Southern Comfort: How Wembley Became Rugby League’s Home From Home
Since 1929, it can be argued that both incarnations of Wembley Stadium have served as Rugby League‘s southern home from home. How did this become the case? How did it come to pass that a northern invasion would converge on London on an annual basis for the Challenge Cup final?
In the early years of the Challenge Cup, the final was played at a variety of venues across the Northern Union’s ‘heartlands’. Headingley played host to the inaugural final between Batley and St. Helens before Fallowfield in Manchester proved to be a happy hunting ground for clubs based in Greater Manchester as Oldham and Swinton prevailed in the 1899 and 1900 finals respectively. Other venues to host the final included Dewsbury ‘s Crown Flatt, The Willows in Salford, Yorkshire venues Fartown and Thrum Hall (home of Huddersfield and Halifax respectively) and Broughton Rangers’ home, The Cliff.
As attendances and interest in the final began to rise, chairman of the Rugby League Welsh commission John Leake tabled a motion in 1924 to move the Challenge Cup showpiece to London citing the larger venues in the capital as well as the possibility of procuring the interest of curious non Rugby League savvy Londoners which could swell the crowds. Despite plenty of contention, the motion was passed. Debate continued to rumble meaning it would be five years until the change occurred.
The Crystal Palace ground appeared to be the likely option for hosting the Challenge Cup final until Reverend Frank Chambers pitched the idea of playing at Wembley, which had opened in 1923. Having seen the fervour generated in Huddersfield when the town’s soccer team reached the FA Cup final in 1928, Chambers suggested Wembley to the RFL. This suggestion, coupled with the cheaper financial terms offered by Wembley went a long way to securing the ground for future finals. Fittingly, Chambers would be on hand to provide commentary of the first Wembley final for BBC radio
Saturday May 4th 1929 would be the day that Rugby League made it’s debut underneath the twin towers when big favourites Wigan took on Dewsbury in front of a crowd of over 41,000 spectators with some 20,000 making the pilgrimage from the north.
Legendary Wigan full-back Jim Sullivan holds the honour of scoring the first Rugby League points at Wembley before Syd Abram crossed for the stadium’s first try. Despite a spirited showing from Dewsbury in the second half, further scores for winger Lou Brown and Scottish Rugby Union convert Roy Kinnear were enough to ensure Wigan took the trophy back to Central Park via a 13-2 victory.
Jim Sullivan would return to Wembley just eight months after the Challenge Cup final as international Rugby League was played at the venue for the first time in January 1930 as Australia played Wales as part of the 1929-30 Kangaroo tour. Unlike in the Challenge Cup final, Sullivan was unable to inspire his side to victory on the day as two tries from Jack Upton helped the tourists to a 26-10 win.
The gate of 20,000 was as good as it got for the early days of international Rugby League at Wembley as attendances began to slide. After 10,000 people attended Wales’ rematch with Australia in 1933, an improved turnout of 15,000 watched France become the first Gallic team of any football code to win at the ground when they defeated England 12-5 on their way to winning the 1949 European Championship. Two respectively disappointing attendances of 13,946 and 9,874 for test matches between Great Britain and Australia in 1963 and 1973 saw Wembley take a hiatus from hosting international Rugby League that would last until 1990.
While international Rugby League floundered at Wembley, the stadium provided a backdrop for some of the domestic game’s most iconic momenrs perhaps none more so than the ‘Watersplash’ Challenge Cup final of 1968. After Ken Hirst of Wakefield used the wet conditions to his advantage to cross the whitewash in the last minute to reduce Trinity’s arrears to 11-10, it appeared for all the world that Don Fox would plant the conversion over and deliver the cup to Belle Vue for the fourth time in eight years. Unfortunately for Fox, he missed the kick and forever became known as a ‘poor lad’ thanks to Eddie Waring’s television commentary. Not even winning the Lance Todd Trophy could cheer up the disconsolate prop forward.
Many more of the game’s most memorable moments occurred beneath the twin towers as the years progressed. Alex Murphy led Leigh to a surprise 24-7 win over Leeds in 1971, Humberside emptied for the day in 1980 when Hull KR defeated their cross-city rivals 10-5 and all this came before Wembley Way resembled Billinge Higher End on an annual basis as Wigan swept all before them on their way to an unprecendented eight year Challenge Cup winning streak between 1988 and 1995.
Arguably the most memorable Challenge Cup final featuring Wigan came just before their period of dominance in 1985 when The Riversiders battled Hull in front of a Wembley record crowd of 99,801. Two of the finest antipodean imports to the British game took centre stage as Wigan’s Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling of The Airlie Birds locked horns in a captivating battle with Kenny coming up trumps as Wigan took home the trophy by virtue of a 28-24 win.
Large cup final crowds and renewed interest in the international game thanks to 1988’s thrilling 26-12 win in Sydney over Australia persuaded the RFL to take a gamble and stage the opening test of the 1990 Ashes series at Wembley, ending the international game’s 17-year exile from the stadium.
Thankfully for the British governing body, a crowd of 54,569 vindicated the decision to return Great Britain to Wembley especially when two tries from Paul Eastwood and a further score from Martin Offiah assisted the home side to a 19-12 win, Great Britain’s first home win over Australia since 1978.
Wembley hosted the first test of all the remaining series’ of the 1990s which saw the stadium become a happy hunting ground for Great Britain as they racked up wins over New Zealand and Australia in 1993 and 1994 respectively. The 8-4 win in 1994 in fondly remembered for Jonathan Davies’ memorable try in the corner after the home side had been reduced to 12 men after Shaun Edwards had been dismissed for a high tackle on Bradley Clyde.
Rugby League can also boast that there has been more RL World Cup finals played there than football. In 1992, a world record crowd for a test match attended as Australia edged out Great Britain 10-6 with Steve Renouf crossing for the only try. The Aussies took the cup back home with them three years later when they defeated England 16-8 although they were made to work for the honours especially after losing 20-16 to the hosts in the opening game.
As Rugby League in Britain embraced summer rugby, the original Wembley’s lifespan was coming to an end although this didn’t mean the memorable moments dried up. Wigan winger Martin Offiah scored one of the all-time great Rugby League tries with his length of the field effort against Leeds in the 1994 Challenge Cup final before his former club were on the receiving end of one of the competition’s greatest ever shocks when Sheffield upset the odds with a stunning 17-8 win.
The last Challenge Cup final played at the old Wembley saw one more historic milestone as London became the first southern team to qualify for such an event. Unfortunately for The Broncos, Leeds winger Leroy Rivett created his own piece of history as his four tries helped The Rhinos win the cup for the first time since 1978.
After seven years being shared between Murrayfield, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and even Twickenham, the home of Rugby Union, the Challenge Cup made an emotional return to Wembley in 2007 for another historic occasion when Catalans Dragons became the first French team to qualify for the final. On the day, St. Helens were too good for the Perpignan outfit and ran out comfortable 30-8 winners with hooker James Roby becoming the first player to score a try in the new stadium. Fortunately, The Dragons went one better in their next final appearance, beating Super League rivals Warrington 20-14 in 2018 to become the first winners of the trophy from across the channel. Full-back Tony Gigot became the first Frenchman to win the Lance Todd Trophy.
International Rugby League made it’s triumphant return to Wembley in 2011 when all the participants of that year’s Four Nations tournament descended on the capital. In the first match of the double-header, Wales (coached by former Wembley winner Iestyn Harris) were crushed 36-0 by New Zealand before England were beaten on their return to North London 36-20 by Australia.
Two years later, a dramatic World Cup semi-final was played out under the arch between England and New Zealand as a game that had everything went down to the wire. With England leading 18-14 as time ticked down, mercurial half-back Shaun Johnson danced through a desperate home defence to touch down before nailing the subsequent conversion to break English hearts.
In 2015 after an extensive consultation period, a statue was unveiled outside Wembley Stadium honouring the exploits of some of the game’s greatest players and cementing the legacy of the great moments that have taken place there down the years. The players honoured were Eric Ashton, Billy Boston, Alex Murphy, Martin Offiah and Gus Risman.
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