Under 17 Rugby League In Dewsbury

A Memory of Dewsbury.

In the early sixties I played amateur Rugby League in the Dewsbury and Batley League - there were two levels U17 and U19. I played U17. Firstly for Ossett Trinity and then for Shaw Cross Rangers.
The teams comprising the U17 league were, Ossett Trinity, Shaw Cross Rangers, Shaw Cross Rovers, Thornhill Boys Club, Chickenley, Staincliffe, and Batley Supporters. Not many really and apart from cup games, many of our fixtures were friendlies against teams from other areas.
Thornhill and Shaw Cross Rovers were the strongest teams in our league. In the cup they played in one semi final, Thornhilll won, and we (Ossett) played Batley Supporters in the other semi final and we won.
The final should have been played on "Easter Tuesday" but many of the players had to work, so it was postponed until late May - it was played one evening at Mount Pleasant. Our team hadn't played since the end of the Dewsbury and Batley season, whereas Thornhill who also played in the Leeds League had been playing their backlog of fixtures (due to the winter freeze - it was 1963). Thornhill were a much better side than us - they'd beaten us 43 -0 in the League at Crown Flatt, in their home fixture at Overthorpe we did slightly better and only lost 23 -12. However, as we trotted across the Mount Pleasant Cricket field to the Rugby field that evening in May, whilst we weren't expecting to win, neither were we expecting the massacre that ensued. We lost 72 -2. I've got a medal somewhere from that game!

---

---