Who We Are
The Old Brodleians rugby club, also known as the "Brods", was founded in 1930 when a group of former pupils from Hipperholme Grammar School wanted to continue their sporting pursuits beyond their school days. Other than a brief pause following the outbreak of World War II, the Brods has been playing rugby, at numerous locations in Hipperholme, ever since.
Woodhead Park, off Denholmegate Road, has featured Brods matches from the very beginning but finally became our permanent home in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, we became the first rugby club in Calderdale to start a junior section adding a new weighty addition to the Brods' offering.
For forty year's the clubhouse was a wooden building which, in a former life, was an RAF hospital hut, but 2003 saw the opening of the current hospitality space.
More than just rugby
Our playing fields are also used by Hipperholme Grammar School, Northowram Football Club, the Calderdale Locomotives Flag Football Club, our own weekly running club and we host every primary and secondary school in the district for their annual Cross Country heats and finals.
Our clubhouse has been used as a Polling Station, for Weight Watches meetings, school proms, Overgate Hospice Community Hubs, BabySensory Classes, various charity nights and birthday/anniversary/funeral/reunion parties. We are currently home to Sixth Form students studying for a BTEC Diploma in Sports Coaching and Development.
Award-winning club
In 2021 we were presented with "The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service", said to be the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups, citing the club as "providing rugby for all ages and delivering huge benefits to their community".
Our voluntary endeavour doesn't just stop with the rugby. We're proud to play host to the area's biggest annual bonfire plot every November and our Brodstock Music Festival has built its own firm following over the past 11 years whilst raising over £200,000 for good causes in the process.
