The first Rovers team, the picture taken at the Friarage Field, previously they had been known as Hartlepool Albion and Hartlepool Juniors for a season each following their inception in 1879.

No mistaking the club as the name is emblazoned on their jerseys, it must have been fashion of the time, as an image of Hartlepool YMCA from 1887 on this site, show them also with the club name on display.

Two member of the team are named Mosey, E A Mosey of 7 Regent Square was Hon Sec of the Club in the mid-80s.

Born 30/1/1857 on Malta  Died  26/1/1936 at Smeeds Farm, Monks Horton, Hythe, Kent

A coal factor by profession and later Secretary to a colliery fitter.

Arriving in England in the 1870s he married a girl from Bromley in 1879 and moved to the North East where he first appeared in the 1881 census. He played for Hartlepools Football Club (founded in 1875 and amalgamated with Hartlepool Rovers in 1883) and Hartlepool Rovers. Hill Captained the latter from 1887 to 1890 and was the first Hartlepools player to gain the distinction of playing for the County in 1879 against Yorkshire. He was always a first choice for the pack. He was to give ‘fine service’ to the County for 12 seasons appearing in 29 matches and showing superior versatility by playing in all positions including threequarters.  On several occasions he was also to Captain the County side.  On two occasions he played in the Northeast v North West game. Of special note is the fact that he captained the Rovers team versus the New Zealand Native Team (aka The Maoris) at The Friarage on 14^th November 1888. This was the first side from overseas to visit and play international rugby in the Home Unions.

As a rugby administrator he was the Secretary of Hartlepools in 1882 before going on to be Secretary and Treasurer of Hartlepool Rovers in 1886 – 87. He was also Secretary of the County from 1889 to 1894. Vice President from 1895 to 1900 and President for the succeeding two years.

 In 1891 – 92 although retired he turned out in the North v South game (an England Trial) at Newcastle when W E Bromet failed to arrive for the start of the game.  On Bromets arrival he withdrew from the game.

Little information exists about his refereeing career but The Sunderland Echo of 20/2/1902 indicates that was to referee Ireland 5 v Scotland O at the    Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast on 22/1/1902.

It is difficult for us today to imagine the effect the introduction of the Durham County Senior Competition in 1881 had on Rugby in the area.

Within a few short seasons of its introduction clubs had organised their teams more formally to ensure they won games and ideally the Cup. By 1885, Durham City, having defeated Boldon, Humbledon and North Durham, reached the Final against Sunderland Rovers. The game was played at the Friarage Field , here in Hartlepool, in front of a crowd of 9,000. The numbers swelled by train excursions from Sunderland, Shields, Newcastle, Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough to see City lift the Cup for the first time.

The Cup was not without its detractors and the Competition was withdrawn in 1886 but restored a year later when Rovers won for a second time (they had defeated North Durham in 1884) beating Humbledon in 1887.

The 1888 Final saw Durham City overcome Rovers on Ashbrooke before a crowd of 10,000 spectators, 1200 had arrived from Durham by a special train.  A Darlington newspaper of that era reported “that the news of the defeat of Rovers was received in Hartlepool with dismay, the blinds were drawn, many places wearing an air of mourning, whilst one enthusiastic supporter of Rovers an outfitter at West Hartlepool, edged the telegram announcing the feat with a deep border of black”!

Rovers soon revived and went on to play in a great number of Finals, this early period being particularly successful  featuring in eight of the Finals in the decade covered by this Gallery.  The Robert Wood collection contains a number of posters advertising games in the Competition which was always held in March, a simpler and very successful format that was tried in recent times with success.

A selection of items from the Collections reflecting the Rovers 2nd XV and their activities in the early decade of the Club.  It is also well worth a glance at the 2nd Teams Cup records to see just how successful they were on the Knockout Rugby front.

The question of “reward” or redress for “broken time” had been a source of contention within the Game in the North from its earliest of times, with the matter being raised at RFU AGMs from 1886, the question came to a head in 1893 when the RFU declined to pass a motion to allow “broken time” payments. By 1895 a group of clubs from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire met in Huddersfield to form the Northern Union to form what became the Rugby League – initially they applied to join the RFU as a body, but their requests were declined.

Clubs in the North East largely decided to stay with the RFU, but the split must have had a big effect on major clubs such as Rovers, as can be gauged from the clubs listed in the Rovers v South Shields programme (see below), that would no longer be available. Several clubs from our area followed the Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire clubs in joining the NRU, including South Shields and the Wallsend club only to find they were out of business in a short time.

The Robert Wood collection contains several items that also show how the arguments on money were current at the time, an Address from Fred Alderson covering many aspects of the “modern” problems in the game is in this Gallery. In addition, a letter from Arthur Hill, then County Secretary, sets out the process for Testimonials, another area that by the late 1890s produced fears within the RFU that the Welsh Union may join the Northern Union!

It is also of interest to compare the two Balance Sheets on this site, one from 1890, the second just a few seasons after the split in the Game, the former lists how the various gate monies, both inward and outward, were disbursed to/from clubs. The latter from 1898, only has gate monies received plus a list of guarantees for the Rovers, Welsh, and South Western tours.

 The immediate effect of the formation of the Northern Union can also be gauged from comments in Rovers 1896 AGM when they noted the cancellation of game with Hunslett, St Helens, Halifax, and Oldham. They succeeded in arranging alternative games with Pemberton (Manchester), Jedforest, Edinburgh Wanderers, Aspatria (Cumbria) and Leicester but the burden was great as Rovers were obliged to pay heavy expenses and large guarantees to the visiting clubs. The Leicester match poster from this season is also included on this site along with a few Clubs from Scotland who also made their visits in the seasons following.

Posters & Images from the period when the game of Rugby was at its most popular in the two towns, with huge crowds attending games.  During the “Bank Holidays” of any particular season, Rovers produced a number of touring sides, including the Maori tourists in November of 1888,  as part of the entertainment, clubs arriving would be offered a guarantee to appear usually a lump sum or possibly be given a share of the Nett  gate to cover their costs.

As can be seen from the Fixture cards, Rovers as did West, Old Boys and Rangers, also undertook tours various part of the country, no doubt under the same financial arrangement.

Formed in 1890, the Barbarians Club is one of the most famous names in World Rugby,  and Rovers provided the first ever opposition on 27^th December, 1890. Originally restricted in membership to Oxbridge players and Internationals it soon widened its remit and a call up to the Club still remains a great honour for any player. Games against Rovers were a feature of the side until 1902 when they played Rovers on the 5^th April drawing 3 all and then on the following Monday, West beat them in their only game with the West Club, by 25 pts to 4. The tours to the North only lasted 12 years but also included matches with Old Dunelmians, South Shields (both now defunct), Percy Park, and Rockcliffe (now Whitley Bay Rockcliff)

An image of F H R (Fred) Alderson (1867 – 1925) is seen here in his England Cap, awarded against Wales in 1891, the first of 6 appearances for England, he was Captain on his debut and also in the following 4 appearances. Born in Hartford, Northumberland, he learned his football at Durham School, won a Blue at Cambridge where he met WP Carpmael and led to him and Carpmael, founding the Barbarians. He played for Durham on 18 occasions.  After winning his Blue at Cambridge he came to Hartlepool joining Hartlepool Rovers and to become a Master at Henry Smith School, later becoming Headmaster.

He was also a Referee, officiating at the 1893 Scotland v Ireland game.

Starting from the mid 1880s Cigarette and Trade Cards plus similar trade promotions were collected avidly by Schoolboys, covering many areas but particularly from the earliest days Sports Stars from Soccer, Rugby, Golf and Cricket. One of the most prolific producers of cards was J. Baines Ltd of Manningham, Bradford who sold the cards in packs of six and they reached their zenith at the end of the Great War with over 13 million cards being produced in one year. The group on our website appear to all date from the 1890s based on the Caps, Career span or jersey worn by the individual players. The Trade card for Bramwell, produced by Masons, dates from this period but full details of the Bramwell business or its history are unknown.

A series of images highlighting the outstanding run by Rovers in reaching every Senior Cup Final between 1905 and 1913, every one resulted in a win except for 1910 when they went down to Durham City on Ashbrooke. The years 1905-09 saw the side under the Captaincy of George Carter, who during the same period was a regular member of the Durham County Championship sides and played against the all Blacks, South Africa and Australia.

The club declined to take part in the 13/1914 Competition but had the satisfaction of defeating the winners Westoe on the two occasions the sides met that campaign.

Hartlepool featured in the first overseas tours by the South African, New Zealand and Australian sides between 1905 and 1908, and not forgetting the Maori Tourists of 1888 when they played Hartlepool Rovers on the Friarage Field and paved the way for the future All Blacks. 

The year of 1905 is also significant in that interest in Rugby was at its lowest ebb, the arrival of the New Zelanders caused a revivial in interest (as did the advent of the 1907 New Zealand Northern Union side in the 13 - a side game). By coincidence, the year was also marked by the winning of the Amateur Cup by West Hartlepool A F C, an event that was to lead to the introduction of professional Soccer in the Town!

Images from the 1911/1912 season which saw Rovers create a World Record for Points scored and in addition, they started playing an Bob Oakes XV annually to round off their season, a feature that was to last for a Century.

The full playing record for the season of 1911/12 was Played 37, Won 34, Drawn 1 and lost 2, for 860 against 168.

Another set of pictures from Rovers just prior to the Great War when they carried all before them. 1912/13 ended with them holding the Senior, 2^nd and 3^rd Teams cups once again and the 3rd XV ended season 13/14 with an Easter Tour to Yorkshire.

The 1922 Senior Cup Final featured a win for Rovers over City at Westoe, the first of five consecutive wins in the Cup, the era was marked by Four Final appearances against teams from the North West of Durham County.

 Three of the longest serving clubs on the County Rugby scene are Ryton, Winlaton Vulcan’s and Blaydon, all situated in the West  Tyne area of the Durham/Northumberland border. They have featured on the Fixture lists of local clubs from the early 1880 but were not so prominent on the Cup scene.

However, during the period 1923-1927, one or other of them made an appearance in the five consecutive Senior Cup Finals of that period, on four of those occasions Rovers was the opposition.

In addition, the Second Teams Cup Final of 1926 also featured the Vulcan’s against Rovers whilst their near neighbour Chopwell (the village was also known as “Little Moscow” for its support at one time for the Communist Party) made it to the 1926 Junior Cup Final against Seaman’s Institute). Plus the colliery based side Greenside from near Ryton who carried off the Junior Cup in 1921 (beating Furness Athletic on the Frirage Field 11-3) and then becoming runners up in the 1923 Second Teams Cup Final against Durham City.

Images of the successful Rovers 2nd and 3rd XV's that carried off their County Cups in season 21/22 & 22/23 seasons and ran their own social events to keep the team spirit going! After little Cup success in the following decade they revived in 1930 to take the County 3rd Team Cup plus other silverware and the club manged to raise a Fourth XV that reached the 1930 Shield Final.They enjoyed another double success in 1933/35 seasons lifting the 3rd Teams each season.

Images from the 1930's showing the successful sides that annexed the Senior Cup in 1930, 1935 and then 1939, the latter date also marking the Diamnd Jubilee of the founding of the Club.

A series of images for Rovers 2nd and 3rd teams,  during the 40s when the game was restarting after wartime. The decade ended with the usual flurry of Cup sucesses

Here is a gallery of images from the Hartlepool Mail Archive which show Rovers in action against various Clubs in the 1950s  Each picture has been dated for “working title” purposes and we would welcome any further information as to the exact date or score for the various items, or indeed the names of players or the Referees! 

The 'Mail Photo archive has produced a couple of pics fro Rovers social side plus the popular cricket X1 that ran for some years.

Images from the various Senior & Second Teams Cup capaigns throughout the 1960's.

Another milestone in the Rovers Club history was reached in 1966 when the new Clubhouse was built to replace the much loved Nissen Huts. The event was also marked by a game with  the Scottish Co-Optimists to mark the special day.

Hartlepool Rovers ran a successful Colts side during the 1960s run by Bob Hewitt and his sister Hilda, this photo dates from 1967 and shows the Seven that won the R L Harrison Sevens that season against Hartlepool B.B.O.B.

The Sevens Trophy was originally the Hartlepools Junior Cup and had been discovered in an attic and put up for competition in remembrance of Bob Harrison.

Images from the various Celebrations since the RFU Centennial in 1970/71 and the arrival of the World Cup.

Images from the Rovers win over Horden II on Horden's Welfare Park Ground in the 90th anniversary  Pyman Final plus their win in the 2018 Tens Pyman Final. Plus a win n the Fourth Teams shield from 1981

After dominating the Senior Cup scene for most of the 1970s, to be overtaken during the 80s by West, Rovers century long run in the Senior Cup came to an end with a defeat at the hands of Stockton on the New Friarage in 1994 by 16 pts to 14.

A year later heralded the arrival of the seamless game including professionalism and major upheavals in the role of the Knockout Cups within the County, the County Cup scene has never been the same since with only a couple of the same clubs dominant in every cup season by season.