The Four Pointer: Forgotten Battlefields

Hello and welcome back to The BIG League, your home of 1990s Rugby League nostalgia. 

As time progressed over the decade, many clubs found themselves moving to new homes as their traditional grounds became tired and outdated. What became of some of our favourite cathedrals of the game that closed their doors for the final time during the 90s? What about the historic events that took place at some grounds during their busiest periods? Read on and find out. 

Huddersfield: Fartown (1878-1992) 

You're probably aware that in August 1895 that representatives of 22 clubs from the north of England convened at  the George Hotel in Huddersfield to form the Northern Union, so it's kind of fitting that Fartown should feature in this article.

The ground played host to Huddersfield for just short of 120 years between 1878 and 1992 with the club taking on Manchester Rangers in the inaugural match played at the venue. During it's time in use, Huddersfield won the Championship seven times and the Challenge Cup on six occasions with the much-revered 'team of all talents' winning all four trophies available to them during the 1914-15 season.

Originally a cricket ground, Fartown hosted the Challenge Cup final in both 1908 and 1910 as well as test matches against Australia and New Zealand. The ground also hosted sports as diverse as baseball and lacrosse whilst a new-fangled organisation called The Football Association staged a semi-final of the FA Cup at Fartown between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers in 1882.

By the time of Huddersfield's short lived re-branding as 'Huddersfield Barracudas' and the ground adopting the 'Arena 84' moniker, Fartown had fallen into a state of disrepair and the club eventually left the ground in 1992 with the final game coming in the shape of a 36-12 victory over York in the Yorkshire Cup.

The Rugby League club moved into Leeds Road in a groundshare with Huddersfield Town FC before joining the footballers in the brand new McAlpine Stadium (now John Smiths Stadium) in 1994. Fartown remained connected to the club as a training base but is now only used occasionally to host amateur games but the old ground's name lives on in the cries of Giants fans of a certain age on match days.

Huddersfield Giants have shared The Kirklees Stadium (known as The John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship purposes) with Huddersfield Town FC since 1994. 

Oldham: Watersheddings (1889-1996)

Here's a fun fact for you to wow your friends with. While it was a functioning Rugby League ground, Oldham's Watersheddings home was the sport's highest above sea level.

For just under 110 years, Watersheddings played host to many names who have gone down in Oldham folklore including members of the club's Hall of Fame such as Fred Ashworth, Alex Givvons and 'The Maestro' Bernard Ganley as well as modern legends in the latter years of the 20th century such as Barrie McDermott, Tommy Martyn and Chris Joynt.

Greater Manchester rivals Swinton were the first visitors to Watersheddings on September 28th 1889 and the ground was scheduled to host the first ever international Rugby League match on New Years Day 1904. The match between England and the Other Nationalities was postponed owing to a frozen pitch and later played at Wigan's Central Park.

During their time at the ground, Oldham won four Championships and three Challenge Cups along with a host of Lancashire League and Cup triumphs. By the 1990s, the Oldham club were struggling financially and eventually the land on which Watersheddings sat was sold in 1994 with Oldham Athletic FC's Boundary Park becoming the club's new home at the end of the 1996 season. The final game at Watersheddings took place on August 25th 1996 when Scott Ranson's hat-trick helped Andy Goodway's side to a 34-25 win over Sheffield.

Nowadays, Oldham play their home games at Bower Fold (home of Stalybridge Celtic FC) while the land on which Watersheddings used to sit is now a housing estate although many of the residential areas are named after legendary former players.

Oldham now play their home games at Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold. 

Halifax: Thrum Hall (1886-1998) 

One of the more intimidating venues for visiting players, Thrum Hall was Halifax's home for just over 110 years.

After they had won the Yorkshire Cup in 1878, the Halifax club paid £3,000 for the patch of land adjacent to their Hanson Lane home with a view to developing a multi sport venue capable of hosting rugby, cricket and bowls. 'Fax' moved into their new ground when it was officially opened in 1886 with the only try of Ernest Williamson's Halifax career helped his side to a victory over Hull.

Thrum Hall went on to host the Challenge Cup final in 1914 as well as the deciding play-off matches for the Championship in 1912, 1929 and 1930. During their time at the ground, Halifax won four Championships (most recently in 1986) and five Challenge Cups with their 1987 triumph over St. Helens being the club's most recent major honour.

Following the Taylor Report, the capacity of Thrum Hall diminished from it's 1959 record attendance of 29,153 to just under 10,000 and in 1998 the club sold the land to supermarket chain Asda and moved across town to share The Shay with Halifax Town FC (now known as FC Halifax Town) which remains their home to this day. The final game to be played at Thrum Hall took place on February 15th 1998 when John Pendlebury's side defeated West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield 28-8 in a Challenge Cup tie.

Halifax RLFC have shared The Shay with both incarnations of the town's soccer clubs since 1998. 

Wigan: Central Park (1902-1999) 

As one of Rugby League's perennial superpowers, Wigan's famous old Central Park ground became known as the spiritual home of the game for just short of 97 years.

After spending the early years of their existence playing at grounds such as Folly Field and Prescott Street as well as sharing Springfield Park with Wigan United FC (a precursor to Wigan Athletic), the Rugby League club moved into Central Park in 1902, playing their first game at the new ground on September 6th which they won 14-8 over Batley.

Given Wigan's standing in the game of Rugby League, Central Park played host to many of the game's greats over the years including star imports such as Brett Kenny, John Ferguson, Inga Tuigimala as well as Shaun Edwards, Martin Offiah and Ellery Hanley. Arguably Central Park's greatest ever night came in 1987 when Wigan defeated Australian giants Manly 8-2 in an unofficial World Club Challenge match.

In 1997, Wigan's shareholders approved a deal to sell the ground to Dave Whelan who intended to redevelop the stadium into a venue fit to host both Rugby League and Wigan Athletic FC. This deal was eventually kiboshed and the land was sold to Tesco who built a supermarket upon it.

Wigan eventually left Central Park in 1999 with the final game coming 96 years and 364 days after the ground hosted it's first match. Wigan gave the old ground a winning send-off, defeating arch rivals St. Helens 28-20 on September 8th, although Saints legend Tommy Martyn has the distinction of scoring the final try at the ground.

As previously mentioned, a Tesco supermarket sits upon the old Central Park land and Wigan now play their home games at the DW Stadium.

The DW Stadium (originally JJB Stadium) regularly hosted Super League rugby and Premier League football until Wigan Athletic's relegation from soccer's top flight in 2013. 

That brings our look back at some of Rugby League's former battlegrounds to an end. I hope we've brought back some special memories of attending matches at the famous grounds. If you have any particular recollections then why not get in touch on Twitter and share them. Our editor Dan can be found @BarkerGray2. 

We'll be back at the weekend with our chat with former Sheffield and England winger Nick Pinkney. 

Until then, take care.