It started in the stables of J C Simpkins home in Chapel Street, Pemberton, where a group of young students came together with an ambition to play Rugby Football.

Little could they have imagined that their idea would still be going strong almost a century later.

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1927 — The First Games

John Simpkin was a student who travelled daily by train to Liverpool with fellow students Jack Gaskell and Charlie Holt.

At Rainford they met up with other students and, before long, challenged them to a game of rugby.

The first two matches were played at Walthew House Farm.

There was no purpose-built rugby pitch.

There were no modern posts.

Instead, the players used soccer posts, with wooden clothes props tied to them to form the uprights.

The results of those first two games have sadly been lost to history.

But they must have gone well.

The group arranged further fixtures against Wigan Collegians and Wigan Old Boys 3rd XV, with both matches taking place on the Donkey Field at Billinge.

The match against Wigan Old Boys produced a particularly memorable ending.

With the game approaching half time, referee Mr Peter Gore, a Wigan schoolmaster, abandoned the match after rioting broke out between players and spectators.

A rather lively start to the history of Orrell RUFC.

So no change there then!

The Club is Born

The first meeting that formally established Orrell Rugby Union Football Club took place in 1927.

Among the founder members were:

J C Simpkin • Bill Liptrot • Charlie Holt • Joe Gaskell • Jim Parker • Jack Gaskell • Frank Gaskell

The Club was fortunate to secure an important early supporter.

Squire G H Banks of Winstanley Hall accepted the invitation to become Orrell's first President.

J C Simpkin became Chairman and Secretary, while Bill Liptrot was elected the Club's first captain.

The foundations had been laid.

1927/28 — Rugby Wherever We Could Find It

Orrell's first recorded season saw the Club play 18 matches, most of them away from home.

Finding somewhere to play was one of the biggest challenges.

Home fixtures were staged at a number of different locations, including:

Lamberhead Green Council School
A field off Orrell Road
The Donkey Field near Moss Road, Billinge

The Club had no permanent ground and very little in the way of facilities.

On match days, it was not unusual for players to be seen carrying the goalposts through the streets to wherever the match was being played.

Once they arrived, the posts had to be erected and the pitch marked out.

And the lines .......... Sawdust.

It was a long way from the modern game—but the determination to play was already firmly embedded in the Club.

The Search for a Home

During Orrell's first decade, the Club continued its nomadic existence.

Games were played at several locations, including the fields around The Mount, behind the Abbey Lakes Hotel, and at Alma Hill in Up Holland.

At Alma Hill, the Old Dog Inn provided changing facilities.

It was a very different way of running a rugby club.

But each move represented another step in Orrell's development.

The Club was establishing itself within the local community and building the foundations for a more permanent future.

1931 — A Tragedy That Shook the Club

The young Club suffered a devastating loss during the 1930/31 season.

On Saturday 21 February 1931, Orrell hooker Ernest Derbyshire was injured while playing against Blackpool Old Boys.

He was taken to hospital but sadly died the following day.

At the subsequent inquest, it was reported that Ernest had fallen onto a loose ball and had accidentally been kneed in the back by a Blackpool player, resulting in spinal injuries.

The tragedy deeply affected the Club.

Following a special meeting the following week, Orrell decided to cancel its next two fixtures as a mark of respect.

The Club did, however, make the decision to continue playing rugby.

For the remainder of the season, Orrell players wore a black diamond on their jerseys in Ernest's memory.

The wider rugby community also rallied around the Derbyshire family.

A fund was established by Orrell, Wigan Old Boys and Wigan Collegians RUFC to support Ernest's dependants, with clubs and players encouraged to contribute.

It was a sad reminder that, even in its earliest years, Orrell was part of something bigger than one team or one Club.

It was part of a rugby community.

1937 — A Home at Last

After a decade of moving from field to field, Orrell finally secured a more permanent base.

In 1937, the Club obtained the lease of a ground and hut in Winstanley Road, Orrell, becoming tenants of Orrell YMCA.

The annual rent was just £4.

For a Club that had spent its first ten years carrying posts through the streets and marking pitches with sawdust, having its own ground and hut represented a huge step forward.

Orrell finally had somewhere it could call home.

The End of the First Chapter

By the end of the 1930s, Orrell RUFC had survived its difficult beginnings.

It had started with a group of students and a game played with improvised goalposts.

It had survived a nomadic existence, playing wherever a suitable field could be found.

It had endured tragedy.

It had built relationships within the local rugby community.

And, finally, it had secured a permanent home.

The Club was ready for its next chapter.

And that next chapter would begin in 1949, when Orrell purchased land from the Glover family of Edgewood Hall Farm and began its famous association with Edge Hall Road.

THE LEGACY OF 1927–1939

The early years established something that would remain at the heart of Orrell RUFC for generations:

The Club was built by people who simply wanted to play rugby—and were prepared to do whatever it took to make that happen.

They didn't have the facilities.

They didn't have the money.

They didn't have a permanent ground.

But they had players, volunteers, determination and a community around them.

Almost 100 years later, those same qualities remain part of Orrell RUFC.

1927

A Club was formed.

1939

A Club was established.

2027

A Club will celebrate 100 years.

The story had begun.