Rugby Club Issue 65 | Page 54

Liverpool St Helens FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG Liverpool St Helens FOOTBALL CLUB L iverpool St Helens FC is based on Moss Lane in St Helens and their first team currently competes in the South Lancs Cheshire One League. They are led by the team of President Ray French and Chairman Tom Jackson and have made a considerable amount of progress under their guidance. The club has put together a proud history over the years, which dates back to 1857 when they were known as Liverpool FC, making them the oldest open rugby club in the world. In their early years they provided three of the England XX that played Scotland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh and at one point they had three international captains in their first XV; Ronnie Poulton (England), FH Turner (Scotland) and RA Lloyd (Ireland). St Helens RFC was first established in 1919 as St Helens Old Boys with the original membership being 54 Issue 65 predominantly old students of Cowley School. In its current format the club was put together in 1986 following a merger between Liverpool and St Helens in 1986 and went on to be one of the top two dozen clubs in the country in the early 90s. They encountered some difficulties however as they didn’t have the financial resources to compete with some of the other clubs when the game went professional which led to them becoming wholly amateur with Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) status. The club prides itself on its, “true rugby character, atmosphere and hospitality” and is committed to playing an important role in their local community. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have links with Edge Hill University, a growing relationship with Liverpool University as well as a number of primary and secondary schools. So far this season their first team has made a storming start to their league campaign, winning five of their first six league matches. This has left them sitting top of the table with twenty six points on the board. They will now be looking to push on over the remainder of the campaign in order to finish as high up the league as possible.