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Bramley Buffaloes are a Rugby League club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in Yorkshire , England . Previously known simply as '''Bramley RLFC''', the club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed prior to the formation of the Northern Union in 1895. The traditional nickname for the club is ''The Villagers'' which survives as the name of the official match programme. HISTORY Bramley were founded in 1879. In 1881 they moved to the Barley Mow ground. They were admitted to the Northern Union on 2 June 1896. The rugby league was then split into two county leagues. On 9 October 1907, they became the first club to entertain a touring side when they played New Zealand. In 1942-3, Bramley dropped out of the wartime Yorkshire League, they did not return to league competition until 1945-6. In the sixties, the club moved to a new ground on land adjacent to Barley Mow, which became known as McClaren Field . Bramley won the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy on the 14th December 1973. Ironically, due to power cuts, the final against Widnes at Naughton Park took place on a midweek afternoon. 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 McClaren Field for the start of the 1991-92 season. Bramley managed to survive at McClaren Field until the end of the 1994-95 season. The following seasons they played at Clarence Field and then moved to Headingley in 1997. Crowd numbers were affected and the team became ever more overshadowed by Leeds . At the end of the 1999 season Bramley resigned from the Northern Ford Premiership to become a feeder team for Leeds, but this never materialised. Bramley applied to rejoin the Northern Ford Premiership in 2000 but were rejected, a similar bid from Gateshead Thunder was accepted. They had planned to play games at the home of soccer club Farsley Celtic and progressively upgrade the ground would be acceptable, this may have been the cause of the rejection. Bramley applied again to rejoin the Rugby Football League for the 2003 season. Bramley planned to play their home games at Morley Rugby Union Club, with the long-term aim of establishing their own ground. They were reformed as a supporter-owned club and now play in National League Three , also fielding a side in the Rugby League Conference . After finishing as runners-up in 2005, Bramley took the title in 2006, beating Hemel Stags by 30 points to 8. In 2007 Bramley will participate in the Rugby League Conference National division, the new name for the re-branded National League Three. HONOURS
RECORDS Player records
Club records
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