Two weeks after our successful
visit to London
we welcome Harlequins to The Halliwell Jones Stadium for the final home match
of the 2009 season.It is 29 years since
Harlequins started life in the rugby league world when as Fulham they opened
with a 24-5 win over Wigan at Craven
Cottage.The club changed names to
London Crusaders and London Broncos before becoming Harlequins RL in 2006.As London Broncos they were founder members
of the Super League in 1996.
Warrington have played
Harlequins/Broncos 29 times since the inception of Super League, winning 14 and
losing 15.Of the 16 away matches one
was played in Newport
and another in Carcasonne.The London based side have regularly moved around the Capital
and have played Warrington at The Stoop in
Twickenham, The Valley in Charlton and GriffinPark
in Brentford.
The first rugby league match played in London was a Test Match between Great
Britain and the New Zealand “All Golds” in February
1908.The match was played at StamfordBridge
the home of Chelsea.Warrington’s George
Thomas was in the second row for the Great Britain side defeated
18-6.In December 2008 Great Britain
drew the first Test match against the first touring Australians at Loftus Road
22-22.Ernie Brooks and George Dickenson
were Warrington’s Great Britain representatives.Stand-off Brookes scored a try and kicked two
goals.
The 1929 Challenge Cup Final moved to Wembley, when
Wigan and Dewsbury contested the first final in London.International rugby returned to London in
1930 when Wales lost to Australia 26-10
at Wembley.Dai Davies and Jesse
Meredith played for the Welsh team.In
the 1930s there was a move to establish rugby league in London, with the start-up of three
short-lived clubs.
For the 1933/34 season Wigan Highfield moved to London and became London
Highfield, playing at the White City Stadium.Their stay in London
was one brief season, before re-locating back up north as Liverpool
Stanley.Warrington played London Highfield twice in 4
days in December 1933.A Wednesday visit
to London was
won 15-3 and the return at Wilderspool 8-5.
Following London Highfield’s brief existence, a
wealthy businessman, Sidney Parkes set up two new clubs at new stadiums for the
1935/36 season.Acton and Willesden played
at the new Royal Park Stadium.In an
effort to provide an experienced team the club made the mistake of paying high
fees for reserve standard players.Whilst they started well and were league leaders for a spell, with
attendances peaking at over 17,000, a rapid decline followed and the side
finished 21st in their only season.Warrington never played Acton.
Parkes’ other team Streatham and Mitcham played at
the new Mitcham Stadium.They were run
on the same lines as Acton
and had the same problems.Their first
home match drew a crowd of 20,000 and they maintained a five figure average
despite finishing 24th.The
second season saw Streatham sell several players and by February they withdrew
from the league.At that stage they had
won 14 of their 26 matches, their remaining 12 were awarded to their
opponents.Warrington had league fixtures in both
seasons against Streatham.In 1935/36 Warrington won 17-7 in London and 20-12 at Wilderspool.The following season Warrington won 8-5 away from home and were
awarded the points for the non played home match.
In 1955 Independent Television organised a rugby league tournament in London,
with matches played mid-week under floodlights at London football grounds and shown on
television.Warrington played twice, beating Wakefield
Trinity 33-9 to qualify for the final against Leigh, which was won 43-18.Both matches were played at Loftus Road, the
home of Queen’s Park Rangers.
Warrington lost on their first
league visit to Craven Cottage 28-9 in 1981.Warrington
met Fulham in three further league matches winning them all.They also played twice in the John Player
Trophy in 1981 and 1985, winning on both occasions.Fulham were also beaten in the semi-final of
the Lancashire Cup in 1982 at Wigan.Warrington
played London Broncos twice in the 1995/6 season winning both league matches.
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