Birkenhead Wanderers was a (semi) professional rugby league club. The club was based in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 (population approx. 85,000) within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral

The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...

 in Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is on the west bank of the River Mersey

River Mersey

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

, opposite the city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. Historically

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 it is part of Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

.

The club became members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League

Rugby Football League

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

) and played for five full seasons from 1901-02

1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

 to 1903-04

Only limited County League information is available for the first season (1901-02

1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

).

Early days

Birkenhead Wanderers FC was formed as a Rugby Union Club some time before 1895.

During the early years (during the period playing under RFU

Rugby Football Union

The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...

 rules), the club had a prominent player who gained international caps. Samuel "Sam" Houghton

Samuel Houghton

Samuel "Sam" Houghton was a rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1890s who at representative level played for England, and Cheshire, and at club level for Runcorn, and Birkenhead Wanderers, playing at Fullback, i.e. number 15...

, while playing for Birkenhead Wanderers, was picked to play for England in the first of the 1896 Home Nations Championship

1896 Home Nations Championship

The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

 games on 4 Jan 1896 and was then picked to play in the second match of the tournament on 1 February. By this time he had re-signed for his old club Runcorn, who had now changed codes to Northern Union.

Northern Union

Sometime after the Schism

1897 Challenge Cup

The first Rugby League Challenge Cup competition was held in 1897, and although much has been written about the final, there is a dearth of information about the competition as a whole.- Background :...

, Birkenhead Wanderers decided to change codes and joined the Northern Union.

They entered the Challenge Cup Competition

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 in 1900-01 and lost 2-10 at home to Widnes

Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

 on 23 March 1901 in the 3rd round.

They joined the ranks of the (semi) professionals when they became members of the Northern Union

Rugby Football League

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

 in 1901-02

1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

 and played for one season in the Lancashire Senior Competition

Rugby league county leagues

The Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...

, which was effectively Division 2 (West). Although they were from Cheshire, they, like several other Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 clubs and some Cumberland

Cumberland League

The Cumberland League is a series of rugby league divisions in the traditional county of Cumberland.The league is run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association . Teams from the Cumberland league can apply for election to the National Conference League if they meet minimum...

 clubs, participated in the Lancashire Competitions. The club managed a mid-table position of 7th out of 13 clubs.

At the end of the 1901-02

1901-02 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1901–02 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the seventh season of rugby league football.-Season summary:The top seven sides from both the Lancashire and the Yorkshire Senior 1900-01 competitions of the NRFU, resigned and merged into a new league in 1901-02, that was won by Broughton Rangers...

 season, the County Leagues elected 18 teams to join the new Division 2 (7 from Lancashire and 10 from Yorkshire and new member South Shields

South Shields (Rugby League)

South Shields was a professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields South Shields was a (semi) professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields South Shields was a (semi) professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields (known locally as just...

) with the existing second competition scrapped. This meant that teams were excluded from the senior competitions leaving them with several options:-

a) Join the new Lancashire League or the Lancashire Combination (reserve grade)

b) Join a new Yorkshire Senior League

c) reverting to amateur status within the Northern Union

d) revert back to rugby union

e) turn to Association Football, which many clubs did

f) fold

In season 1902-03

1902-03 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1902–03 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the eighth season of rugby league football.-Season summary:League Champions: HalifaxChallenge Cup Winners: Halifax 2nd Division Champions: Keighley...

 Birkenhead Wanderers joined the new 2nd Division, where they would stay for the remainder of their (semi) professional existence. The club again managed a mid-table position of 9th out of 18 clubs.

Before the start of their third and final season 1903-04 the club dropped the “Wanderers” suffix, becoming plain Birkenhead.
They ended the season in 14th position out of the 17 clubs.

The following season, 1904-05

1904-05 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1904–05 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the tenth season of rugby league football.-Season summary:Oldham won their first Division One Championship whilst Warrington won the Challenge Cup. St...

 Birkenhead started off, lost their first four matches failing to score even one solitary point, and resigned from the league. No further history is known for the club.

They are mentioned again in a conflicting report about Prenton (the district) that states – “The Tranmere Rovers came to the Prenton Park

Prenton Park

Prenton Park is an association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C. The club moved to the current Prenton Park in 1912. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent occurring in 1995 in response to the requirement of the Taylor Report...

 Stadium in 1912, after taking the grounds back from the Birkenhead Wanderers Rugby League to whom they had leased it in 1902”

Stadium

Tranmere Rovers was founded In 1884 and played the first games at Steele’s Field. This was just a field with no facilities, named after the landlord of the adjacent Beekeepers’ pub.

At the end of the 1886/87 season they bought the ground next door from the rugby club, and moved to this next door field. This 'field' was called Ravenshaw’s Field after a local landowning dignitary.

The new ground was quickly enclosed so that gate money could be taken and later improvements included dressing rooms, a small stand and turnstiles.

In 1895, what had previously been known as the "Borough-road enclosure" was re-named Prenton Park

Prenton Park

Prenton Park is an association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C. The club moved to the current Prenton Park in 1912. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent occurring in 1995 in response to the requirement of the Taylor Report...

 even though it was outside the Prenton area boundaries.
Historically, this in now known as "Old Prenton Park", and it is on this ground that Birkenhead Wanderers played all their Rugby.

In 1912 Tranmere Rovers moved into their 3rd home, which was also named "Prenton Park

Prenton Park

Prenton Park is an association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C. The club moved to the current Prenton Park in 1912. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent occurring in 1995 in response to the requirement of the Taylor Report...

", to make way for housing developments. They played their first home game on 9 March 1912.

Club league record

The League positions for Birkenhead Wanderers for the 3 years in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League are given in the following table :-

Season	Competition	Pos	Team Name	Pl	W	D	L	PW	PA	Diff	Pts	% Pts	No of teams in league	Notes	Ref
1901-02	Lancs Sen Comp	9	Birkenhead Wand								19		13
			Only limited County League information is available for this season.
1902-03	2nd Div	9	Birkenhead Wand	34	14	6	14	125	140	-15	34		18
At the start of season Birkenhead Wanderers dropped the Wanderers suffix.
1903-04	2nd Div	14	Birkenhead	32	7	0	257	75	334	-259	14		17
1904-05	2nd Div	**	Birkenhead	4	0	0	4	0	93	-93	**		14
			Birkenhead’s results expunged from records.

RL = Single Division; Pl = Games Played: W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose; PF = Points For; PA = Points Against; Diff = Points Difference (+ or -); Pts = League Points

% Pts = A percentage system was used to determine league positions due to clubs playing varying number of fixtures and against different opponents

League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.