Broughton Rangers was a British rugby league club. They were based in Broughton, Salford. The club's colours were blue and black. A new club was recently formed with the assistance of Salford RLFC.[1] They have the name of "New Broughton Rangers".
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History
Broughton Rangers were founded in 1877 as Broughton, the team added the "Rangers" tag for their second season. The club’s headquarters was at the Griffin Hotel, situated on Lower Broughton Road, giving rise to their nickname of "The Griffins". They played their home games at Wheater’s Field in Lower Broughton.
They took part in what is believed to be the first ever floodlit rugby match in Britain on 29 October, 1878 when they played Swinton. On 15 December, 1888, they lost to a touring New Zealand Natives 8-0.
Broughton Rangers was one of the twenty-one clubs to meet at the George Hotel, Huddersfield on 29 August, 1895 and formed the Northern Rugby Football Union. Broughton built on the success of winning the Lancashire League successes in 1896/97 and 1898/99 by becoming the first ever champions of the Northern Union when it amalgamated the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues in 1901-02; their form was so outstanding that as early as February they could not be overtaken at the top of the table. That same year Broughton won the Challenge Cup by beating Salford 25-0 at Rochdale in front of 15,006 spectators. Rangers also won the East Lancashire League that season after finishing 12 points ahead of second-placed Salford.
Broughton also appeared in successive Lancashire Cup Finals, in 1906/07 and 1907/08, beating Warrington 15-6 in the first at Central Park, Wigan but losing to Oldham 16-9 at Rochdale 12 months later. Rangers reached the top-four semi-finals in 1907/8, losing to All Four Cups winners Hunslet.
They won the Challenge Cup again in 1910-11 when they beat Wigan 4 - 0 at The Willows, Salford in front of 8,000.
Broughton Rangers moved to The Cliff in 1913.
Inter war years
Broughton’s highest league position between 1918 and 1939 was sixth in 1935/36 and its lowest 27th in 1927/28, with Rangers generally finishing in the bottom half of the league.
The only piece of silverware in the inter-war years was the 1920/21 Lancashire Cup, Leigh being seen off 6-3 at Salford in front of 25,000 spectators,
In 1933, Broughton Rangers moved to the Belle Vue Stadium inside the speedway track. In 1941-2 they dropped out of the wartime Lancashire league and would not return to league competition until 1945-46.
Belle Vue Rangers
In 1945/46, Broughton rebranded themselves as Belle Vue Rangers and started reasonably well with a Lancashire Cup final appearances in 1946/47 which ended in 9-3 defeat by Wigan at Station Road, Swinton. They repeated this feat in 1947/48; losing again to Wigan 10-7 at Wilderspool, Warrington.
After the war, they finished mid-table or above but after finishing 12th in 1950/51, Rangers plummeted to the lower reaches of the league table and finished at 30th - second from bottom, in 1954/55. That proved to be their last season and the club folded.
New Broughton Rangers
New Broughton Rangers were formed with the assistance of Salford RLFC and competed in the Dolben Cup at the 2007 York International 9s. They won one game out of three and failed to make it out of their pool. A team called New Broughton Rangers joined the Rugby League Conference in 2008, finishing second in the North West division.
Honours
Rugby League Honours
- Championship: 1901-02 (once)
- Challenge Cup: 1901-02, 1910-11 (2 times)
- Lancashire Cup: 1906-07, 1920-21 (2 times)
- Lancashire League: 1896-97, 1898-99 (2 times)
- Challenge Cup (Runners Up): 1906-07, 1920-21 (2 times)
- Lancashire Cup (Runners Up): 1907-08 (once)
Players earning International Caps while at Broughton Rangers/Belle Vue Rangers
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Other Notable Players
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