First rugby league match opens the 1895–96 NRFU season

Background. The Rugby Football Union had organised British rugby football through the late 19th century under strict amateurism, but clubs from largely working-class areas of Northern England believed players should be compensated for time taken off work to play. On Thursday, 29 August 1895, delegates from twelve Yorkshire and nine Lancashire clubs met at The George Hotel in Huddersfield, voted unanimously to resign from the RFU, and set up the Northern Rugby Football Union to run a competition of their own in which broken time payments were allowed.

Season Structure. Twenty-two Northern English teams from both sides of the Pennines broke away to create and compete in their own competition, and two Cheshire clubs, Stockport and Runcorn, had joined by the time the first games were played on 7 September. The inaugural Championship ran from September 1895 until April 1896, with results counting towards both the overall Northern Union championship and final placings in separate county competitions. Before the second weekend's fixtures, there was a move to change the rules to further spectator interest and make the game distinctively different from that authorised by the RFU.

Opening Match. The new competition kicked off on Saturday, 7 September 1895. A fair crowd attended, and virtually all officials of the Northern Union observed the games. The event marked the beginning of a distinct form of rugby football, separate from the RFU's amateur model.