Batley Bulldogs

Batley Bulldogs RLFC are an English professional rugby league club from Batley, West Yorkshire. They currently play in the Kingstone Press Championship. Batley is one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They were League Champions for the first and only time to date in 1924 and are 3 times Challenge Cup winners.

History

Early years

Batley Cricket Club decided to have a rugby football side merge with them at their ground under the name Batley Cricket Athletic and Football Club. The two local rugby teams, Batley Mountaineers and Batley Athletic, played a challenge match at the cricket club's Mount Pleasant home on 23 October 1880 to determine which was the town's premier rugby side and worthy of the cricket club. Both sides claimed victory but the cricket club chose Batley Athletic to join them.

The new club's first game was at home against Bradford Zingari which they won by 2 goals, 3 touchdowns, 2 dead balls and one touch goal to nil. Jacob Parker scored the first touchdown. The first season finished with Batley having won 15 games and drawn 5 out of 26 matches played.

Batley

Coordinates: 53°42′58″N 1°37′37″W / 53.716°N 1.627°W / 53.716; -1.627

Batley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It lies 17 miles (27 km) south-east of Bradford, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Leeds and 1 mile (2 km) north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 49,448 (including Birstall). Other nearby towns include: Morley to the north-east, Ossett to the south-east and Brighouse west-south-west. Batley is part of a special EU transformation zone.

History

The name Batley is derived from Danish, meaning either valley or homestead of bats, or more likely, homestead of the locally prominent Batte family. It is recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Bateleia'. After the Norman Conquest, the manor was granted to Elbert de Lacy. It subsequently passed into the ownership of the de Batleys, and by the 12th century had passed by marriage to the Copley family. Their residence at Batley Hall was held directly from the Crown; at this time the district fell within the Duchy of Lancaster. The population at this time was 30 to 40 people. By the late 14th century, the population has increased to around 100.