Revolution blazed white-hot in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, on the evening of 29 August 1895. Almost a decade of discontent had reached an intensity that could not be quelled, and representatives of 21 rugby clubs from across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire – Batley, Bradford, Brighouse Rangers, Broughton Rangers, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Leigh, Liversedge, Manningham, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Wakefield Trinity, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan emerged from the George Hotel and declared their independence.
Rugby was torn in two. On the one hand was rugby union, the sport of the public school and popular acclaim, and on the other the insurgent rugby league of the Northern Rugby Football Union, generally known as the Northern Union.
