Probably because Burnley is too small to support more than one top-flight sporting enterprise. But if Rochdale can have one, why not?

Football town.

Because it’s a shoite sport.

Obviously not enough rugby fans keen enough to start a RLC up over the years.

We view funny shaped balls with suspicion.

The last rugby club become a football club.

It did have and they were in existence from 1881-82 and the were called Burnley Rovers. You can guess what's coming next. in 1882 they changed sport and became Burnley F.C. They played in red tops apparently.

I think it was Rugby league anyway. It's more likely than Rugby Union.

ontario claret wrote:But if Rochdale can have one, why not?

You do mean AFC Rochdale that footballing 'superpower' ?

By the time rugby league came into being there were three Football League clubs in the East Lancs area so maybe that’s why. RL seemed to be more concentrated in West Lancs & Yorkshire.

How many towns have both a relatively successful football club & a relatively successful rugby club ?

You do the research Ontario

Well it has a Rugby Union club. Was Burnley Rovers Union or League ? Did we drop Rovers at the same time or did we play football under the Rovers name ?

Blackrod wrote:Well it has a Rugby Union club. Was Burnley Rovers Union or League ? Did we drop Rovers at the same time or did we play football under the Rovers name ?

Without swotting up I think we used the Rovers name for the first year...I could be wrong though

We were Union

To be fair its quite a regionalised sport - most teams are concentrated into a couple of areas. Yorkshire and around the Liverpool / Manchester border (Wigan, St Helens, Warrington, Widnes & Leigh)

I remember when Fulham started a team - it was very much like a franchise. First team I can remember who were not Northern. But actually the players were all from up North anyway. One of my old customers played for them - he was a big up and coming star for Rochdale. He was absolutely massive !!
He got what at the time was a pretty lucrative contract to play for Fulham and then broke his leg really badly and his career was cut short.

As for the original question - most places in the UK do not have a rugby league team. Its a very niche sport.

St. Helens, and Wigan are both in Lancashire and have been very successful. I think it's an extremely stupid sport, too, but in a place like Castleford, if you play RL, you're a god. It seems very hit and miss.

Fulham was London Broncos. They're 2nd in the 2nd tier (behind, ahem, the Toronto Wolfpack). Here, it's just a passing fancy, and just one very rich guy's play thing, with almost no grass roots. Some of the guys on my rugby union club play it, but I don't know why.

ontario claret wrote:St. Helens, and Wigan

Aye Wigan I suppose but they did need major investment to bring success...

Pstotto wrote:It did have and they were in existence from 1881-82 and the were called Burnley Rovers. You can guess what's coming next. in 1882 they changed sport and became Burnley F.C. They played in red tops apparently.

I think it was Rugby league anyway. It's more likely than Rugby Union.

In 1882 there was only one code of rugby. Rugby League didn't even exist until 1895 when they broke away from the Rugby Football Union.

Burnley Rovers kit was Blue with a large White maltese cross ... Rugby League in the guise of The Northern Rugby Football Union wasn't founded until 1895 and didn't adopt new rules for a couple of years after so no distinction between Union/League other than the money , by which time of course as we well know Burnley Rovers had decided to play to association rules .. dropped the Rovers etc etc and all the rest is history

The did however play association football well BEFORE 1882 prior to that they would play Rugby or Association rules as they saw fit

14... 'I think it's an extremely stupid sport,'

- perhaps you could explain why you say that? Is it more stupid than most other sports..?


Burnley Blackburn Bolton Accrington Preston [Everton] plus the 6 Midlands clubs - All founder members..

Did that have anything to do with it..? ie. getting football established maybe meant they had enough on their plate...none of them have much of a rugby league connection to my knowledge.

It nearly did in the early 90’s. I seem to remember Keighley were rumoured to be looking at moving to the Turf during a bad financial period for them?

ontario claret wrote:Fulham was London Broncos. They're 2nd in the 2nd tier (behind, ahem, the Toronto Wolfpack). Here, it's just a passing fancy, and just one very rich guy's play thing, with almost no grass roots. Some of the guys on my rugby union club play it, but I don't know why.

No - London Broncos was Fulham Rugby League Club.

Because people in Burnley have more sense than to start one.

"What shall we do today? Stare at the wall or watch rugby?"

"Well, I've got a weak heart, staring at the wall may be too stressful, probably safer to watch rugby."
Boresville.

Here's the typical RL sequence of play. First four downs, give it to the four biggest guys on your team, and let them get tackled after gaining ten yards apiece. Fifth down, toss it around a little bit (but only a little). Maybe let the wingers touch the ball for the first time in the game. Sixth down, give it to your kicker (who always has somebody providing obstruction in front of him), and let him kick it near (but never over), the other team's goal line. Repeat over and over and over again. And, if you're watching on TV, turn down the sound so that you don't hear the "commentary" of the former player, who sounds like a drunken sailor. (But whom I can't understand, anyhow, because of his Yorkshire accent.)

Burnley doesn't have a Rugby League side because the M62 doesn't run near it

Wigan, Sheffield, Hull, Huddersfield, Bradford all had reasonable football and rugby teams. Think the nearest Rugby ground to Burnley is Ewood Park.

Dazzler wrote:Without swotting up I think we used the Rovers name for the first year...I could be wrong though

We were Union

Rugby League split from Rugby Union in 1895 so we were definitely a Union team - although if we'd carried on as a Rugby team we'd probably have joined Rugby League.

Like Association Football it was an issue of getting paid for playing sport all that amateur gentlemen vs working class players who needed to earn a living and play sport.

Would of guessed a lot of the opinions posted on here but I reckon many would be genuinely surprised how many folk regularly watch RL who live on the M65 corridor. Been a good few games myself including Grandcfinals and Magic Weekends. Wigan are well supported in these parts.

I’m not saying a Pro team would do well here as Accy had a RL team for many years with at least 2 sides and played on the old Accs next to Stanley. Folded recently but not sure why

It has, Burnley and Pendle Lions, they play at the Prairie.

Bet a lot of that Accy players moved to the Prairie then, always a good watch, suppose travel could be an issue with most sides playing in the “Pie Triangle” Wigan Leigh Orrel

ontario claret wrote:Here's the typical RL sequence of play. First four downs, give it to the four biggest guys on your team, and let them get tackled after gaining ten yards apiece. Fifth down, toss it around a little bit (but only a little). Maybe let the wingers touch the ball for the first time in the game. Sixth down, give it to your kicker (who always has somebody providing obstruction in front of him), and let him kick it near (but never over), the other team's goal line. Repeat over and over and over again. And, if you're watching on TV, turn down the sound so that you don't hear the "commentary" of the former player, who sounds like a drunken sailor. (But whom I can't understand, anyhow, because of his Yorkshire accent.)

It's far better than kicking the ball into touch ,clapping ,then running down to have a line out then kicking the ball into touch..

Exactly !!
Ridiculous disrespect of a great game which has had some supremely skilled players through the years.

Football > most other sports > rugby league > watching paint dry > rugby union

I actually don't mind watching a bit of either of the codes of Rugby, if the right teams are playing.

One of the great sporting moments for me was when England won the World Cup in Oz 2003. Pure tension and drama.

I've only ever been to two live matches (both Rugby League), England v Australia which we lost, and St Helens v Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup Final where I got smacked around the head by a big old Huddersfield lass for booing a Huddersfield player.

Bin Ont Turf wrote:I actually don't mind watching a bit of either of the codes of Rugby, if the right teams are playing.

One of the great sporting moments for me was when England won the World Cup in Oz 2003. Pure tension and drama.

I've only ever been to two live matches (both Rugby League), England v Australia which we lost, and St Helens v Huddersfield in the Challenge Cup Final where I got smacked around the head by a big old Huddersfield lass for booing a Huddersfield player.

I'm definitely with BOT on this one. When played expansively, both codes can be breathtaking. And I write as someone who has never played a game of rugby in his life (I'm too soft). My preference though is for league because its a simpler game. With regard to the oft-cited criticism that league is just five hits and then a kick, have a watch of this, all played on the last tackle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEs5i0ifh0I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

By the way, BOT, you didn't need to mention that we lost the England v Australia fixture. That's a given these days.

because rugby league is for pussies, union is for men

Definition of Rugby. A game played by two teams of men with odd shaped balls.

Let’s be honest, it’s s miracle that the town has a football league club if any kind when you consider the size of the town. The fact that it has a Premier league club is mind blowing.

Egg wrestling that’s become more and more Americanised. The only two things I’d take from RL or RU into football 1) little if no abuse of the referee 2) no feigning of injury.

you'd think an East Lancs team would be good at either form of "grown men playing catch" with their 6 fingered hands...

DCWat wrote:Egg wrestling that’s become more and more Americanised. The only two things I’d take from RL or RU into football 1) little if no abuse of the referee 2) no feigning of injury.

And maybe being able to sit in your seat with a beer?

Rugby union was much better before it was "professionalized". When I played it, it was truly a gentleman's game. If you even said "boo" to the ref, your own captain would be all over you. Today, it's been coached to death, which is why it is so repetitive. I still enjoy the tussles at the breakdowns, however. I played with a guy who played for Batley in RL. He told stories of being tried to be punched by a supporter as he ran onto the pitch.

Rough old game Rugby, better off without it me thinks.