Rugby league is to have a new national museum ... but it won’t be in Huddersfield.
Fans of the game in the town will be sad to see the museum leave its birthplace and move over to Bradford – and apparently talks as to where it will be have been going on for two years with a group of people from Huddersfield desperately trying to keep it here.
The museum, which has been without a permanent home since the closure of Huddersfield’s George Hotel – rugby league’s birthplace – three years ago, is due to open in Bradford City Hall in August 2020 to mark the game’s 125-year anniversary.
Parts of the collection are now at Heritage Quay which is the heritage museum on Huddersfield University’s town centre campus.
Huddersfield Giants chairman Ken Davy said several people in Huddersfield had been battling to try to keep the collection in Huddersfield but in the end it has come down to a lack of funding.
He said a bid to have it at the John Smith’s Stadium was rejected by the lottery which he said was a shame as it would have been another great attraction for the proposed HD One leisure development next to the stadium.
Mr Davy said: “It’s certainly disappointing that it will end up in Bradford but the position is that Bradford has been able to put significant resources behind it and as much as we would have liked to have retained it we weren’t able to generate the funding that would be required.
“We tried pretty hard to keep it in Huddersfield but it’s just not been possible.”
Mr Davy understands that there will be travelling exhibitions so all being well it will come here at times.
Bradford was selected following an extensive consultation process led by a working group chaired by Dr Kevin Moore, the director of the celebrated National Football Museum.
Chris Rostron, head of the charity Rugby League Cares, said: “Through all our discussions with the city council and its officers we have been overwhelmed by the positivity for this very prestigious project.
“The city’s commitment to working with Rugby League Cares to help us realise our ambitions to make the museum a world-class attraction shone through from day one.”
The museum will be funded from a range of sources, including private benefactors and grants from central Government.
Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “It’s fantastic that Bradford has been chosen. We are delighted by this news and are committed to working with all relevant parties to ensure that the museum is a success.”
Former Huddersfield Examiner rugby writer Ian Laybourn said on Twitter: “Shame it’s not Huddersfield but great news that the new national rugby league museum will have a permanent home.”
