History of Pilkington Recs RLFC



The Rec's Rugby Football Club was officially founded in 1878 as part of the sports and recreational section of the renowned Pilkington Glass manufacturing company that was based in St Helens. The company sides played rugby union in the district and often changed sports to play association football. However an important meeting of the members took place at Pilkington Headquarters in Grove Street, St Helens on 14th June 1913, to discuss the future of the club. The Chairman Mr. Dickenson declared in his opening statement that the change from association football to Rugby football had been decided by more than 4000 votes. A decision was now required to determine whether the club would play rugby union or Northern Rugby Union Football. After considerable discussion it was unanimously agreed to join the constitution of the Northern Rugby Union Football (later to become the rugby football league). The Recs officially known as St Helens Recs were based at City Road and their first game was against Pemberton Rovers on 6th September 1913. The Recs line up was as follows:- 1. T. Hardman, 2. R. Glover (Capt), 3. J. Derbyshire, 4. E. Cartwright, 5. W. Gaskell, 6. J. Greenall, 7. G. Bowen, 8. P. Corns, 9. F. Lilley, 10. P. Downey, 11. J. Thomas, 12. J. Hull, 13. W. James. Subs P. Marr, A. Glover, M. Winstanley, T. McHale
The game kicked off at 3.00pm with Col. W.N. Pilkington ?starting the game by a ceremonious kick off. The Recs ran out deserved winners with a score 11-6 in their favour.

After the interruption of the First World War the Recs continued to play in The Northern Rugby Union and it meant that St Helens had two professional sides with Saints being the other professional club. In the 1921-22 season The Recs remained unbeaten in the season with an encounter with the Saints at Knowlsey Road on Christmas Day, Recs winning 5-0. They went on to complete a double over the Saints on New Years day with a 39-0 victory at City Road. Recs hosted Wigan in 1921 for a Northern Union Cup match with a capacity crowd and a victory to Recs of 9-6. It should be mentioned here that the City Road venue boasted a stand to accommodate spectators; the stand was demolished after the Second World War as it had become unsafe, but it was formerly on the side of the present City Road training field adjacent to the factory site.

The line up of the Recs team for 1923/24 season were: T. Smith, W. Mullvanney, A. Fildes, Ramsdale, J. Hughes, H. Grundy, J. McComas, J. Pyke, J. Greenall (Capt.), J. Owen, F. Halton, T. Gormley and T. Dingsdale.

During the 1920s and 1930s the Recs played at every level of competition, hosting visiting Australian touring sides, and gaining honours in the game. Many of the clubs players went on to sign for other clubs. Despite their considerable success in the sport the Recs played their last game before ?winding up? on 29th April 1939. The game was away at Hull KR and Recs lost 25-12. The club had been suffering for a while on falling attendances and with a depression in various parts of the Country it was not possible for the town to sustain 2 teams.

The closure of the club occurred in the same year that World War 2 started and this meant that no competitive rugby was played either professionally or in the amateur ranks in the UK during the period of the war.

The Second World War ended in 1945 and the rugby football league resumed rugby league matches for the 1945/46 season including amateur games. One of the teams that arose to prominence at this time was The Vine Tavern amateur side. Various other clubs started out in the Town and in 1949 a group of Pilkington Employees submitted an application to the Pilkington Recreation Club Committee at the Grove Street, headquarters, as to the prospects of forming a rugby section to play the 13 a side code on an amateur basis. The application also asked to use the City Road site as their base for the sport. The application was approved by the committee and so the spirit of rugby league was reborn at City Road with the team now playing under the name of Pilkington Recs. The link with the company and the Pilkington Family continuing. The first match for the Recs took place on 27th August 1949 and it was against Vine Tavern and played away at their ground which then was at the Brown Edge Ground Thatto Heath. The Recs line up was as follows: - 1. C. Seddon, 2. A. Walsh, W. Finnan, 4. W. Wizwell, 5. A. Ashcroft (Capt.) 6. P. Metcalf, 7. R. Honey, 8. J. Topping, 9. F. Hudson, 10. A. Grice, 11. J. Owen, 12. L. Corns, 13. A. Davies, Trainer V. Matthews.

The Recs inexperience showed on this occasion as they lost 32-3 in front of a 2000 strong crowd. However later in the same season The Recs turned the result around when they met up for the return match, winning 15-13 in front of a crowd estimated in the region of 4000!

Over the years the Recs established some tough sides and again showed that even for an amateur club they could play at the highest level. In 1961 they were pitched against Hull KR (their last opponents as a professional outfit) losing 25-12, and again in RFL Challenge Cup losing to a bigger margin of 57-8

In 1971/72 season a terrible accident occurred in a league match at City Road v UGB on 9th October 1971 when team captain Jack Pimblett suffered a serious injury which was to prove fatal. Later in the season, a charity match was played between Recs and a local amateur select 13 with Recs winning 11-6. The total amount raised for Jack's family was £5000 and was an indication of the popularity of Jack as a man and a player.

On 13th February 1977 the Recs drew a home fixture in the Challenge Cup against Wigan. The game was played at Knowsley Road as the City road venue would not accommodate the number of spectators. The game was played in front of 11,000 Spectators, and it proved to be an exciting game with Recs leading 4-3 with 5 minutes to go. Wigan managed to sneak ahead with a penalty to lead 5-3 until the dying minutes of the game when they scored an unconverted try to win 8-4 (tries counted as 3 points at that time). Many spectators on the day considered that the best team had lost!

Saints played against The Recs on 7th August 1977 in a pre-season charity match in front of a crowd of only 1,700 spectators. The game was evenly matched as Saints ran out eventual winners by 23-22 amongst the scorers for the Recs on this occasion were K. Cross, G. Gormley, B. Simmonds and P. Glover 2 goals and J. Hull 1 goal

Again in Round 1 of the Challenge Cup Recs travelled to play Castleford at Wheldon Road. At half time the Recs were leading by 22-13 and obviously giving the professional outfit a fright. The half time team talk for Castleford must have been inspiring as they came out and produced a performance that won them the game by the narrowest of margins with a score of 23-22.

The Recs continued their good standard of Rugby and in 1986 they were invited to become one of the founding teams in the BARLA National League (Conference League). However the travel costs associated with playing in the Conference league proved prohibitive and in 1992/3 season the Recs rejoined the North West Counties League where their first and second teams play at the present time. In 1995 the club started out to develop a youth and junior section which from small beginnings has grown to be the biggest amateur rugby club in the town with teams ranging from under 7s to under 18s with players achieving recognition locally and nationally, and many players progressing through into the senior teams at the club.

In 1999 the Recs celebrated 50 years as an amateur club and marked the occasion with a parade around the Knowsley Road Ground before the Saints ? v ? London Broncos game.

There have been many great players to have worn the famous red, amber and black, some of whom have been mentioned here and a lot more who have not been mentioned. I will look to producing a record of achievements and players for inclusion on the web page in the near future.

The Recs have an enviable history both as a former professional club and as an amateur club and are recognised throughout the rugby league circles. The present players and juniors have the abilities to have their own names recorded in the history of this great club and I would love to see the Recs take on a professional side once again. The future is in the hands of all our junior players who could go on to fulfil the ambitions of the club.

In writing this article for the web page I am pleased to acknowledge my references which come from the book 'The Glorious Recs' written and published in 1999. The author is Mr. Les Corns who is a former player of the Recs, indeed he played in the first game of Pilkington Recs against The Vine in 1949, his father Peter Corns playing in the first game for St Helens Recs in 1913 and who holds the privilege of being the first ever scorer for St Helens Recs. The book was compiled by Mr Corns to commemorate the 50 years of Pilkington Recs RLFC. Other contributors to the book by Mr Corns include the late George Morrison who was a stalwart recorder and historian of all things associated with The Recs.



Ralph E. Rawsthorne
Chairman 2005