It is over 100 years since Broomfield, the home of the Old Crossleyans RUFC, was purchased by the Old Boys Association of Crossley and Porter School at a cost of £1600 and was presented to them by the governors of the school.
In 1919 the old boys raised more money and purchased more land at Broomfield and paid for the construction of a pavilion. But it wasn't until August 1923 that then headmaster of the school, Mr GB Newport, called a meeting to form the Old Crossleyans Rugby Club. The pavilion was erected at Broomfield in 1926 to provide changing rooms.
It had been the intention to build new changing rooms and a pavilion but in 1961 the school governors decided to close Standeven House which was where the boarders (boys) lived and they agreed to lease it to the Old Crossleyans for it to be used for changing and social facilities for the Club and School.
In 1964 Jonathan Crossley, chairman of the governors opened The Old Crossleyans Club at Standeven House.
And so the club now has facilities which are the envy of many and still share facilities with the school to this day. The demise of the cricket section has seen the introduction of a new gym, Junior and Mini pitches in 2017-18. This in addition to the two existing Main pitches and additional playing facility at Kensington.
In 1956 the Old Crossleyans won the Yorkshire Shield under the captaincy of Donald Whiteley and then again in 1958 under the captaincy of Colin Whitehouse.
The Crocs' greatest success was in 1960, when under the captaincy of Johnny Andrew, they won the Yorkshire Cup.
In 1988-89, the team registered a club record 24 straight victories and 2 years later in the 1990-91 season, the team were crowned champions of North One East Division One.
Report from a newspaper of the time
"T'owd tin pot has come back to Halifax - thanks to a spirited performance by Old Crossleyans. In the final of the Yorkshire Rugby Union Challenge Cup, at Morley, Sandal were decisively beaten by nine points (2 tries and a drop goal) to nil. It was a magnificent performance against a team who were considered favorites to take this trophy after having been beaten finalists in 1933-34 and 1957-58.[/b]
Crossleyans, however, were not in the least overawed by this reputation. From the first whistle, Sandal were hustled into making mistakes and were seldom allowed to develop any serious attacking moves.
The score might have been much greater had not Addenbrook had an off-day with his goal-kicking, while Andrew also failed with an easy penalty attempt before the match was two minutes old.
They took the lead after 15 minutes with a superb dropped goal by out-half, Barrett. For most of the second half Crossleyans were on top. Breaking clear from a line-out Wolstenholme gave a timely pass to Whitaker, who streaked over for an unconverted try.
In the closing minutes, Driver scored a picture try inthe corner after a thrilling 60-yard run. It was a proud moment for Crossleyans, and the culmination of a wonderful team effort when John Andrew, the captain, received the cup from Mrs J. Warrington, the wife of the president of the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union."
1990-91 squad who were crowned champions of North East Division One.
They were coached by Stephen Whiteley and captained by Lyndon Mitchell.
Crocs squad from 1988-89 season.
Under the stewardship of Paul Jackson as coach and led by captain Steve Lumb, they achieved 24 straight wins in the season.
