Legend has has it that during a game of football at Rugby School in 1823, Salford lad William Webb Ellis, with a disregard for the rules, first picked up the ball and ran away with it.  Eccles Rugby Football Club took a little longer to find its feet with the game. The first public record of an Eccles team was 4th January 1881 when they participated in a cup competition organised by Swinton Lions. At this time Swinton were recognised as the strongest team in Lancashire and did much to encourage the community clubs of the district, from where they sourced their players.