Thrum Hall


Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket.

History

In 1878, Halifax, who had just won the inaugural Yorkshire Cup, bought a patch of land for £3,000 from a local farmer, Major Dyson, to develop as a new multi-purpose sports ground. It was to be a replacement for their Hanson Lane ground which stood opposite.
The site measured 55,000 square yards and included a cricket pitch and bowling greens. The rugby stadium was opened on 18 September 1886 by Alderman Riley, who kicked off before the Halifax v Hull F.C. match. Forward Ernest Williamson scored the first try and the home side went on to win in front of a crowd of around 8,000. As Thrum Hall was built on an old hilltop farm, it had a distinctive slope of 4 yards away from the main grandstand touchline.
The ground was continuously developed over the next 40 to 50 years and it came to be regularly used as a neutral ground for Challenge Cup and Championship matches, including the 1914 Challenge Cup final and the 1912, 1929 and 1930 Championship deciders.
Thrum Hall was run by trustees from 1921.
The attendance record of 29,153 was set in a third round Challenge Cup tie against Wigan on 21 March 1959. By the time of the Taylor Report, Thrum Hall's capacity was reduced to 9,832.
Halifax was hit hard by the financial situation of the late 1960s, and 1970s. In 1970, a concert was held at Thrum Hall in an attempt to alleviate these financial troubles. Adverse weather conditions meant that only around 3,000 arrived to watch the 'Halifax Pop and Blues Concert' which made a loss of £6,000.

Other uses

The adjacent Thrum Hall Cricket Ground hosted four first class cricket matches between 1888 and 1897. Yorkshire played three County Championship matches there, in July 1888 against Gloucestershire, August 1889 against Middlesex and Kent in June 1897, while they played Essex in a non-championship fixture in July 1894. Kent were bowled out for 74 in their match, with Bobby Peel taking 8 for 93. Peel also bowled Gloucestershire out for just 89, taking 7 for 39, in a low scoring match which Yorkshire won by 3 wickets.
The cricket ground had a speedway track constructed around the outside of it in 1928 and it was known as the Thrum Hall Grounds by this time. It hosted speedway until 1930 when the new Halifax Greyhound Stadium was constructed on the site.

Closure

Halifax sold Thrum Hall for £1.5 million to Asda for a superstore development in 1998, and moved across town to their present home, the Shay Stadium. The supermarket chain closed their existing store in Battinson Road, when the new store finally opened after a protracted legal battle in 2004.

Rugby League Test Matches

The list of international rugby league matches played at Thrum Hall is:
Game#DateResultAttendanceNotes
17 April 1930Other Nationalities def. 35–192,300
210 April 1937 def. 23–97,0241936–37 European Rugby League Championship
315 May 1948 British Empire drew with 36–36

Rugby League Tour Matches

Thrum Hall also saw the Halifax R.L.F.C. play host to international touring teams from Australia and New Zealand from 1907–1994.
gameDateResultAttendanceNotes
114 December 1907 Halifax def. New Zealand 9–411,0001907–08 All Golds tour
25 December 1908 Halifax def. Australia 12–86,0001908–09 Kangaroo Tour
326 December 1911 Australasia def. Halifax 23–510,0001911–12 Kangaroo Tour
431 December 1921 Australasia def. Halifax 35–612,0001921–22 Kangaroo Tour
518 September 1926 Halifax def. New Zealand 19–1313,0001926–27 New Zealand Kiwis tour
623 November 1929 Australasia def. Halifax 58–98,4401929–30 Kangaroo Tour
730 September 1933 Australia def. Halifax 16–510,3581933–34 Kangaroo Tour
82 October 1937 Halifax def. Australia 12–214,5001937–38 Kangaroo Tour
927 November 1948 Australia def. Halifax 10–86,2501948–49 Kangaroo Tour
1020 September 1952 Australia def. Halifax 39–718,7731952–53 Kangaroo Tour
115 December 1956 Halifax def. Australia 6–32,2541956–57 Kangaroo Tour
127 November 1959 Australia def. Halifax 17–58,2741959–60 Kangaroo Tour
1329 November 1967 Australia def. Halifax 22–25,2851967–68 Kangaroo Tour
1429 October 1986 Australia def. Halifax 36–27,1931986 Kangaroo Tour
156 November 1990 Australia def. Halifax 36–188,7301990 Kangaroo Tour
1616 October 1994 Australia def. Halifax 26–128,3521994 Kangaroo Tour