Spotlight on Greetland All Rounders
(From the 1961 Wigan v Halifax Challenge Cup Semi-Final Program)
Courtesy of Express Factors, Halifax.

No, this is not a fairy story. But it is a tale of incredible exploits performed by members of a junior Rugby League Club on the moors behind Halifax.

The scene is set in the village of Greetland and our story starts a few years ago when the club had to find a new home. The site chosen was an open stretch of boulder-strewn, uneven moorland. Tough heather grew between the rocks. Experts declared the project "impossible".

Nothing daunted, club officials set to with a will. Hundreds of tons of rock were moved by willing hands. Heather was up-rooted, the soil levelled and grass was grown.

Miracle No. 1 was accomplished. A good playing surface had been created out of land which even a rabbits Planning Authority (if they have them) would look upon as a condemned area. The Greetland All Rounders would have been excused if they had sat back and enjoyed the fruits of their victory over nature.

But no feet up for these healthy, smiling villagers. Willingly led by human dynamo Arnold Horsfall, voted Rugby Leagues number one fan by a daily newspaper not so long ago, they set about building a pavilion and other amenities which are now nearley completed and will be second to none in the Junior game. The pavilion is a permanent structure with inner walls of brick and outer walls of pre-cast sand and pitch-faced blocks which gave the building a solid dignified stone like appearance.

The acquiring of materials at the minimum cost reads like a fairy story. Scrap yards, building sites, dismantled pre-fabs, an old theatre, demolished buildings - all have yielded loot.

The ingenuity and improvisation displayed are the result of master planning. No detail has been over-looked. As bricks were going up, rambling roses were being planted to be ready for the great day when work was finished.

A spring was found, dug out and lined with concrete to provide a head of five hundred gallons of pure water. There has even been talk of a swimming pool!

Minor projects - possibly major to any but Greetlanders - have been the construction of a septic tank and sixty-five yards drive from the roadway to the pavilion.The club estimates that when completed the value of the property will exceed three thousand pounds and in addition, the club now owns the twelve acres of land containing the building and playing area. The actual cost to the club for materials has been about one thousand pounds.

This article is too short to pay personal tribute to all those who have worked so hard for the club. I must be content to offer tribute to the whole village of Greetland.

Good luck to Arnold Horsfall, his colleagues and his club. I hope Greetland All Rounders have set an example which other clubs will do their best to follow.

W. FALLOWFIELD, Secretary, The Rugby Football League.

Attached picture - Arnold Horsfall and colleagues N. Dyson, F. Hayes and J. W. Smith plan for a roof above their heads during a break.

Club Development