National Rugby League Museum

Rugby League Cares has announced that a new National Rugby League Museum will open in Bradford, in Yorkshire.

The museum is scheduled to launch in August 2020 to mark Rugby League’s 125-year anniversary and will take pride of place within Bradford City Hall opposite City Park.

The new museum and interactive visitor centre will display a number of extensive collections and historical artefacts relating to rugby.

Sports history and social history will be themes running throughout the displays.

Heritage manager for Rugby League Cares, Brigid Power, is excited about developing the project as well as the collections that will form a part of the museum.

“We have some fantastic objects and archive material in our collection, which we are continually adding to,” she said.

“Our most recent donation has come from one of Bradford’s finest legends – Ernest Ward, whose son Trevor has very kindly donated some of his father’s medals, boots and photographs.

“Ernest played over 390 matches for Bradford Northern in the 1940s and 50s, so the donation is a great addition to the collection, in light of the location of the museum.”

Bradford’s sporting history

Rugby League’s links with Bradford are well established: the Manningham club were founder members of the Northern Union in 1895 before changing their name to Bradford City.

Bradford also holds the record for the biggest crowd for a rugby match in the UK of 102,575 people for the 1954 Challenge Cup final replay, Halifax v Warrington at Odsal Stadium.

And in the Super League, Bradford Bulls are said to be one of the most successful clubs of the summer rugby era with six Grand Final appearances, including three wins.

Group travel organisers can find out more about the development of the new museum by visiting www.rugbyleaguecares.org.

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