ABOUT US

History

ECCLES started out as G.E.C in the NWCL in 1977 and there was no sign in those days that the club would become the most successful in Manchester & District league history. We finished bottom of division 3 that first season with only three wins from 26 games and then again the next season with two wins from 24 games. The following year we had a mid table finish in division 4 but because interest in the club was great we formed an ‘A’ team who would play in division 4 and the first team was promoted back to division 3.

At this time Rod & Alfrieda Kindon, together with a committee which included ex-Salford player Stewart Williams and John Smethurst, discovered a derelict open air school in Eccles and after much hard work from many volunteers this was to become the club house that we still use today. This also brought around a change of name to Eccles ARLFC and a change of fortunes as well.

After finishing third in division 3 in 1980-81 we went through the following season undefeated to claim our first league title. In those early days winger Steve Evans became the first Eccles player to sign professional when he joined Swinton RLFC. More than 40 Eccles players have gone on to play for professional teams since then, including in more recent times Paul Smith (Huddersfield, Rochdale Hornets and Halifax), Welsh international Ian Watson (Swinton, Salford, Widnes, Halifax and Leigh), Nathan McAvoy (Salford, Leeds, Wigan, Bradford and Leigh) and of course Great Britain & England international Adrian Morley (Leeds, Sydney City Roosters, Bradford and now Captaining Warrington Wolves).

Eccles made steady progress up the NWCL and reached the premier division in 1988 where we suffered our only NWCL relegation as Eccles, but after just one season back in division 1 we returned to the premier division to stay. During this period Eccles produced a top class under 18’s team that lifted the clubs first County title, the Lancashire cup in 1993-94.

Individual honours were also forthcoming during this period with secretary Alfrieda Kindon receiving a NWCL 10 year service award in 1989 followed by the NWCL secretary of the year award for the 1992-93 season.

Eccles were accepted for a place in the Conference division 2 for the 1994-95 season, winning our first ever match away at Barrow Island, and we were to stay in division 2 until gaining promotion in 1998-99. 

Since joining the Conference league we have completely enclosed our pitches and club house, put spectator barriers and floodlights on the main pitch and added two changing rooms and a gym to our facility.

More individual awards came when Alfrieda Kindon was awarded the prestigious "Silver Boot Award" presented by BARLA for the 1996-97 season, and the following season former chairman Rod Kindon also received his 10 year service award from the NWCL. 

There has also been success on the pitch as well with our NWCL team becoming the first team from outside the top two divisions to win the NWCL Challenge cup with a 26-20 victory over Heysham Atoms in the 1997-98 season.

The following season, 1998-99 we were invited into the prestigious Champions Challenge competition at Leigh Miners where we defeated the host club, Leigh East and Siddal to lift the trophy. The same year we played professional opposition for the first time in the Challenge cup and lost 7-26 at Oldham after taking the lead early in the game. Since then we have also played at Featherstone Rovers and Halifax.

Back in the Conference league we stayed six seasons in division 1 before finally reaching the pinnacle of amateur rugby league, the premier division for the 2005-06 season. Unfortunately, this proved a step too far too soon and we suffered relegation.

In 2007 secretary Alfrieda Kindon became the first female to be awarded a life membership of BARLA.

Whilst on the pitch now, we are currently in Division 1 and looking forward to the move to Summer Rugby - starting in March 2012.    We are a relatively young side going through a transitional period and we believe that there is a bright future ahead for the club.

We continue to provide County and International players to the amateur game and, playing at the highest amateur level available to us, we attract the most ambitious players.

SALFORD JUNIORS were formed as an under 21’s team in 1946 and later established themselves as an open age side as well as running youth teams. They quickly established themselves as a force in the Manchester League, and later the Oldham and Warrington leagues before becoming founder members of the North West Counties League in 1974.

At open age level they had their best period in the mid 50’s with three successive Lancashire cup final appearances, lifting the cup once in 1956. In the NWCL the club never dropped lower than division 2, yet ironically, they disbanded at open age level after their best ever season, in 1994 when they just missed out on promotion to the premier division by one point.

The club carried on with two youth teams, but had a nomadic existence until 2002 when Eccles offered their facilities. The merging of the clubs did not come about by design, but after just one season of sharing facilities a merger became the natural option and most of those players are now integrated into the joint open age system.