History of Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby School, one of England's oldest and most prestigious public schools, rose to national prominence in the 1820s through the teaching methods pioneered by its headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, which contributed to a radical change in Public School education in England. Most of the present school buildings, near the centre of the town, date from this period. In 1823 William Webb Ellis is said to have invented Rugby Football when he picked up the ball and ran with it.
History of rugby league
This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French, the Rugby league International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting on 25 January 1948 in Bordeaux. The 1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season's Challenge Cup Final was the first rugby league match to be televised. All spectator sports in the United Kingdom experienced a surge in interest in the years following the end of World War II and rugby league boomed. Large crowds came to be expected as the norm for a period of around 20 years. The total crowds for the British season hit a record in 1949–50, when over 69.8 million paying customers attended all matches. On Saturday 10 November 1951 the first televised international rugby league match was broadcast from Station Road, Swinton, where Great Britain met New Zealand in the second Test of that 1951 series.