Rothwell Grammar School came into existence around 1933, and was always a school that believed in sport and recreation as a contrast to tutorial studies, the old maxim "a healthy body leads to a healthy mind etc." Photo courtesy of Steve CallineIn its history, the school produced many fine sportsmen and athletes, who went on to play for various other clubs in the surrounding hinterlands. In the 1950's at least, the school played an annual fixture against the old boys of the school (who played in kit borrowed from other clubs, usually Castleford) and two or three of the old scholars thought it might be a good idea to form their own rugby club and preserve some of the old traditions of the school. In 1960, this idea came to fruition, with a few friendlies played, before a full fixture list was arranged for the 1960-61 season. At first, the club had to play weak fixtures as the modus operandi of that time ensured a class system amongst the elite of rugby. Several former pupils, who had been playing senior rugby in the area, joined the club and the name of Old Rodillians was selected, depicting the old name of inhabitants from the Rothwell area. With this strengthening of players, the clubs fortunes quickly grew and they became a force to be reckoned with, the result being better fixtures being obtained and in 1962-63 the club had their best season (on paper) with the record of played 26 won 25 and drew 1, scoring 700 points in the process and conceding only 55. They also fancied their chances of winning both the Yorkshire Shield and the Yorkshire Cup, but due to the extraordinary bad weather after Christmas, both competitions were cancelled.

In this season Ken Hardman scored 50 tries, which is still a club record. Obviously, the club was out of its depth on the playing side and better fixtures were being obtained all the time along with more recruits from the school. However, as the first team grew in strength, there were still not enough regular players for the second fifteen, they quite often turned out one or two short and so at an annual general meeting in 1967, the monumental decision to become an open club was taken.
Photo courtesy of Steve Calline