Greatest Moment

1883 - winning the first-ever Heavy Woollen Cup final with Dewsbury & Savile the opposition.

Local Hero

Horace Brearley - father of ex-England skipper Mike.

Bizarre Fact

The Flush Mill Band in full swing greeted the heroes of 1883 when they returned to Heckmondwike.

Founding Fathers

Heckmondwike Cricket Club was officially founded on 28 May 1864, and is the oldest club in North Kirklees. However, its origins are, in reality, much earlier than this.

In 1838 a businessman from Nottingham, Dean Allen, and a group of prominent local merchants, such as William Wharton and Thomas F. Firth, are credited with being founders of the club.

These men arranged matches for their new team against Wakefield, Crosland Moor (Huddersfield), Bradford, Halifax and Harrogate. When September of the club’s first season came around, this is how the results panned out: Won 10, Drawn 4, Lost 6.

The team originally played close to where the current Market Place is sited, moving shortly after to Royle Fold. It was in 1873 that the club moved into Cemetery Road, and that is where it has played ever since.

Batley Battles

With the Second World War over, it was time to return to winning ways for Heckmondwike Cricket Club. The first major victory came in the form of the Heavy Woollen Cup. They defeated arch-rivals Batley by 68 runs in the final of 1945.

This was followed by successive victories over Dewsbury and Hanging Heaton in the same competition in 1947 and 1948. 1948 also saw Heckmondwike crowned champions of the Central Yorkshire Cricket League.

Heckmondwike lost out to Batley side Hanging Heaton in the final of the 1954 Crowther Cup.

Heavy Woollen Joy

Between 1946 and 1974 Heckmondwike appeared in five finals and won four of them. The last of Heckmondwike’s 14 Cup wins came in 1981 against Liversedge. Their last appearance in a final came two years later, when they were surprisingly beaten by Chickenley.

Heckmondwike have the remarkable record of winning 14 of their 19 Heavy Woollen Cup finals - a success rate of 74%, which is much superior to that of any of the other multiple winners. Heckmondwike occupy 3rd place in the all time list of Heavy Woollen Cup contestants.

The Heckmondwike ground at Cemetery Road has hosted the Heavy Woollen Cup final on 22 occasions, more than any other venue except Savile Town. It is, however, almost two decades since the final was last held there.

100 Not Out!

1964 marked the 100th Anniversary of the formation of the Club. No doubt this event led to lots of nostalgia – and thoughts about the future.

A year later, the Heckmondwike club staged a 10-mile sponsored walk to help raise money for ground improvements.

Once again, Heckmondwike produced the goods when it mattered. The seasons of 1976, 1977 and 1978 were arguably the greatest in the history of the Club.

The 1st XI were crowned Central Yorkshire Cricket League champions in all three of these years. They also won the Bradley Trophy for the most points gained in the last six matches of 1977.

1977: not only was this the year of punk and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee; it was also the year that the new clubhouse finally opened its doors. It had been 12 years in the making, but now the wait was finally over. So it seems that Santa did pay Heckmondwike a visit after all, as it officially began trading on Christmas Eve!