Widnes Vikings History

The early years

The club was formed in 1873, under the name of Farnworth & Appleton. The name Widnes was adopted in 1876. The club adopted the nickname "Chemics" in 1888, after previously being known as the "Chemicals". The club played at a number of grounds before moving to the present site at Lowerhouse Lane in 1895.

In 1895, Widnes were founder members of the Northern Union which broke away from the rugby union to create the sport of rugby league. The first game was an away fixture at Canal Street, Runcorn which was lost 15-4.

During the early years, the club often struggled financially and often had to sell players to balance the books. The strength of junior rugby league in the area meant the club had a steady stream of local talent to offset the losses.

Between the wars

The team's first ever success came with the winning of the Lancashire League trophy in the 1919-20 season. This did not lead on to better things, however and the twenties saw the club almost go to the wall. Local rivals Warrington donated their share of the traditional Easter and Christmas derby matches to keep Widnes afloat in 1927-8.

It was around this time that the Kingsway housing scheme posed the real threat of the club losing its ground. After several years of fund-raising, made especially difficult by the advent of the great depression, the sum of 3250 pounds was raised to save the ground. This came at the cost of a stipulation that the ground could be sold only to the local council, for the original price. This factor affected the club's attitude to ground improvements for many years. The ground (newly named Naughton Park, after the man responsible for the fund-raising) was opened in 1932.

A major boost for the club and town was Widnes' first ever trip to the Challenge Cup Final, staged at Wembley for only the 2nd time. Their opponents were local rivals St.Helens, a team of stars, including 3 New Zealanders. By contrast, Widnes contained 12 locals and 37 yr old giant South African George Van Rooyen. Saints scored after 6 minutes to take a 3-0 lead, but Widnes hit back with a penalty try, a further try and a penalty to take a 10-3 half-time lead. A scoreless second half meant Widnes had won the cup.

One of the stars of the game was loose-forward Jimmy Hoey who, in 1932-3, played in and scored in all 40 games of the season, a record which was not equalled by any player for 26 years. Widnes became the first club to make 2 trips to Wembley, with a loss to Hunslet in the 1934 cup final. The side was composed entirely of local players, with nothing having been spent on transfer fees.

In 1935-6, the team came close to being RL champions. Having finished 3rd in the table, Liverpool were defeated 10-9. Widnes then lost to Hull, in the championship final, a defeat partially attributed to the loss of key players Silcock and McCue to the already departed GB tour squad. A third trip to Wembley came in 1937, with an 18-5 win over Keighley. The team for this win contained 12 Widnes-born players with the odd man out being from Runcorn (2 miles away). This was to be the last success for some time, with the advent of world war 2.

Widnes Vikings history courtesy of the official club website