Old Crossleyans
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Old Crossleyans
RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB
Old Crossleyans RUFC enjoyed a fine campaign this time around
which ended with them clinching promotion. Plans are already
underway to prepare for a new challenge and Rugby Club Magazine
recently caught up with Chairman Howard Cooper to find out more.
Involvement
He told us, “I first went down the
club to play in 1972. It didn’t need
any thinking about, as I attended the
Crossley and Porter Grammar School
and played rugby for the school, it was
a natural progression to just join the Old
Boys after finishing school and continue
playing, you just followed the older boys
at school.
This flow of players continued for
many years after me including some who
went on to higher spheres, including
Brian Moore (England & British Lions),
Jim Mallinder (Sale & England and
later Director of Rugby at Northampton
Saints) plus many more, for a relatively
small school it turned out many quality
players.
In my early twenties I did leave
for six seasons to try my hand at a
higher level, in those days there was
no recognition for playing at a so called
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junior club, so I joined Halifax RUFC,
a senior club, to try and progress my
rugby career. I managed to achieve a
personal goal in representing my county
Yorkshire before the attraction of the Old
Crossleyans once again called.”
The Role
“In a town where rugby of both codes
dominates the round ball game, Halifax
boasts six rugby union clubs plus a
wealth of amateur rugby league clubs.
There is a battle to fight for players from
a relatively small pool, this is a constant
challenge.
However, the reward for me is to
see that the six clubs still survive and
next season four of us will be competing
against each other in Yorkshire Division
One.
Purely from an Old Crossleyans
prospective, after being the highest
placed club in the town for several years,
subsequent relegations saw us slip from
that perch, but now we have managed to
climb back to compete with the others.
During our difficult years we still
had support from many of our sponsors,
members and supporters who never
gave up during the darker moments.
To see the smiles on their faces when
we achieved promotion this season was
well worth the many sleepless nights I
endured before.”
Present
“The mood at the moment is vibrant
and optimistic, who wouldn’t be after
two seasons of relegation and a very
close third one to be replaced with a
promotion season. Remarkably, as I said
previously from the depths of despair to
promotion in one season was something
totally unexpected.
The step up from Yorkshire Division
Two to One is quite a big one having