Halifax
Halifax
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Halifax
RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB
Halifax RUFC is a club that has experienced plenty of highs and lows in
recent years and they are now in a strong position to develop with a clear
identity. Rugby Club Magazine recently caught up with their Chairman
Darren Emmerson to find out more.
Involvement
He told us, “I’ve been with the club
for 35 years, since joining as a bright
eyed fifteen year old to play in the one
and only junior team the club had at the
time. There was very little junior rugby
played in the town at the time so when
some mates from school said they were
going training on a Sunday morning at
Halifax RUFC I said I’d go too! First, I
had to find out where the club was and
then had to catch two buses to get there
... the rest is history, ha ha!”
History
“The club has had an illustrious
history and for many years during
the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s was amongst
the very top clubs in the North of
England, regularly playing sides such
as Sale, Wilmslow, Wakefield, Gosforth,
Headingley and even getting fixtures
against the likes of Swansea and Cardiff.
To this day we still hold the record
for having won the Yorkshire Cup most
times, on 12 occasions. So, with all this
history it is often difficult to come to
terms with our current league position
in Yorkshire Division 4, however it’s
precisely because of where we’ve been
in the past that motivates me to take the
club forward and keep the legacy going
that has been handed down.”
Atmosphere
“We are now an amateur club and
are very happy with that status. We
have two senior mens teams playing
regularly, a Vets team that will play four
or five games this season, a Ladies team
and a Mixed Ability team for men with
learning and physical disabilities. The
diversity of our club is something we are
extremely proud of and we take great
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Proud Sponsors of Halifax RUFC
“We’ve sponsored Halifax for
around 13 years now having first
got involved when we moved
next to the club. We built a
relationship with some of the
committee members there and try
to take our staff along to a game
when we can. We’re proud to be
neighbours and supporters of the
club and would like to take this
opportunity to wish them good
luck for the future.”
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pleasure in supporting all our teams in
their love of rugby union.
The mood throughout the club
is extremely positive and playing
membership is at its highest point for
many years! We have 40+ men playing
every Saturday, 26 women playing on
Sundays and 18 playing for Magpies,
including facilitators (a facilitator is an
able bodied player who runs alongside
a disabled player to assist them when
needed). The club is very busy on
Thursday nights with a minimum 25
men and 24 women training, creating a
great atmosphere!”
2017/18
“League results for our 1st XV have
not gone as expected, despite the best
efforts of our coaching team. We lost a
couple of players in the close season
due to work relocation and worse still
suffered a hammer blow when our
Director of Rugby, Tony Curtis, had to
stop playing due to a serious, long term
condition.
TC was a leading player in the 1st
team and talismanic on the pitch - we all
wish him a speedy recovery! Our Ladies
team have had some superb victories and
under coaches Simon Myers and Darryl
Wilson they are going from strength to
strength. Player development is key to
their success and it’s no surprise their
numbers are growing month by month.
Sustainability is the watch word for
2018 both on and off the field. We aim
to keep building on the steady growth
in playing numbers we’re experiencing,
just as we witness some clubs in our
division and across Yorkshire seem to be
suffering from fewer playing numbers.
We’re also improving the facilities and
visitor experience for everyone that
comes to Ovenden Park and have a
development plan which could start as
early as Spring to transform the clubs
financial fortunes.”
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