Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St. Helens RUFC. The institution is not to be confused with either Liverpool F.C. (playing association football) or St. Helens (playing rugby league).

History

The club's first match took place in 1857 when old boys from Rugby school challenged local boys to a game under their school rules. Liverpool Football Club were then formed, the oldest open rugby club in the world. In 1871, the club provided four of the England team that played Scotland in the first rugby international. On 5 February 1877 another Liverpool player,

Edward Kewley Edward Kewley (20 June 1852 – 17 April 1940) was an English sportsman who played rugby union for England and also played first-class cricket for Lancashire. He captained England three times, and was the first captain to be drawn from the nor ...

, was captain of England when they played Ireland in what was the first 15-a-side international. In 1914 the club had three international captains in the first XV,

Ronnie Poulton-Palmer Ronald 'Ronnie' William Poulton (later sometimes Poulton-Palmer) (12 September 1889 – 5 May 1915) was an English rugby union footballer, who captained . He was killed in the First World War during the Second Battle of Ypres. Born in nort ...

(England), F.H. Turner (Scotland) and R.A. Lloyd (Ireland). Other internationals to play for Liverpool include Fran Cotton,

Maurice Colclough Maurice John Colclough (2 September 1953 – 27 January 2006) was an international rugby union player. He was selected for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa and the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, playing in all four inte ...

, Mike Slemen and Kevin Simms. St Helens RUFC was founded in 1919 as St Helens Old Boys, the original membership being predominantly made up of former pupils of Cowley School. Internationals who played for the club include Alan 'Ned' Ashcroft, John Horton, Nigel Heslop and the current club President Ray French. Liverpool and St Helens merged in 1986 and played at Moss Lane which had been the St Helens club's ground. In the early years of the merger the club had two seasons in National Division One split by one season in Division Two. During this time internationals Dewi Morris and Simon Mason played for Liverpool St Helens. But afterwards it sank to Division Four and spent virtually the whole of the 1990s coming to terms with the professional era.

Club Honours

* Lancashire Cup winners (5): 1977, 1979, 1984, 1990, 1996 * North Division 2 West champions: 2006-07

Former Internationals from Liverpool St Helens F.C.

''Source for below: *

John Clayton John Clayton may refer to: Arts and entertainment Writing * John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer * John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer * John Clayton (sportswriter) (1954–2022), American sportswriter ...

1871 * Arthur Lyon 1871 * Frank Tobin 1871 *

1874 * Hon. Sidney Parker 1874 * J. R. Hay Gordon 1875 * C. W. H. Clark 1876 * C. L. Verelst 1876 *

Charles Touzel Charles John Cliff Touzel (1855 – 24 August 1899) was an English priest who became the rector of Heswall in Cheshire. In his younger days he was a rugby union player of note, representing Cambridge University and winning two international c ...

1877 *

Henry Springmann Henry Springmann (1859–1936) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1879 to 1887. Early life Henry Springmann was born on 1859 in Liverpool.Marshall, Francis, ''Football; the Rugby union game'', p404-405, (1892) (London ...

1879 * Harold Dingwall Bateson 1879 *

Arthur Kemble Arthur Twiss Kemble (3 February 1862 – 13 March 1925) was an English sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket with Lancashire. Kemble, a wicket-keeper, made his first-class debut in 1885 but had to wa ...

1885 *G. G. Allen 1897 * W. B. Stoddart 1897 * R. Pierce 1898 * W. Mortimer 1899 * C. E. Allen 1900 * John Strand-Jones 1902 *

Reginald Spooner Reginald Herbert Spooner (21 October 1880 – 2 October 1961) was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. He also played Rugby Union for England. Biography The son of the Rev. G. H. Spooner, of Woolton, Spooner was educated ...

1903 *H. J. Knox 1904 * L. A. N. Slocock 1907 * G. Leather 1907 * G. Pinion 1909 * M. G. Garry 1909 * Ronald Poulton-Palmer 1909 * A. W. Angus 1910 * R. A. Lloyd 1910 * Edward O'Donovan Crean, 1910 Crean was part of the first official British and Irish Lions team that toured South Africa in 1910 although he never represented his country. * F. H. Turner 1911 * A. F. Blakiston 1920 * E. J. Massey 1925 * W. Thomas 1927 * H. A. Fry 1933 * A. A. Brown 1938 * M. Regan 1953 * R. Higgins 1954 * A. Ashcroft 1956 * K. R. F. Bearne 1960 * R. J. French 1961 * T. J. Brophy 1964 * E. L. Rudd 1965 * F. E. Cotton 1971 * M. C. Beese 1972 * D. Roughley 1973 * M. A. C. Slemen 1976 * J. P. Horton 1978 * M. J. Colclough 1982 *C. Jones 1983 * K. G. Simms 1985 * C. D. Morris 1988 * N. J. Heslop 1990 * S. G. Mason 1996 * N. Tchakoute 2001 * J. Keulemans 2001 * B. Botha 2006 LSHFC-gates

References

External links

Official site
{{Coord, 53, 28, 15.02, N, 2, 46, 44.23, W, scale:3125_region:GB, display=title Premiership Rugby teams Rugby clubs established in 1857 Sport in St Helens, Merseyside English rugby union teams 1857 establishments in England