Between 1896 and 1901 the Challenge Cup came back to Batley no less than three times. One hundred years on the Bulldogs' fans wanted to celebrate these events in a way that would be remembered. They approached Proper Job Theatre Company in Huddersfield and asked them to work with the club's Study Centre on a project based on these events.  | | Researching the Bulldogs |
The Study Centre is part of the Playing For Success scheme, supported by the Department of Education and Skills and Batley is one of the first rugby league clubs to become involved. School children who are underachieving in literacy and numeracy skills come along to the Centre to work with specialist staff as well as some of the Club's fans. Mourl Ferryman, who is one of the directors of the Proper Job Theatre, explains: "It was around the centenary of Bradford winning the Rugby League Challenge Cup and they wanted to do something different to celebrate. They wanted to involve the young people from the Study Centre so they approached us. The Batley Bulldogs take their history very seriously. They are very proud of being one of the oldest rugby clubs in Yorkshire and they are very proud of the fact they've been around for a long time. They are really keen to celebrate their history."  | | Mourl |
During the summer an appeal was made to fans and parents for memorabilia and research was started into the history of the Club. Mourl says: "From old programmes, and that kind of stuff, we worked with the young people to write a play in a way that would engage them. We wanted it to be participative. "The way we've made the play is that it is a family unit, a mother and a son, and the son has to do a project about history for homework. His mother is a mad keen Bulldogs' fan and her father is, and her grandfather was."  | | Bringing back the cup, 1901! |
The drama resulting from all this hard work, We Won The Cup, was written by local writer Dan Hobson and directed by Proper Job's James Beale. But it didn't stop there. After being piloted with local schools in November We Won The Cup is being made into a DVD as a permanent record for fans and children alike. And there are to be drama workshops over the Christmas holidays. Mourl adds: "The Christmas workshops are the culmination of the performance and drama end of the project but we are going to continue working with the Study Centre on the development of the DVD as a resource." Mourl feels that working with the Batley Bulldogs in this way is very much part of what Proper Job is about: "The company began in 1985 and it's always been about making drama accessible to people who wouldn't normally be interested in drama or theatre. Alongside that is using drama as a tool for positive change. I think that's the continuum from where we started twenty years ago to where the company is now." Meanwhile, who knows what the future holds for the Bulldogs? | 
