1901-1902

At the Annual Meeting of the Northern Union a number of the leading Yorkshire and Lancashire clubs formed the Northern Rugby League: Batley, Bradford, Brighouse Rangers, Broughton Rangers, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leigh, Oldham, Runcorn, Salford, Swinton and Warrington.

Those clubs which had been excluded, particularly founder members such as Leeds, were naturally indignant, but they took immediate steps to join the County Senior Competitions. The Leeds Parish Church team fell by the wayside, however, the decision being taken to disband.

That decision completely transformed the situation at Headingley. The Parish Church Committee generously placed the whole of their playing staff at the disposal of the Leeds Club who welcomed the incomparable George Mosley and seven of his colleagues: J. W. Birch. W. Corcoran. C. Crumpton, W. Evans, S. Harberts, G. Hewlett, J. McNicholas. These players did more than merely join the Leeds club, they gave to it all their loyalty. skill and spirit. Six of them gave exceptional service:

The Committee now had a wealth of talent at their disposal as. in addition to completing negotiations with Dean and Littlewood and re-signing G. Grace, they had also engaged several other new players: T. Midgley, of Liversedge; F. Mudd, of Hunslet; J. Morton of Shipley; T. D. Davies. Of Oldham; and H. Walker. Littlewood and Davies were to prove extremely valuable acquisitions, whilst Grace and Mosley became ideally suited as half-back partners.

The season opened amidst tremendous enthusiasm and the team immediately revealed its great possibilities in the first game, which resulted in a comfortable victory over Wakefield Trinity at Headingley. Two matches out of the next six were lost but by the end of October the players had welded into a powerful combination. and they went through their remaining League programme, consisting of nineteen matches, without defeat. Only Heckmondwike succeeded in taking a point from them during this period, in which the pack had been further strengthened through the addition of J. G. Moffatt, from Oldham. Such a run of success naturally gave the team an unassailable position at the head of the table. with the following magnificent record:

When Otley and Windhill had been disposed of in the opening rounds of the Cup Competition there was talk of? doing the double? but Huddersfield, with home conditions, proved much too strong. The Leeds team were delayed en route to Fartown owing to a railway mishap, and the game started long after the scheduled time. History was to repeat itself some eight years later!! The teams which did duty in this match were as follows: Leeds-Dean; Evans, Davies. Herberts, T. Coleman; Mosley, Grace; Crumpton, Hewlett, Moffatt, McNicholas, Birch, Hanson, Taylor, Midgley.

Huddersfield-Readyhough; Deere, Larard, Rawnsley, Kitchen; Marsden, Dewhirst; Sutcliffe. Chambers, Conley, Dawson, Knight, Driver, Naylor, Littlewood.

Leeds wound up this memorable season as real? Champions? by defeating? The Rest? at Headingley in a challenge match by seven points to five. At a reception which was held after this game, the Yorkshire Senior Competition Shield was presented to the Captain. George Mosley. The Shield.the first trophy ever to come to Headingley, was a fitting reward for all those who had been associated with the Club from the early days: those who had been called upon to face all the vicissitudes and disappointments as Committee members, and those who had worn the jersey with distinction and patience.

The secrets of this successful campaign are not hard to find: clever half-backs proved the almost perfect link between a determined, resolute pack and a clever three-quarter line; and, equally important, the team were given every opportunity to blend as the selectors called on only twenty-seven players during the season.