West Park (St Helens) RFC is a rugby union club based in St Helens, Merseyside. The 1st XV currently play in South Lancs/Cheshire 1 at the seventh level of the English rugby union system following their relegation from North 1 West at the end of the 2016–17 season.
Early years
West Park RFC was formally established in August 1947 at a meeting held in the Black Bull Hotel, though occasional matches had been played the previous season under the title "Catholic Grammar School Old Boys." Games were played on the abbreviated school pitch and in 1950 the club acquired the first pitch they could call their own, named the 'Rose Bowl' The team regularly had to collect debris that had erupted from the ground, and on one occasion a match was interrupted whilst a full-sized perambulator was excavated.
Another match venue was the Alder Hey Road field: "Remarkable for the depth of its mud, making Passchendaele and Ypres look like the Gobi desert in high summer."
After exhaustive searches by club officials, the land was eventually leased at Red Rocks, Eccleston Hill for the season 1954/55. Club members spent the season – on what is now Carmel College playing fields – digging drains with the help of an elderly milk horse, called Dolly, borrowed from Friths' Farm. The same season saw the opening of the club's first dressing rooms and club room, stark and bare (one passer-by thought the building was a new public convenience), but nevertheless the member's pride and joy. Periodic improvements and extensions resulted in the fields' state today.
The original pitches were lost in a land deal which allowed Education Authority land to be used by Pilkingtons' for their Head Office and the War Department to gain room for expansion off Croppers Hill, saw Carmel College to be erected. The land where the present pitches are situated was acquired in 1960/61 and an extensive earth-moving operation was required to produce the current two pitches on a split-level arrangement.
In recent years, the clubhouse required extensive renovation when affected by subsidence from a burst water main.
1950s – 1970s
West Park's first trophy was won at the Caldy Sevens in 1953, and as runners-up at both the Birkenhead Park Sevens and Manchester Sevens tournaments. Season 1953/54 saw the first fifteen unbeaten throughout and in 1957/58 membership was opened to all instead of limitation to 'Old Boys of West Park School' and 'Invited Guests'. Although many players moved on to senior clubs to gain county and, in the case of Martin Regan, international honours, David Griffiths became the first serving West Park player to be selected for Lancashire.
West Park's inaugural trip was to Éire where they gained victory in the Kildare Sevens tournament. Positive results in Sevens during the next few years enhanced the club reputation.
Don Gullick was appointed as team coach in 1968. In 1962, the first Colts team was formed, and this provided a source of players to supplement the regular intake from West Park School, which was to cease in years to come with the school closure. Although the Colts have figured intermittently over the years, in recent seasons Neil Ashurst, Martin Strett and Sean Fletcher all gained international honours at this age group. Veteran Fifteens took to the field for several seasons as membership expanded and, more recently, a Junior Section was formed for age groups from under-9s up to under-16s, plus a Youth Section including both Junior and Senior Colts teams.
1970s onwards
In pre-league rugby union days, the Lancashire RFU was one of the stronger teams in the county, and it was a sign of West Park's progress that in the 70s, Mike Glover, Rob Briers, Bernard Barrow, Bill Lawrenson and Barrie Barton gained County honours. Glover and Briers were in the County side that won the Championship in 1972/73. Rob Briers went on to gain 44 County caps and to represent both the North and England under-23s.
Players began being recruited by the senior clubs, and in succeeding years, West Park regularly had to rebuild their side. The 'Professional Code', as it was then known, was also not slow in recognising rugby talent, and in one season sevens players turned to Rugby league, with two going on to International honours.