in
8512-507: The final 18–5. After their Wembley appearance, Keighley again suffered a decline. In November 1938, they were at the top of the Rugby League table, for the first time ever, for a spell of three weeks, but this form was not maintained and they finished 16th with 17 wins, 17 defeats and two draws. The main reason for the club's decline was that veterans were not replaced quickly enough, and the one promising young player, Reggie Lloyd ,
8645-484: The final". On 19 December 1906, tragedy overtook the club when Harry Myers died as a result of an accident on the field of play. About that time Keighley were one of the leading teams in the Challenge Cup and again in 1907–08 they advanced to the third round by virtue of wins over Brookland Rovers and Whitehaven . During the years of the First World War the club arranged no fixtures and did not take part in
8778-519: The first UK sporting organisation to make the top 100 employers in the Stonewall Index that measures attitudes towards lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex served as patron until February 2021. He was replaced by his sister in law The Princess of Wales . Lindsay Hoyle the speaker of the House of Commons is the current president a role which is usually filled by
8911-408: The first amateur club to join the professional system, being the first club to do so in 80 years, and marked the start of a period where a number of clubs moved up, each with various levels of success and failure. In 2006, Catalans Dragons joined the British game, marking the second French team to do so. Unlike PSG, Catalans would go on to be a success in the British game. In 2011 a major change to
9044-695: The first ever rugby league match at Lawkholme Lane; Manningham won 5–2. They finished in second place and the following season they were "promoted" to the Yorkshire Senior Competition as fourteen of the leading clubs broke away from the two County Leagues, to form a new Northern Rugby League. In March 1901, Keighley entered the Northern Union Cup (now known as the Challenge Cup ) for the first time. They beat Kinsley before meeting York. Keighley refused £120 to transfer
9177-533: The first time in front of the television cameras. Keighley were on the wrong end of a thrashing as the Aussies scored a half-century and beat the previous best score for a touring side in an opening match. Bert Cook joined Keighley from Leeds on 21 September 1953, as player-coach. After a major financial crisis, when an entirely new board of directors took over in December 1953. On Wednesday, 9 December, following
9310-681: The five years prior to the Second World War , the sport's popularity increased as Frenchmen became disenchanted with the state of French rugby union in the 1930s. However, after the Allied Forces were defeated by Germany in June 1940, the Vichy regime in the south seized assets belonging to rugby league authorities and clubs and banned the sport for its association with the left-wing Popular Front government that had governed France before
9443-407: The following year, in a match at Bingley, there was a peculiar incident. A report of the game states that Bradbury attempted a drop goal, but the ball passed under the crossbar, and Bairstow, following up, touched down. Bingley would not concede the try, alleging that the player who obtained it was offside, and due to their refusal to allow the ball to be brought out, the home players left the field and
9576-404: The following: Two nominated members will also sit on the youth & junior forum, a key device used to advance youth rugby league. The first logo used by the RFL was an oval shape, representing the ball with XIII and 13 over it and The Rugby Football League around it. The logo was also seen on the sleeve of teams shirts. In the late 1990s the logo was changed to a more simplistic design to
9709-547: The football, each play restarting from a set piece position and ended by a tackle. Although the Canadian Football League in particular maintained the word 'rugby' in its name for many years, alluding to that shared past, the introduction of the forward pass and unlimited substitution in North American games created a fundamentally different species of game from either original rugby code. Although
9842-407: The forwards. They are often the most creative and evasive players on the field, relying on running, kicking and handling skills, as well as tactics and set plays, to break the defensive line, instead of brute force. Generally forwards play a more collision oriented game, making ground by pure strength, and tackling near the play-the-ball. Usually, the stand-off/five-eighth and scrum-half/half-back are
9975-406: The fourth tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover. 1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played. The first sponsors, Joshua Tetley and John Player , entered the game for the 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season . Television had an enormous impact on the sport of rugby league in
10108-510: The game was agreed, changing from a winter to a summer game, starting in 2012 with a playing season from March to November, aligning with the Super League , which has played this way since 1996. The regional leagues may include winter competitions in addition. In 2012, the Rugby Football League were awarded the Stonewall Sport Award in recognition of their work in embracing inclusivity and tackling homophobia. They also became
10241-401: The game was unfinished. By the end of season 1880–81, the membership of the club was 80; ten honorary members and 70 playing members. In 1882–83 "the team had a most successful experience" . Gate receipts reached £58 and expenditure was £32. In March 1882, the team figured in the Yorkshire Cup for the first time. They met Wakefield Trinity , who were one of the top sides. During that year,
10374-516: The ground, Lawkholme Lane, as Cougar Park . Keighley were excluded from the new Super League competition and continue to play in the Second Division, and the disappointment of being denied promotion for a second time due to marketing decisions, cost them fans and sponsors. Keighley took out an injunction to try to stop the new competition kicking off and only withdrew their legal threat with the offer of more money for lower division clubs and
10507-411: The historic link between the codes continues to be acknowledged, neither Canadian or American football is commonly considered a rugby code today except in the broadest sense, and are more commonly referred to collectively as gridiron codes, or simply as 'football' within their respective countries. Players on the pitch are divided into forwards and backs , although the game's rules apply to all players
10640-654: The kicker. The Super League in Europe and the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australasia are the world's premier club competitions. Globally, rugby league is played internationally , predominantly by European , Australasian , and Pacific Island countries, and is governed by the International Rugby League . Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands and
10773-414: The last 17 games brought some respectability. Albert Fearnley resigned as coach due to poor health and was replaced by Bak Diabira . His first match was a home game against Doncaster on 15 March 1981; Keighley winning 6–5, and completed the last seven games. The team finished the season in 7th position, winning 14 and drawing one from 28 games. Keighley continued the 1981–82 season where they had left off
10906-504: The late 1950s, Keighley had some notable backs, in the 1957–58 season fullback Joe Phillips, and three-quarters Dave Smith, Terry Hollindrake, Derek Hallas and Roy Bleasby, between them scored no less than 89 tries. Rugby league as a whole went through a two-decade slump that started in the 1960s, attendances dropped and so did Keighley's performances. Keighley signed Garfield Owen as player-coach from Halifax on 12 January 1962. The 1980–81 season started badly but 11 wins and one draw from
11039-474: The latter part of the 1930s. Keighley played in their first and so far only Challenge Cup final in 1937. Having beaten Hunslet, Broughton Rangers , Liverpool Stanley in earlier rounds they played Wakefield Trinity in the semi-final. The first semi-final, held in Leeds on the third of April, was a scoreless draw, but four days later at Huddersfield , Keighley beat Wakefield Trinity 5–3. However, Widnes won
11172-511: The league's inaugural season. Several brand new clubs from Western USA were scheduled to join in 2022 but never played. The new competition is sanctioned by Canada Rugby League , but not yet by the United States governing body. Unfortunately, while some exhibition matches were played in 2021 and 2022, NARL was defunct by 2023 The early 21st century has seen other countries take up the game and compete in international rugby league with
11305-403: The lowest gate was broken twice. First against Workington Town on 23 April when the crowd was just 386 and again on 7 May against Whitehaven when only 355 turned up to witness the 0–16 defeat. Peter Roe took over as coach mid-way through the season following the sudden death of Geoff Peggs and the results improved temporarily. Roe left the following year. The 1987–88 season saw a recovery on
11438-453: The mid-1990s, it has increasingly borrowed techniques, tactics and even laws from rugby league, while high-profile players and coaches from the league game have increasingly gone on to success in the union code in those countries where both codes are popular (e.g. Andy Farrell , Jason Robinson and Henry Paul ). The inherent similarities between rugby league and rugby union have at times led to experimental hybrid games being played that use
11571-537: The most popular sporting events. The Rugby League European Federation are responsible for developing rugby league in Europe . In England, rugby league has traditionally been associated with the historic northern counties of Yorkshire , Lancashire , and Cumberland , where the game originated, especially in towns and cities along the M62 corridor . Its popularity has also increased elsewhere. As of 2024 , only two of
11704-413: The national sport of the country. Five main variant sports of rugby league exist worldwide; Touch , OzTag , League tag , Nines , and Sevens . Touch, OzTag, and League Tag are all non-contact versions of the sport, where as Nines and Sevens are both reduced form (shorter match times and smaller teams) of the sport. Touch (also known as touch football or touch rugby) is a variant of rugby league that
11837-561: The new Super League, although the club was dissolved in 1997. In 2006, the Super League admitted the Catalans Dragons, a team from Perpignan in the southern Languedoc-Roussillon region. They have subsequently reached the 2007 Challenge Cup Final and made the playoffs of the 2008 Super League XIII season. The success of the Dragons in Super League has initiated a renaissance in French rugby league, with new-found enthusiasm for
11970-559: The new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting. The 22 clubs were: Upon its founding, the Northern Union created in league competition with the first season being the 1895–96 season . The Challenge Cup came two years later in 1896–97 . 1904 saw the creation of the England national rugby league team who played the Other Nationalities rugby league team in rugby league's first international matches. In 1906,
12103-461: The newly formed Great Britain national rugby league team combining the best players of England and Wales. The Northern Union would go on to favour the use of a Great Britain side over separate England and Wales sides. A year later, the sport was introduced to Australia and saw a similar tour carried out the Australians. In 1922, Northern Rugby Union became known as "Rugby League". In 1929,
12236-405: The north of England there have been complaints about its lack of profile in the British media. On the eve of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final where England would face Australia, English amateur rugby league coach Ben Dawson stated, "we're in the final of a World Cup. First time in more than 30 years and there's no coverage anywhere". France first played rugby league as late as 1934, where in
12369-458: The old one. It had a rugby ball shape with three small lines, representing 13 players, and two long lines, representing goalposts, arranged on a rugby ball so as to suggest a hand carrying or passing it. The Rugby Football League was abbreviated to RFL . In 2017 the RFL had its most radical rebrand since the formation of Super League . The new logo was a rectangular background meant to represent The George Hotel in Huddersfield, where rugby league
12502-475: The opposition within the 80 minutes of play. If after two-halves of play, each consisting of forty minutes, the two teams are drawing , a draw may be declared, or the game may enter extra time under the golden point rule, depending on the relevant competition's format. The try is the most common form of scoring, and a team will usually attempt to score one by running and kicking the ball further upfield or passing from player-to-player in order to manoeuvre around
12635-400: The opposition's defence. A try involves touching the ball to the ground on or beyond the defending team's goal-line and is worth four points. A goal is worth two points and may be gained from a conversion or a penalty . A field goal, or drop goal, is only worth one point and is gained by dropping and then kicking the ball on the half volley between the uprights in open play. A field goal has
12768-471: The parent sport, and retains key aspects of that sport such as an egg shaped ball, the forward-pass rule and conversions. While not a Paralympic sport, the sport has its own Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup . A further variation for ambulatory disabled players, physical disability rugby league , was created and had its first world cup in 2022 to coincide with the rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup competitions. Rugby league football takes its name from
12901-403: The player carrying the ball and denying forward progress. On occasion, where a clear try scoring opportunity has been thwarted by foul play, a penalty try may be awarded without the ball being grounded over the try line. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals. Drop goals (or field goals) can be attempted from the hand at any time for a single point. Following a successful try,
13034-542: The position they play, similarly to association football . Substitutes (generally referred to as "the bench") are allowed in the sport, and are typically used when a player gets tired or injured , although they can also be used tactically. Each team is currently allowed four substitutes, and in Australia and New Zealand, these players occupy shirt numbers 14 to 22. There are no limitations on which players must occupy these interchangeable slots. Generally, twelve interchanges are allowed in any game from each team, although in
13167-585: The previous season by winning 10 of their first 14 league games. Terrible winter weather with weeks of snow and frost hit and no matches were played between 6 December and 3 January. This break upset Keighley's form and they won only 8 out of the remaining 18 games. Keighley finished in 7th position once again. Despite reaching the Yorkshire Cup semi–final which they lost 3–23 to Hull, the 1982–83 league campaign started badly. Keighley lost their opening three games and Bak Diabira quit as coach. Lee Greenwood ,
13300-586: The prospect of promotion and relegation. Rugby league Rugby league football , commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby XIII in non- Anglophone Europe and South America, and referred to colloquially as football , footy , rugby , or league in its heartlands, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H-shaped posts at both ends. It
13433-482: The rugby league. In 1897, the line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced. In 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after tackles with the play-the-ball . By this point, rule changes meant the game organised by the RFL was distinct as a sport from its union cousin. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney , Australia. There, on 8 August 1907
13566-401: The same competition. On 13 November 1943, Keighley won the first leg of the Yorkshire Cup semi-final at Lawkholme Lane against Huddersfield 21–0. Although Keighley lost the second leg at Fartown 13–4 and they qualified for the final on aggregate. Keighley played Bradford Northern in the final. This as well, was a two-legged affair with Northern just coming out the better overall. They achieved
13699-501: The same way. Each position has a designated number to identify himself from other players. These numbers help to identify which position a person is playing. The system of numbering players is different depending on which country the match is played in. In Australia and New Zealand, each player is usually given a number corresponding to their playing position on the field. However, since 1996 European teams have been able to grant players specific squad numbers, which they keep without regard to
13832-400: The scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion worth a further two points. Penalty kicks at goal, known simply as penalties, may also be awarded for general foul play, and are also worth two points. Unlike drop goals, penalty kicks and conversions are taken from the ground, with the ball usually set in a kicking tee , and the opposing team not allowed to directly challenge
13965-496: The scrum see rugby league scrummage . Forward positions are traditionally named after the player's position in the scrum yet are equal with respect to "normal play" with the exception of the hooker. Forward positions are traditionally assigned as follows: Rugby league is played in over 70 nations throughout the world. Papua New Guinea is the only country to have rugby league as its national sport . Four countries – Australia, England, France, and New Zealand – have teams that play at
14098-415: The season 19th out of 21 clubs and winning only 6 games out of 28. Tony Fisher replaced Les Coulter for the 1990–91 campaign which began modestly with just the one win out of eight games, a streak of 11 wins out of 14 games turned things around. Two new directors joined the board – Mick O'Neill and Mike Smith. They embarked on re-branding; the first being to rebrand the club Keighley Cougars and to rename
14231-418: The second period Trinity played some fine rugby and went on to win 17–3. The Yorkshire Cup defeat seemed to have an adverse effect on Keighley who won only one of their 20 remaining games up to the end of the 1951–52 season and they finished third from the bottom of the league. The 1952–53 season opened on 6 September. The eighth Australian touring side opened their campaign with a game at Lawkholme Lane – for
14364-421: The semi-final of the Challenge Cup for the first time by beating Castleford , Egremont , Hull F.C. and Featherstone Rovers before falling to Salford in the semi-final at Warrington . An old newspaper clipping says that "dissatisfaction among the players with regard to terms of payment was the reason for this defeat, and but for this very discreditable piece of business Keighley would have opposed Bradford in
14497-401: The senior side. Keighley finished sixth from the bottom of the league table. On 14 February 1948, Keighley were the victims of one of the biggest Challenge Cup upsets when they were defeated 2–10 by Cumbrian junior club, Risehow and Gillhead. Fortunately for Keighley they had established an 11–0 lead in the first leg of first round at Lawkholme Lane, though they only scraped home on aggregate by
14630-421: The shirt, shorts and socks were white too with red strips. Also in 2008 the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a much simpler shield and cross design, nevertheless the team will still be known as "The Lions". As of September 2024 the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia and New Zealand . Shaun Wane is head coach and George Williams
14763-524: The sideline. Rugby league and rugby union are distinct sports with many similarities and a shared origin. Both have the same fundamental rules, are played for 80 minutes and feature an oval-shaped ball and H-shaped goalposts. Both have rules that the ball cannot be passed forward, and dropping it forwards leads to a scrum. Both use tries as the central scoring method and conversion kicks , penalty goals and drop goals as additional scoring methods. However, there are differences in how many points each method
14896-526: The specific issues associated with a tag based game. Rugby League played with nine players per team with nine minutes per half, in addition to slight rule modifications to aid the game. Rugby League played with seven players per team with seven minutes per half, in addition to slight rule modifications to aid the game. The top five attendances for rugby league test matches (International) are: The top five attendances for domestic based rugby league matches are: * NRL double header played to open Round 1 of
15029-663: The sport in the south of the country where most of the Super XIII teams are based. In other parts of Europe, the game is played at semi-professional and amateur level. As of 2023, there is no professional rugby league in North America. From 2017 to 2020, the Toronto Wolfpack were North America 's only active professional Rugby League team, competing in the English Rugby League system. They won
15162-441: The sport, rugby league nines , using modified rugby league rules also exists, and is comparable to rugby sevens . Wheelchair rugby league is a mixed-gender sport using heavily modified rugby league rules for disabled and able-bodied players. Unlike wheelchair rugby which adopted its name after the invention of the sport previously called murderball and is not directly linked to rugby union, wheelchair rugby league has grown out of
15295-471: The strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to Australia . They won the Rugby League World Cup on three occasions: 1954 , 1960 and 1972 . Since 1995 the RFL have sent the home nations as separate teams for World Cup purposes. Great Britain continued to compete as a test playing nation both home and away. They competed against Australia for the Ashes , and New Zealand for
15428-422: The switch to summer rugby and the creation of the Super League . The competition aimed to be a European competition outside of the British rugby league system , however this never materialised. Despite this, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. formed a rugby league team who competed in the first two seasons, marking the first foreign team to complete in the British game. The RFL accumulated losses of £1.9 million at
15561-496: The tie, and despite a sending-off, earned a 5–5 draw in front of a crowd of 5,293. In the replay York had a player sent off but won 12–0. In 1902–03, the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were combined to form a second division . Keighley was one of the new clubs to join the second division, which they topped with 27 wins out of 34 games and were duly promoted. Keighley had their greatest cup season up to that time. They reached
15694-512: The top three professional divisions as well as the National Conference League and various regional leagues below that. The RFL also runs two cup competitions for professional clubs and is involved with the organisation of the World Club Challenge alongside Australia's National Rugby League . The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen
15827-517: The twelve Super League teams are based outside of these traditional counties: Catalans Dragons and London Broncos . One other team from outside the United Kingdom, Toulouse Olympique , competes in the British rugby league system , although not at the highest tier Super League level, but rather in the second tier Championship . Super League average attendances are in the 8,000 to 9,500 range. The average Super League match attendance in 2014
15960-580: The war. The sport was unbanned after the Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the collapse of the Vichy regime, although it was still actively marginalised by the French authorities until the 1990s. Despite this, the national side appeared in the finals of the 1954 and 1968 World Cups, and the country hosted the 1954 event. In 1996, a French team, Paris Saint-Germain was one of eleven teams which formed
16093-472: Was 8,365. In 2018 average Super League match attendance was 8,547. Ranked the eighth most popular sport in the UK overall, rugby league is the 27th most popular participation sport in England according to figures released by Sport England ; the total number of rugby league participants in England aged 16 and over was 44,900 in 2017. This is a 39% drop from 10 years ago. While the sport is largely concentrated in
16226-399: Was avoided only by selling the cricket field for a reported £30,000 and the training pitch for £65,000. Keighley for the second time in three years finished the season in the second from bottom position of the second division and had taken some heavy defeats along their way. These included the worst ever defeat 2–92 away to Leigh. These poor results affected attendances and Keighley's record for
16359-443: Was created in 1973 in Huddersfield by a group of enthusiasts concerned about the dramatic disappearance of many amateur leagues and clubs. Fewer than 150 amateur teams remained with a mere 30 youth rugby league teams. The 'breakaway' from the RFL was acrimonious and was strongly contested, with a vote 29–1 against recognising BARLA. Thanks to Tom Mitchell, this changed to a unanimous vote of approval for BARLA within 12 months. In 1976,
16492-424: Was elected and the club was allowed the use of Holmes' field in Lawkholme Lane. The first kick-off took place on Saturday afternoon, 21 October and the committee met again on 24 October and decided to adopt Association and Rugby football laws. On 18 November 1876, the first game took place at Lawkholme Lane. The visitors were Crosshills and although the game ended in a draw, there are records, which say, "the draw
16625-415: Was forced to rely on trialists; a total of 54 players were used including 31 debutantes during this campaign. Without this step, there would have been a danger of being unable to fulfil the fixture list. Keighley finished second from bottom of the second division with only seven wins and three draws from 34 games. The club announced massive debts and planned to sell part of the ground. 53 players were used in
16758-574: Was founded and 1895 the year it was founded. Thirteen stripes inside it represent thirteen players. The oval on top represents the ball and the appreciation RFL has been replaced with Rugby Football League . The RFLs current headquarters are at Sportcity Eithad Campus in East Manchester. The RFL first moved into permanent headquarters in 1922 at 180 Chapeltown Road, Leeds , where it stayed for 73 years before leaving in 1995 to Red Hall in Leeds,
16891-479: Was hosted by England during October and November 2022, staged the Men's , Women's and Wheelchair competitions together for the first time. The competition formerly featured 16 teams, but has been cut down to 10 for the upcoming 2026 Rugby League World Cup . The Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation 's purpose is to spread the sport of rugby league throughout their region along with other governing bodies such as
17024-418: Was improved and in 1886–87 played clubs such as Hipperholme and Lightcliffe, Bramley , Otley, York , Shipley, Ossett, Bingley, Pudsey, Halifax Free Wanderers, Morley, Skipton and Hunslet . The club reached one of its best seasons in 1892–93 when the team figured in several rounds of the cup and won no less than 22 matches during the season. Leagues were being formed about this time and in 1893–94 Keighley had
17157-633: Was in 1975, and since then they have been runners-up in 1975 , 1995 (as hosts) and 2017 . In 2022 England hosted the delayed 2021 World Cup . For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, an England 'A' team, competed for the Federation Shield . In the past England's main rivals have been Wales and France , with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, England's main rivals would now be Australia , New Zealand and, to
17290-669: Was in the visitors' favour". The first important match appears to have been played on 13 January 1877 against Bingley . Under the scoring system of the day, the visitors won by two tries and two touchdowns to two touchdowns. Keighley also lost a further two games against Bingley. One of the earliest games of the following season was a fixture with Kildwick on 13 October 1877 when Keighley won by one goal to five touchdowns. Other teams met during that second season were Bradford Zingari, Manningham , Cleckheaton, Leeds Athletic, Skipton and Bradford Juniors. Up to April 1878, Keighley and Bingley had met seven times with Keighley losing every match. At
17423-410: Was introduced the following season, some players who guested for Keighley include Jim Sullivan , Les "Cowboy" Jones, and Melville De Lloyd . Keighley and Bradford Northern became regular cup-tie opponents during the war years. In season 1941–42 Keighley lost both legs in the first round of the Challenge Cup , but got their revenge a year later when they triumphed home and away in the second round of
17556-467: Was that the directors launched a big scheme of ground improvements. The new stand and improvements were opened on 9 September 1933 when Leeds were the visitors to Lawkholme, and though that particular match was lost the season was to be a notable one. With such fine forwards as Harold "Hal" Jones and George Dixon from Wigan , and Jimmy Gill from Leeds , already having joined Keighley during their period of revival, there came more important signings in
17689-435: Was transferred to Castleford in 1938. In the season after Wembley, Keighley were 13th in the league table. This was to be the last season of competitive peacetime rugby before the Second World War . During the war years many young players were naturally called into the armed forces. The Rugby League decided to form the Lancashire and Yorkshire Emergency Leagues at the beginning of the 1939–40 season. A system of "guest" players
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