Scrum on down at the stadium

HISTORY will be made at Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend as it plays host to its first non-football event.

- By CONNOR O'NEILL ECHO Reporter

It will stage the second Rugby League Test between England and Australia on Saturday afternoon.

The Rugby League Ashes date back to 1908, with the name adopted from cricket for the inaugural series, and the rivalry returned for the first time in 22 years last weekend.

Goodison Park was the venue on November 18, 1908, when the Kangaroos took on a Northern Union XIll - the original name for the Rugby Football League after 22 clubs resigned from the Rugby Football Union in 1895.

Rhodri Jones, managing director of Rugby League Commercial, admits that Hill Dickinson Stadium was always the number one choice when it came to picking a stadium in the North West.

“We felt we needed a big stadium in the North, and the North West is blessed with stadiums, and then the obvious one was Everton,” Jones told the ECHO.

“We got a warm reception from the club at the time, and we were able to agree to the terms. It was a pretty easy process, really, in terms of shortlisting the stadiums because they were number one on the list for us.