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The Club was formed during the miners' strike of 1921 and first
played in the field adjoining the Waggon and Horses before moving
to the present field in 1924.
At first friendly matches were played, until the Club joined the West Riding League in 1927 - with the exception of Newton Hill, they are the longest serving members of the League. UP to 1950 only residents of the village, or Fairburn-born people, could play but this rule was relaxed due to insufficient support. Prior to the 1939-45 war, the school had always a good cricket team and many of these players progressed from the school team to the Village 2nd and eventually the 1st team. The school side played in the Knottingley School Area League and also took part in a competition organised by the Kippax Club. The trophies for winning this were a bat presented by Alan Kippax, an Australian who toured the country with the 1934 Australian Team, and for the runners up a mounted ball, donated by H.G. Vivian who toured with the 1935 New Zealand team. Both these competitions were won by the school team and a certain measure of this success was due to the efforts of Mr. Cookson and Mr. Blackshaw, both Headmasters of the school during the period. During the 20's the village cricket team became associated with the Fryston Colliery Welfare Scheme, who erected a wooden Pavilion and provided a eertain amount of equipment. The wooden Pavilion was blown down during a gale in the winter of 1963 and the present brick structure erected the following Autumn. The association with the Welfare scheme ended in 1965, since when the club have been responsible for their own fund raising. The first success the side had was in 1946 when the team won the 2nd division league and were promoted to the lst Division. Between the years 1957 and 1971, the lst Division Cup was won on no fewer than 7 occasions (this is still a record in the league) and the 1st Division championship Shield three times - probably the period 1966 to 1971 was the "golden era' of the club as the 2nd XI also shared the Championship and won the 2nd Division Cup. |