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| sports clubs established in 1873 | |
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic stadium with football club Halifax Town . HISTORY Early years The club was formed in 1873. After becoming the first ever winners of the Yorkshire Cup in 1878, the club went on to win it on another four occasions. Several players were supplied to the Yorkshire County side in these years, and five were picked for the full England Rugby Union Team . The Halifax club were founder members of the breakaway Northern Rugby Union in 1895. In 1886, the club moved to their traditional home of Thrum Hall , this would be their home ground for the next 112 years. The first game was played on September 18, 1886 and drew 8,000 spectators. In 1896, Halifax lost out on winning the first ever rugby league championship by a single point with Manningham being the champions. On field success continued producing one of their best ever teams in the early years of the twentieth century. In 1902-03 they achieved the 'double' by winning the Challenge Cup and finishing top of Division One. They won the cup again the following season, and were the first ever Championship Play-off winners in season 1906-07. Halifax enjoyed their first Wembley Challenge Cup final victory over York in 1931. They also won in 1939. Post war The 1949 Challenge Cup final was sold out for first time as 95,050 spectators saw Bradford beat Halifax. During the fifties they were Championship runners-up three times, Yorkshire Cup winners twice, and Yorkshire League winners four times. They played in two Wembley finals in 1954 and 1956, featuring in the first ever drawn final against Warrington in 1954, losing in the replay at Odsal Stadium in front of what was then a world record Rugby League crowd of 102,569. In 1959 Halifax hosted Wigan before a club record 29,153 people in the third round of the Challenge Cup. Chris Anderson was captain-coach of Halifax between 1985-88 where he enjoyed great success including the 1986-87 Challenge Cup victory against St Helens . Halifax their last appearance in a Challenge Cup final in 1988 when they lost to Wigan . LOL Summer rugby era Halifax joined the Super League in 1996 and became known as the Blue Sox. However, this proved to be unpopular with most supporters who continued to refer to them as 'Fax'. Halifax finished third in Super League in 1998 under John Pendlebury. Halifax sold Thrum Hall for £1.5 million to the American company Wal-Mart for a supermarket development in 1998, and moved across town to their present home, The Shay Stadium, which they share with Halifax Town AFC. The proceeds from the sale were supposed to enable Halifax to complete a redevelopment of The Shay stadium, but the money was swallowed by debts. Halifax went to Jacksonville University , Florida , to help develop American rugby league, along with the Salford City Reds , in 2000. The club returned to the traditional Halifax R.L.F.C. at the start of 2003. At the end of the 2003 season they were relegated from Super League to National league one. Halifax's financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and they struggled in the new league. They narrowly avoided a second relegation to National League 2 in 2004, with a last-gasp victory over local rivals York. Martin Hall took over the role of head coach from sacked coach Anthony Farrell in June 2006. In August 2006 Halifax RLFC was on the verge of going bust. The club announced that it needed to raise £90,000 otherwise it would go into liquidation. Rugby league fans nationwide rallied behind 'Fax', and through visits to the ground, during home fixtures, and other fund-raising events, were able to raise £55,000. Former Chairman Howard Posner then came forward and announced that he would loan the club the remaining £35,000 in order to keep Halifax RLFC alive. This ensured that Halifax RLFC would be playing in National League One during 2007. {Link without Title} FIXTURES BACKROOM STAFF
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