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| Batley Bulldogs | |
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| Full name | Batley Bulldogs Rugby League Football Club |
| Emblem | Bulldog |
| Colours | White, burgundy and gold |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Sport | Rugby League |
| League | Co-operative Championship |
| Ground | Mount Pleasant |
| Official website | www.batleybulldogs.co.uk |
Batley Bulldogs are a British professional rugby league club, from Batley in West Yorkshire. They currently play in The Championship. Batley is also one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world's first rugby league clubs.
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History
Early years
The local cricket club was to invite the winner of a game between Batley Mountaineers and Batley Athletic to join them at their Mount Pleasant ground. Both sides claimed victory but the cricket club chose the Athletic to join them and formed 'Batley Cricket and Athletic Football Club' in 1880. Their first game was against Bradford Zingari.
They won the Yorkshire Challenge Cup five years later.
Batley was one of the original twenty-two clubs that met at the George Hotel in Huddersfield on 29 August 1895 and formed the Northern Rugby Union.
Sixth in the Yorkshire Senior Competition of 1896/97, they battled their way to third spot come the end of the next season. Where knock-out competitions was concerned, they were peerless. In 1897, the 'Gallant Youths' became the first winners of the Challenge Cup beating St Helens 10-3, in front of a crowd of 13,492 at Headingley. Batley retained the trophy by beating Bradford Northern on the corresponding weekend the following year. They won it again in 1900/01.
Wharton 'Wattie' Davies set club records for most appearance, goals and points between 1907-1912.
Batley won the Yorkshire Cup in 1912/13, were Yorkshire League winners in 1898/99 and 1923/24 and were crowned champions for the only time that same season.
The record attendance was set at 23,989 for the visit of Leeds for a third round Challenge Cup match on 14 March 1925.
Post World War Two
The club's name changed from Batley Cricket, Athletic & Football Club Ltd to its present official name of Batley Football Club Ltd in June 1979.
The club celebrated its centenary in 1981 with a win over the league's new London team, Fulham.
In the 1960s the league was restructured into two divisions for two seasons before the single-division format was finally ditched in 1973 (there was also a three-season experiment with two divisions at the beginning of the twentieth century). Batley are one of only a few teams never to make it into the top flight, although they came very close in 1993/94. The last match of the season against Doncaster came down to being a play off for a spot in the first division, but Batley lost this memorable game 10-5 and their chance disappeared.
Batley looked set to join the elite in 1995 when they held off Huddersfield to finish in second place, just two points behind champions Keighley. The club succeeded in winning the Second Division Championship in the 1994–95 season. However, when the Super League was created for the following year, Batley along with Keighley were excluded. The club estimated that the decision cost them around £500,000. [1]
Batley added 'Bulldogs' to their name for the 1995/6 season. The newly named Batley Bulldogs finished 1996 at the foot of Division One. Batley won the Trans-Pennine Trophy in 1998.
In 2003, Barry Eaton broke the world record for consecutive goals kicks.
The club underwent a major shake up in the coaching staff with the resignation of head coach David Ward due to pressure from some supporters in the form of derisory comments in the local press. The new coaching first team set up involved Gary Thornton (Head Coach) and Paul Harrison.
After a tough season in 2005 the Bulldogs were into National League One relegation play-offs, facing bitter rivals and neighbours Dewsbury Rams. Victory in the final saw the Bulldogs stay up against increasingly well funded sides with Super League ambitions.
2006 saw the Bulldogs start the campaign with little promise after a series of dismal performances in the Northern Rail Cup and the early rounds of National League One. However, coach Gary Thornton turned the side round and the Bulldogs made their way into the end of season play-offs. Jay Duffy's late drop goal sealed a 23-22 victory at Leigh to end the Centurions' own hopes of promotion and ultimately earn Thornton the honour of National League coach of the year. The Bulldogs failed to replicate this success in the next round, crashing to a 30-0 defeat at Whitehaven to put an abrupt end to their season.
Honours
- Championship 1923/24
- Challenge Cup : 1896-97, 1897/98, 1900/1901 (3 times)
- Yorkshire Cup: 1884/851, 1912/1913
- Yorkshire League: 1898/99, 1923/24 (2 times)
- Trans-Pennine Cup: 1998
In 2003 Barry Eaton broke the world record for consecutive goals kicks. Although Eaton left the club last year to join Keighley, his record of 38 looks as if it may stand for some time to come.
Players earning international caps while at Batley
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Other Notable Players
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2009 Squad
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External links
- Batley Website
- Bulldogs: history and facts
- Batley Bulldogs forum on rlfans.com
- National League website
- Official Batley Bulldogs Fans Forums
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