Pilkington Recs
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| Full name | Pilkington Recs A.R.L.F.C |
| Emblem | Pilkington Shield |
| Colours | Red, amber and black |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Sport | Rugby League |
| League | North West Counties |
| Ground | Windle City Road |
| Official Website | http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/pilkingtonrecsarlfc/ |
The Recs Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby league team based in St Helens, Merseyside. It was previously known as the St Helens Recreation Club or St Helens Recs, and should not be confused with the St Helens RLFC.
History
The club was founded in 1878 as part of the sports and recreational provision of Pilkington Glass. The side played rugby, and sometimes association football. However, on 14 June 1913, to settle the future of the club, it was announced that it was to abandon association football to concentrate on rugby football. After considerable discussion, it was unanimously agreed to join the constitution of the Northern Rugby Football Union (later the Rugby Football League). The Recs, still officially known as the St Helens Recs, were based at City Road and played their first game on 6 September 1913.
To bolster the ranks of the war time league, St Helens Recreation along with Brighouse Rangers and Featherstone Rovers were promoted from district leagues to join the senior clubs for the duration of the conflict. St Helens now had two professional rugby clubs, with the St Helens RLFC being the other professional club. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Recs played at every level of competition, hosting visiting Australian touring sides and gaining honours in the game, including; winning the Lancashire league in the 1926–27 season, winning the 1923 (17-0 victory over Swinton), and 1930 Lancashire Cups (18-3 victory over Wigan), and being runners-up in the 1924 (0-10 defeat by Oldham), 1926 (2-10 defeat by St. Helens), and 1933 Lancashire Cups (0-12 defeat by Oldham). Despite their success on the pitch, they played their last game on 29 April 1939. The game was away at Hull Kingston Rovers, and Recs lost 25-12. The club had been suffering for a while on falling attendances and the economic depression, it was not possible for the town to sustain two teams.
In 1945, following the Second World War, rugby league matches resumed, including amateur games. In 1949 a group of Pilkington employees submitted an application to the Pilkington Recreation Club Committee at Grove Street to form an amateur rugby league team. Their first match was on 27 August 1949 against a local amateur side, Vine Tavern, and was played away. The Recs lost 32-3 in front of a 2,000 strong crowd. However, later in the season the Recs won a return match by 15-13 in front of an estimated 4,000 crowd.
On 13 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 could not accommodate the number of spectators expected.
Club house fire
On 10 June 2011, it was reported that the team's clubhouse on City Road was on fire. Club officials, who had been alerted to the blaze, scrambled to save kit and equipment from the changing rooms before the fire tore through the building.[1]
They were among nine clubs invited to join the National Conference League for the 2013 season.
Players earning international caps while at St. Helens Recs
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Other notable players
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References
- ↑ "Pilks Recs vow to rise from the ashes of club blaze". St Helens Star. 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
External links
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