The George Hotel in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence i ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England, is a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

listed building famous as the birthplace of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

football in 1895. The 60 bed hotel was built in 1851 and closed in January 2013, with the receivers looking for a new buyer. The three-star rated George Hotel, which has an Italianate façade, was designed by William Walker. The Victorian era hotel was built around 1851.

Birth of Rugby League

It was in the George Hotel, Huddersfield on 29 August 1895 that 21 Lancashire and Yorkshire clubs held a meeting and by a majority of 20 to 1 voted to secede from the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

to set up their own

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

. In 1922 this became the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisat ...

. Stockport was also accepted into the league via telephone to the hotel. Memorabilia recalling the meeting can be found throughout the hotel as well as in the Heritage Centre.

British Amateur Rugby League Association

The

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

(BARLA) was also founded at the George Hotel in 1973.

Rugby League Heritage Centre

The Rugby League Heritage Centre was located in the basement of the George. It was the UK’s only rugby league heritage museum. It was the brainchild of sports presenter Mike Stephenson. The Rugby League Heritage centre was opened on 30 August 2005 by former players

Billy Boston William John Boston, MBE (born 6 August 1934) is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or . Born in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. He spent the nex ...

, Neil Fox and Mick Sullivan. Within the centre were displays of memorabilia, including rare jerseys, medals, caps, programmes and photographs. There was also footage played on several plasma screens. The British Rugby League Hall of Fame is now located in the Heritage Centre.

National Rugby League Museum

On 24 June 2020 Rugby League Cares announced a partnership with

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council is the local authority providing most local government services for the borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council and one of five constituent councils of the West Yorkshire Combined ...

to establish a National Rugby League Museum in the George Hotel.

Filmography

In 2019, The George Hotel was 'set alight' by film crew for the new sky programme '' Cobra'', a six part series aired on Sky One in 2020.

References

External links

{{commonscat
Official George Hotel site

Official Rugby League Heritage Centre site

360° view of the Founders' Room, George Hotel, Huddersfield
Rugby league in England Rugby league museums and halls of fame Sport in Huddersfield Buildings and structures in Huddersfield Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Grade II listed hotels Tourist attractions in Huddersfield Sports museums in England History of rugby league Hotels in West Yorkshire Rugby football culture Defunct museums in England 2005 establishments in England Museums established in 2005