Dewsbury Celtic
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| Harp | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Dewsbury Celtic Rugby League Football Club |
| Website | www.dewsburycelticrlfc.co.uk |
| Colours | Green and White |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
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| Coach | Danny Thomas and Mark Brierley |
| Competition | Rugby League Conference National Division |
Dewsbury Celtic is a rugby league club in the town of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. They play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference and have a thriving junior section. Their second team, known as the Shamrocks, competed in the Pennine League in 2005/2006 but had to withdraw after British Amateur Rugby League Association rule changes meant that players could not overlap summer and winter seasons.
Dewsbury Celtic is one of the oldest Irish sports club in Yorkshire and possibly Britain. The origins of Dewsbury Celtic can be directly linked to Ireland’s Great Famine of 1845. Official records show that in 1845 200 Irish immigrants were living in Daw Green, Westtown. By 1851 the number had risen to 1,000 working mainly as labourers and mill workers.
Having started as Dewsbury Shamrocks in 1879 they switched in the late 1890s to football, returning to rugby league in 1910. At this point they joined what was then the Northern Union and changed their name to Dewsbury Celtic. They became one of the best local teams and won the Yorkshire County Amateur Cup in 1912-13. This team was torn apart by the First World War, losing 15 players. They reformed in 1919 and then disbanded again in 1939 at the start of the Second World War.
In the post-war period the club reformed and became one of the most famous names in amateur rugby league, and their name was feared by professional clubs drawn against them in the Rugby League Challenge Cup. Celtic continued to win trophies on a regular basis, these included the Yorkshire Cup, Leeds League titles and George Oldroyd Trophy 13 times between 1953 and 1969.
In recent times other local teams have overtaken Celtic in the league structure and in an effort to revitalise the club they switched to summer rugby in 2005, taking over the fixtures of the defunct Manchester Knights in the Central Premier. In 2006 they applied for National League Three, finishing in 5th place and qualifying for the play-offs, where they lost to St Albans Centurions.
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