Today sees the launch of a celebratory exhibition at the Leeds Central Library. The exhibition, that will run until the 20th April, will include a range of different talks and hold a display of 150 images of all facets of rugby across the city in the 15 decades since its inception.
The first talk will be about 'The roots of rugby league in Leeds' on Friday 4th April between 1pm and 2pm in which Professor Tony Collins will be discussing the origins and history of the game in Leeds. The talk will discuss who started rugby in Leeds and how it grew from a small group of young men playing the sport to becoming the pride of tens of thousands of people in the city of Leeds.
The audience will be taken back in time to an age when players would turn out wearing glasses, where schools teams would play adult sides and when ‘soccer’ was unheard of in West Yorkshire. Professor Tony Collins will explain the origins of the major clubs in the city, the road that led to the split between league and union and just why rugby has become so important to the sporting and cultural life of Leeds over the last 150 years.
On Wednesday 9th April between 6pm and 7.30pm there will be a discussion panel with Sir Ian McGeechan, Harry Jepson OBE and Garry Schofield OBE in attendance to discuss their memories of Rugby in Leeds.
There will also be a 'Different Class' book event on Wednesday 15th April between 6pm and 7.30pm. The authors of 'Different Class', Phil Caplan and Ron England will be in attendance to celebrate the launch of their book and to discuss the story of rugby league in schools.
All the above events are free, to book a place at the Roots of Rugby, the Memories or the Different Class event then please call Enquiry Express on 0113 247 6016.