Halifax Panthers News

The Halifax Panthers are one of the oldest Rugby League clubs in the world having been one of the original 22 breakaway clubs to form the Northern Union.

Down the years, the club have enjoyed lots of success on both the national and regional level, including multiple league titles and Challenge Cup wins, but they have found themselves outside of the top flight for some time now.

As a big club in one of the sports heartlands of West Yorkshire, Halifax are often though of as a ‘sleeping giant’ but that despite that, it can be difficult to find the latest news stories about them, or at least that used to be the case as we bring you all of the latest Halifax Panthers news headlines right here on this page.

Halifax Panthers Breaking News

If you are looking for the latest Halifax Rugby League breaking news stories, you will know how difficult it can be find them but here at 13v13, we do all of the searching for you and bring you all of the latest anthers breaking news headlines from across the globe.

Halifax Panthers Latest News Today

If a story has broken during the day and you are wanting to know the latest on today’s Halifax news, you can do that right here on this page.

If a headline is of interest to you, all you need to do is follow the ink to read the full story.

Stadium

Halifax’s home stadium is The Shay and is a great mix of seating areas and standing terraces that when full can hold around 10,000 fans in attendance.

The ground is known for been capable of producing a great atmosphere, especially when the likes of Bradford or Huddersfield are in town as they are the club main rivals and can guarantee big crowds.

Location

The Panthers are based in the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, which is just to the north of Huddersfield and to the west of Bradford, putting them right in the middle of the sports northern heartland.

About

The Panthers, who have been known simply as Halifax RLFC down the years but also briefly as the Halifax Blue Sox, were established in 1873, which makes them one of the oldest Rugby clubs of either code.

As one of the forming members of the Northern Union, the forerunner to Rugby League, the club are one of the most historic clubs in the 13 man code.

Fax have won lots of titles and trophies down the years including a number of league titles and Challenge Cup trophies as well as numerous regional pieces of silverware.

History

Halifax were originally formed in 1873 and it didn’t take long for the club to enjoy success as they won the 1878 Yorkshire Cup.

During the first couple of decades of the clubs existence, they would enjoy lots of success and provide many members of the England Rugby Union squad, so it was no surprise to see them move to their large Thrum Hall ground in 1886, when they hosted over 8,000 fans for their first match against Hull FC.

Unfortunately for the club, the first few years at their new home saw a period of upheaval in the sport as Fax were amongst a number of Yorkshire based clubs to want their own county league, with the fallout of that and the need to turn professional been big parts of the sports schism.

In 1895, the club were amongst the 22 clubs to breakaway from the RFU and form the Northern Union, which would then go on to become the great sport of Rugby League that we all love.

The club enjoy some early success in the new code as in the 1902-03 season they would go onto win both the league and cup double by winning the league championship and the Challenge Cup final.

They would go on to win the cup once again the next season and they would win their first ever play-off final in the 1906-07 season.

In the 1931 season, the club won their first ever Challenge Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium, when they defeated York FC before celebrating in front of an estimated 100,000 fans upon their return to the town.

In 1939, the club became the last winners of the Challenge Cup before the outbreak of was when they defeated Salford in front of 55,000 fans.

After the war, Halifax had a difficult time with both Hudson Irving (heart attack) and David Craven (broken neck) dying on the field representing the club.

The club were able to honour their passing in 1949 when they made it back to Wembley, but in the end they came up short against Bradford in front of a record crowd of 95,000 fans.

The 1950’s was a decade of nearly’s for the club as they finished runner sup in the league 3 times and lost the first ever Challenge Cup final replay against Warrington in 1954 in a match that saw a world record crowd of 102,569 pack out Odsal Stadium- although it is though that many many more gained access to the ground on that occasion.

Despite coming up short on the national level, the club did enjoy a number of Yorkshire League and Yorkshire Cup wins during that period.

The club finished 7th in the league during the 1964-65 season but they would go onto win the league title after coming through an expanded play-offs.

Unfortunately, that would go onto become their last major success for some time as the club would undergo some financial difficulties in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, although they would go onto win the inaugural Regal Trophy event.

The club started to spend heavily in the late 1980’s, including signing many Australian internationals, which helped them to win the 1986 league title and the 1987 Challenge cup final but they were soon banned from signing players over non-payment of wages and with unpaid taxes and debts of around £760,000, things were uncertain for the club.

Fax were placed in the hands of receivers and forced to reform but they soon rebounded and gained promotion to the top flight once again but there financial problems continued including the need for the club to put 7 players on the transfer list in the 1993 season.

The summer era of the sport led to a lot of changes which included Halifax taking on the name of the Halifax Blue Sox which never proved to be popular with fans.

The club joined the new Super League competition in 1996 and sold there Thrum Hall stadium in 1998, with the club moving to The Shay and the money made going towards paying their debts.

At the start of the 2003 season, the club returned to their Halifax RLFC name but it didn’t prove to be helpful as they would go on to suffer relegation come the end of the season.

Their financial issues continued however and they only just avoided relegation to the third tier but over the last decade or so, the club have managed to find a settled financial footing and they are now well established in the 2nd tier.

In 2020, the club announced that they were to change there name to the Halifax Panthers.

Halifax Panthers News Headlines

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Halifax Panthers News Update

Stories related to club constantly change and as soon as there is a Halifax news update, we will bring it to you on this very page.