11 places you’ll never believe had professional rugby league clubs including Plymouth, Morecambe and Barry!

Any rugby league supporter worth their salt would be able to recall countless efforts from the sport to spread its wings: many of which have failed in the game’s lengthy existence.

Ever since the foundation of league in 1895, the authorities have tried to set up teams in new catchment areas all across the United Kingdom: a trend which has continued right through to the present day.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of those attempts have fallen short – which means there’s a whole host of places that have had teams enter the professional ranks in years gone by.

Some of them will definitely take you by surprise, too! Here’s a look at 11 of those: from the heartlands right down to the very south coast and beyond..

Sowerby Bridge

One for the West Yorkshire aficionados to kick us off. Sowerby Bridge is nestled on the outskirts of Halifax and is only home to around 10,000 people: but it did have an elite, top division rugby league club back in its day.

It was a short-lived existence in league, though: just a solitary season among the professional ranks. That was in 1901-02, when they won just 7 of their 26 games. They did not apply to be in a newly-formed Second Division at the end of that season and folded shortly after.

Plymouth

We do have a team right in the very southern part of England in the modern day with Cornwall – but over 100 years earlier, there was an attempt to crack Devon with Plymouth RFC joining the Northern Union.

They joined the league ranks in 1912 after Huddersfield and Oldham played an exhibition game in Plymouth in front of 7,000 people. However, they soon disappeared.

Morecambe

Like so many teams on this list, Morecambe were tempted over to the Northern Union having enjoyed success in rugby union. They joined the league ranks in 1896-97, the sport’s second season, and spent eight years in the professional game.

But.. they weren’t very good. In their first three years they finished last of the Lancashire Senior Competition and only once did they finish outside of the bottom two of any league they played in. They left league in 1906.

Barry

Oh! What’s occurring? Yes, the Welsh town of Barry did have a professional rugby league team – even if it was only for a solitary season in the early-1900s. They finished 29th out of 31 clubs, but were expelled by the Northern Union at the end of the 1908-09 season. They dissolved soon after.

Kent

Perhaps one a few may know: Kent have had a couple of cracks at rugby league. A defunct amateur club, Kent Ravens, were formed at the start of this century but in the 1980s, we had Kent Invicta.

They were formed in 1983 and accepted into the Rugby Football League’s Second Division – signing the likes of Ian Van Bellen along the way. However, they quickly encountered financial difficulties and after attempts to play at both Maidstone and Southend, they were struck from the RFL in 1986.

Scarborough

Older readers will certainly know and remember trips to the seaside to watch their team play Scarborough: even if it was just for one season in the 1990s.

Scarborough FC chairman Geoffrey Richmond – who would later go on to purchase Bradford City and guide them to the Premier League – founded the club in 1991 and they were accepted into the RFL’s Third Division. They did well enough, winning 10 of their 24 games.

But crowds were poor, rarely getting over 1,000: and Richmond disbanded the club after one year.

Heckmondwike

Heckmondwike is in prime rugby league country, nestled in between the likes of Batley, Dewsbury and Huddersfield in Kirklees: so it’ll be no surprise to learn they had a professional team.

They joined the Northern Union in 1896 but struggled in the four seasons they were in the Yorkshire Senior Competition, and at the turn of the 20th century, they left league and converted to football.

Stockport

Stockport were one of rugby league’s founder members in 1895 – but there’s not really been much of a presence there ever since they disbanded in 1903.

Leeds (Parish Church)

Leeds has obviously had some real history when it comes to rugby league; after all, there’s still two professional clubs playing out of the city to this day. But one of the early successes in the area was a team that switched to league shortly after the great split of 1895.

Based out of, you guessed it, a church, Leeds Parish Church were Yorkshire’s rugby union champions in 1896 but switched to the Northern Union shortly after. They were in the Yorkshire Senior Competition for five seasons and in four of them, finished above the club we know today as Leeds Rhinos!

Birkenhead

Not a great deal is known about Birkenhead’s foray into rugby league, other than it lasted just a handful of seasons at the start of the 1900s.

Treherbert

The Welsh village in the heart of Rhondda has a population of barely 5,000 people in the modern day: but it too had a rugby league team at the start of the sport’s existence.

They were one of Wales’ first league clubs, being formed in 1908 – but by 1910, they were named as defaulters by the Northern Union having failed to fulfil their fixtures. They were replaced by Coventry that year and never played a rugby league match again.