Bramley RLFC was a rugby league club from the Bramley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, that folded following the 1999 season. The club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed before the formation of the Northern Union in 1895. The traditional nickname for the club was 'the Villagers'.
Following Bramley's demise, a Phoenix club was formed by the fans of the original club with the desire to return to the professional ranks, continuing the Bramley name, traditions and history. However, the RFL denied the new clubs' applications twice. The new club was admitted to National League Three in 2004.
History
Early history
Bramley was founded in 1879. They played at Whitegate Farm and Pollard Lane from their founding and moved to the Barley Mow ground in 1890.
The city of Leeds had an abundance of rugby football clubs and although these were members of the Yorkshire RFU[1] (which was in turn a Constituent Body of the RFU), it was decided to form a ‘more local’ association. For this reason, a Leeds & District organisation was formalised in a meeting at the Green Dragon Hotel, Leeds on 27 September 1888. The foundation clubs were Bramley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Kirkstall, Leeds Parish Church, Leeds St John's (later to become Leeds) and Wortley.[2]
Bramley's England international Harry Bradshaw, was the first test case at Twickenham, over "broken time payments" in 1893, two years before the "great schism" of 1895 that resulted in the formation of the Northern Union, which in time would be renamed as the Rugby League. Bramley was admitted to the new Northern Union on 2 June 1896. The rugby league was then split into two county leagues, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
James Lomas became rugby league's first £100 transfer from Bramley to Salford in 1901.[3]
On 9 October 1907, they became the first club to entertain a touring side when they played the New Zealand All Golds.
In 1942–43, Bramley dropped out of the wartime Yorkshire League. They did not return to league competition until 1945–46.
Post-war
In the 1960s, the club moved to a new ground on land adjacent to Barley Mow, which became known as McLaren Field. Bramley developed the ground into a more modern stadium in 1966 with the hope that the new ground would help to take them up the leagues.
In 1973, the clubs voted to split into two divisions. Arthur Keegan became first team coach. Bramley defeated Wakefield Trinity, Castleford and St. Helens in order to reach the 1973 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy. They won the trophy with a 15–7 away victory over Widnes on 14 December 1973. It was the first cup Bramley had won in their entire history. Ironically, due to power cuts resulting from the Three-Day Week, the final against Widnes at Naughton Park took place on a mid-week afternoon. The club played in the First Division in that 1973–74 season. Though relegated the club had some excellent league wins including an away victory at Headingley against Leeds. The loss of fixtures against Leeds, Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Northern cost the club financially.
On 1 September 1974, Bramley defeated Doncaster 52–17 at McLaren Field in a Yorkshire County Cup first round tie. This broke the club record which had stood since 1946. However, the resources of the Villagers could not sustain this success, results and attendances flagged, and Keegan was sacked in September 1976.
Bramley won promotion to Division One, under Peter Fox in the 1976–77 season.
Bramley almost went into liquidation in October 1983 but survived.
In 1990, the club was faced with an estimated bill of £250,000 to carry out comprehensive safety work at McLaren Field, for the start of the 1991–92 season. John Kear was appointed coach in 1992.
Bramley RLFC Blue Plaque
1994-2000: Financial troubles and demise
In January 1994, due to rising debts, Bramley announced plans to leave McLaren Field and ground share with Farsley Celtic. By June the club backtracked and stayed at McLaren Field until the end of the 1994–95 season as Hunslet were considering leaving Elland Road to play at McLaren Field.
Hunslet decided against moving to McClaren Field and moving into the newly opened South Leeds Stadium, closer to Hunslet. For Bramley this meant it would be financially impossible to stay at McClarn Field. The stadium was subsequently sold to developers and the club moved to Clarence Field, Kirkstall, the home of Headingley RUFC.
Leeds Rhinos bought Clarence Field in 1996 to construct a purpose built training facility. This would leave Bramley once again homeless however Leeds would offer Bramley a ground share at Headingley from the 1997 season.[5] Bramley played three seasons at Headingley but once again struggled due to low attendances, and the team became ever more overshadowed by Leeds with some players such as Barrie McDermott and Leroy Rivett turning out for Bramley on the way back from injury.
In 1999, Hunslet had applied to join Super League and proposed a merger with Bramley so they could play home games at Headingley.[6] Hunslet were however unsuccessful in their attempt to join the top tier and Bramley resigned from the Northern Ford Premiership at the end of the 1999 season.
Players earning international caps while at Bramley
Harry Bradshaw won caps for England (RU) while at Bramley in 1892 against Scotland, in 1893 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and in 1894 against Wales, Ireland, and Scotland
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