Bolton Mets RLFC

Bolton Mets RLFC – History

The club was founded in 1995 as Breightmet ARLFC following the dissolution of the old Bolton RLFC team. J Dorning, A Knight and M Appleyard put an advert in the Bolton Evening News to see what the response would be to starting a new Rugby League team. A meeting was then arranged with around a dozen interested players turning up. The North-West Counties league was then approached, who put us in contact with the Manchester district. It was agreed that we play a season of friendlies before joining Division 6 of the North-West Counties League.

Former St Helens and ex Welsh rugby union star Frank Wilson, who was at the time coaching Manchester University, agreed to help us during our first season. With the help of Frank and one or two university players we managed to survive that opening season.

For the 1999-2000 season the club name was changed to Bolton Mets (Mets being short for Breightmet) in order to help attract a larger number of potential players and raise the profile of the club.

The 2001-2002 season was difficult with a few key players leaving the club, the resignation of our coach and the unavailability our home ground for much of this season.

Season 2002-2003 was again very difficult with the Mets retaining their Division 4 status (despite finishing bottom) by virtue of completing all their fixtures. A decision was made to request relegation to enable the club to compete more effectively, regroup and hopefully attract more players. With a lot of hard work by the committe things were put back on an even keel with everyone pulling in the same direction and various other cliches.

Season 2003-2004 finally saw the Mets able to become competetive again after we were relegated to Division 5. After losing 7 of the first nine games we then won a club record 9 in a row to narrowly miss promotion. A few new players and a few returnees helped make a massive difference..

Season 2004-2005 by contrast was a major disappointment. With effectively retaining the same playing personnel and recruitment of a few others hopes were high for a promotion challenge. However, a run of injuries and unavailabilities coupled with some low turnouts for training all conspired to the Mets underperforming.

Season by Season

Season	Competition	Record	Final Position

1995/1996	-	Friendlies Only
1996/1997	NWCL Division 6	W2 (Preston 13-12 & Widnes 24-14) D2 L16	10 of 11
1997/1998	NWCL Division 6	W4 (Pendle 44-16, Westhoughton 16-14 & 26-11, Heyside Eagles 16-12) D1 L19	12 of 13
1998/1999	NWCL Division 6	W7 D0 L13	7 of 11
1999/2000	NWCL Division 6	W13 D0 L7	4 of 12
2000/2001	NWCL Division 5	W13 D0 L9	5 of 12
2001/2002	NWCL Division 4	W3 D0 L19	12 of 12
2002/2003	NWCL Division 4	W2 D0 L18	11 of 11
2003/2004	NWCL Division 5	W12 D0 L8	5 of 11
2004/2005	NWCL Division 5	W9 D0 L9	5 of 10
2005/2006	NWCL Division 4	W12 D2 L4	3 of 10

Biggest Victory: 73-4 vs Chorley Panthers 2004
Biggest Defeat: 86-0 vs Blackpool Scorpions 2001 (although we wuz robbed)

Match Reports

Match reports are printed in the Bolton Evening News on Wednesdays following matches. Archive match reports, some of which can be accessed below, and other articles on the Mets may be accessed through the search facility on the Bolton Evening News Website.