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History of Burnley Rugby Club
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The Early Days
There is a record of a rugby club in Burnley in 1880, the club named Burnley Rovers one of the earliest clubs in the country, later to become Burnley Football Club in 1882. The records show that the first match played by Burnley Rovers was against Skipton, which Burnley won by one goal, two tries and five touchdowns. (touchdowns are not taken into account in present day rugby).
The Beginning ·· Calder Vale
Calder Vale's first game was against a Blackburn XV on Saturday November 29th 1926 at Cockshot Farm, Simonstone. It was won 19 - 3. [5 tries and a drop goal worth 4 points]
The first game was the outcome of much planning. The main mover in this was Dr. J. A. Mackenzie, a well known local doctor, who acted as chairman and was President of the Club to 1954. The first General Meeting was held at the Starkie Arms, Padiham when it was decided that the Club colours were blue and gold hoops with navy blue shorts and hooped socks.
1927 - 1939 ·· Before the War
- For the 1927 - 28 season matches were played on the Rossendale Road ground in Burnley. Games also started this season against the newly formed Colne and Nelson Club.
- The 1928 - 29 season saw a move to Fenny Fold playing fields where the Club was based until 1951.
- At the 1929 Annual Player's Dinner a film was shown of the matches against Skipton and Thornton Cleveleys. M.P. Sir William Brass attended the match against Skipton.
- The first Annual Ball was held in the same year at the Empress Ball Room at a cost of half-a-crown (twelve and a half pence now!) with 970 people attending.
- There was a record season for the first team in 1930 - 31, that was to stand until 1965, winning 22 out of 27 matches.
- A glimpse of the 'Great Depression' of the 1930s can be seen in the reduction of the groundsman's wage from eight shillings (40p) to six shillings (30p) per match.
- The first Club tour took place at Easter 1932 in conjunction with Bury and matches were played against York, Scarborough and Bridlington.
- The last match before the Second World War was against Manchester YMCA and was lost 3 - 6.
1945 - 1960 ·· Post-War Development
- On December 14th 1945 a meeting was held at the Thorne Hotel in central Burnley and it was decided to restart the Club the following season.
- The first match was a return fixture against Manchester YMCA but this time it was a victory for Calder Vale 21 - 0.
- In 1951 there was a move to the Praire Playing Fields on Colne Road. Until changing facilities were available the players used the Reedley Hallows pub.
- For a few years from 1953 the Club struggled and in 1957 an emergency meeting was held to discuss disbanding or joining Colne and Nelson RUFC. The President, T. T. Redmond spoke strongly to keep going and, "to pull together and keep the Club going at all costs".
- By the 1959 - 60 season the Club was recovering. Two teams had been turned out over the past two years. This season saw regular third team fixtures with the occasional fourth team game.
- By the end of the 1950s talks were well under way with Burnley Belvedere Cricket and Football Clubs, led by T. T. Redmond who had links with all three Clubs, into setting up a joint Club.
1960 - 1985 ·· At Holden Road
- On September 29th 1960 the first try was scored at the newly formed joint Club of Belvedere and Calder Vale Sports Club on Holden Road which is still our home.
- The mid-sixties saw the Club playing strength improve a lot with the first team winningover 20 games a season.
- Touring revived at this time with trips to the Isle of Man, Ballina in Ireland, the West Country of England, Wales and Scotland. One of the more notable ones was to Vitry-sur-Seine (Burnley's twin town) along with Belvedere's football team.
- The early 1970s saw the start of junior rugby and this paid off in 1974 with the setting up of a full Colts team playing on Saturdays. From this the junior section of today has grown.
- The 1972 - 73 season saw the election of Bill West a President, a post he held until his death in 1993. He was a distinguished servant of the Club who had first played in 1928, was captain in 1935 - 36 and chairman in the 1960s. He also instituted the President's Tie (a rather striking blue and gold number) to reward members giving outstanding service to the Club.
- 1972 saw the visit of the Polish team Lechia of Gdansk which was reported in the Sunday Times by the well known author Michael Green under the referee's headline, "Footsky Upsky". The final score was Calder Vale 12 Lechia 16.
- The highlights of the 50th anniversary season of 1976 - 77 were matches against a Caribbean XV and the Anti-Assassins. There was a Jubilee banquet at the Kierby Hotel with the RFU President R. E. G. (Dickie) Jeeps of England and the British and Irish Lions guest of honour.
- For the next ten or so years the Club continued to thrive with four teams turning out regularly. The junior section continued to develop with minis, juniors and colts training and playing on Sundays.
- January 21st 1978 saw our first international achievement when committee member Peter Hughes refereed the Ireland - Scotland match in Dublin. Peter has represented Lancashire on the main RFU Committee and has been President of Lancashire RFU and the Manchester and District Referees Society. In 2008 Peter one of 20 given an award by the Torch Trophy Trust for services to rugby on the recommendation of the RFU.
1985 - 2002 ·· League Rugby
- In 1985 the first experimental league structure -the Girobank League- was set up in the North West of England and Calder Vale was involved.
- The first league match was against Vickers Sports Club in Barrow on September 14th in a North Lancs/Cumbria league.
- Since then leagues have become the norm and we have been in various leagues and through a number of reorganizations based on the North Western geographical area. Some of these have been East North One and Two, North West Three, North Lancs One and Two.
- In the late Eighties the Colts continued to develop and won the Lancashire Colts Plate Cup at Vale of Lune against Wigan 6 - 0.
- Over the next ten years the junior section consistently produced Lancashire County players. It also built up a close relationship with Vitry-sur-Seine with tours being exchanged in both directions.
- Facilities were improving with the main pitch being redrained and flood lights being installed in 1995. The latter were baptized with a match against a Lancashire select team on November 9th.
- Tours, always a feature of Club life, continued unabated but became more international in scope with visits to Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Holland. Perhaps the highlight of them all was a tour to the U.S.A. in 1991.
- The 1991 - 92 season was a momentous one with promotion in the league and the first team broke the Club record with 25 victories. It also won the first ever senior trophy defeating Eagle of Warrington 10 - 6 in the Lancashire Plate.
- In the 2001 - 02 season the Club celebrated the 75th anniversary. Matches were played against a Lancashire President's XV and the Anti-Assassins. A 75th Celebration Dinner was held at the Clubhouse with the RFU President Roy Manock and John Spencer of England, the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians as honoured guests.
- One notable match this season was the third team, wearing shirts numbered 75, playing against an Invitation XV made up of players from Colne and Nelson, Rossendale and Bury.
2002 - onwards ·· Burnley R.U.F.C
- The 2002 - 03 season saw the name of 75 years changed to Burnley to help raise Burnley's rugby profile locally and beyond.
- Burnley were Team of the Month for the October 2002 Rugby World magazine after a series of victories over Heaton Moor, Lytham and Carnforth.
- Tours continued with a visit to Warsaw, Poland and Tallin, Estonia at the end of the 2003 season.
- In 2006 a memorable tour took place to China with matches played in Hong Kong and Ghanzou. Included in this trip was an extra event in the shape of a typhoon!
- The outstanding match, for the first team in 2008, was victory in the league play-off against Netherall 20 - 0 and promotion was won to the North Lancs/Cumbria league.
- The start of the 2008 - 09 season saw the award of the RFU's Seal of Approval to the Club which was presented at a pre-match lunch by Burnley's M.P. Kitty Ussher.
- In 2009 the Second Team won the Halbro Trophy Final against Ashton on Mersey at Birkenhead Park in the Miller Leagues Cup Finals.
The Club continues to develop and will surely stick by its motto, "Nil Nisi Optimum Sufficiet", which the true Burnleyite would translate as: "Nowt But Best Will Do"
Author: Tony Finnan
RFU.com 
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