Where was the Northern Rugby Football Union founded in 1895?

The Northern Rugby Football Union was founded at the George Hotel in Huddersfield in 1895.

Representatives of northern English rugby clubs met at the George Hotel on 29 August 1895. The meeting followed a dispute over payments to players for time away from work, an issue often called the broken-time dispute. The clubs wanted a system that better reflected the economic realities faced by working-class players.

The break from the Rugby Football Union created a separate organisation for northern clubs. It was initially known as the Northern Rugby Football Union, or NRFU. In 1922, the organisation changed its name to the Rugby Football League, the name by which the English governing body became widely known.

The 1895 meeting is regarded as the foundation of modern rugby league. The George Hotel was later rebuilt, but its association with the sport’s origins remains central to rugby league history. The split was organisational and financial at first; rule changes developed progressively afterward.