Northowram AFC were originally thought to have been formed in 1946, or at least that's what we thought until recent archival evidence was brought to our attention, and have had a fairly low key existence as far as honours are concerned in the Halifax & District AFL but anybody who has played for them, supported them or read about them know that this is more than just a football club. The Rams are an institution, a family and have had many great footballers throughout their history and although they have enjoyed more lows than highs have always played the game of football how it is meant to be played, have a camaraderie second to none and always leave an impression on anybody who has had the privilege to be associated with them.

The Second World War

As previously mentioned above, 1946 was the year we thought the Rams were formed but recent archival evidence submitted by Les Burke suggests that Northowram AFC were actually reformed in the 1945/46 season as he can recall a Northowram team playing before the Second World War !!

This pre-Second World War team didn't actually play on "The Rec" but plied their trade on the "Mutton Field" which is now part of the Windmill estate. "Mutton Field" was next to and ran parallel to the graveyard at Heywood Church and the team comprised of the following :-

Larry Normanton (Goalkeeper), Arthur Stocks (Centre Half), Alf and Bill Whittaker, George ‘Pea’ Green (who went on to play for Bradford Park Avenue,Huddersfield Town & Reading), Lewis Brook (Centre Forward who later played for Halifax Town,Huddersfield Town & Oldham Athletic), Gilbert Foster, Eddie Ingham, Harry Bairstow and Albert King.

After the war Northowram AFC switched to playing at the recreation ground (The Rec), although the pitch ran parallel to the Hough in those days, and the team changed at the Quarry House School.

The Class of '81

By far the most successful team in Northowram AFC's history is the 1980/81 Halifax Challenge Cup winning team. This trophy is still the only major silverware in the Rams' trophy cabinet and to this day little, if anything, is known about them amongst the current squad. Yes, the current First Team captain is Matthew Rushworth, son of Alan Rushworth who featured in this team, but other than that not a lot is known about the "Class of 81"...well that is until now !!...step forward with a synopsis, the aforementioned Alan Rushworth.....

"We beat Stump Cross Reserves 2-1 in the Semi-final and then Stump Cross Firsts 1-0 in the Final at Natty Lane with the winning goal coming from Ian Routledge (none of this conceding 5 and scoring 6 in my day!). We then played Stump Cross Firsts in the league the following day but, funnily enough, we weren't that bothered who won. Cedric Thomas (ex Halifax Town), who was our trainer at the time, won quite a sizeable bet off Jack Bottomley of Stump on the result and all the money went behind the bar at the Stocks Arms."