GORTON STREET GAZETTE George Merton, John Lord, Mike Wantling, Rod Steel, Don Preston, Dave Hickman, Pete Gilmore, Bill Allen Today our 1XV entertain Liverpool Collegiate RUFC. The Liverpool Collegiate School was founded in the Everton area of the city in 1843 as three distinct schools, providing education for children from different social classes with the building divided so that pupils could not mix. At this time, the school hall was the only large public meeting hall in Liverpool and as such was used for meetings and concerts by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The boys grammar school, established in 1907, took up rugby in 1919 and in June 1925, a group of former pupils met at the Knotty Ash Hotel to form an Old Boys Rugby Club. In 1958 their name became independent of the "Old Boys” title and in 1998 the club moved to the Liverpool Cricket Club where Pete Best (ex Beatle and former rugby club member) made a donation towards the floodlighting for the training sessions. The first recorded fixture between Eccles and Liverpool Collegiate does not appear to be until the 1974/75 Season when 4 teams from the clubs played on 14th Dec. 1974, with Eccles 1XV wining 6-22, but the Eccles “A”, “Extra A” and "B” teams all losing. Fixtures for 4 teams continued from this point up to the 1985/86 Season. 1977 - 45 years ago A few snippets from the Eccles RFC committee minutes: 7th Feb. - A plea was made for team captains to help in returning the cups, (yes, tea cups as it was poured from an enamel jug for the players after the games), from all changing rooms after the games during the absence of the groundsman on a Saturday.
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