Hornets, Fijians and a girl at Wembley

Michael Ratu one of the original Fijian pioneers, Mark Wynn and Ged Corcoran from Rugby League Ireland with the Rugby League World Cup. Both Hornets and the town have a long association with the local Fijian community, which is the largest outside London

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Rochdale Hornets are set to launch a major heritage project as the town gears up for the Fiji Vs Ireland 2013 Rugby League World Cup fixture.

An award from the Heritage Lottery Fund will allow Hornets to document their history from 1971 onwards (the last time history was documented), further research and publicise the link between Rochdale and Fiji as well as take stock of the local amateur and school rugby scene over the years.

The public will soon be invited to donate items of interest, tell their stories and help shape the project before celebrating the project with a dinner around the historic Rugby League World Cup fixture in October.

Ryan Bradley, Rochdale Hornets CEO and project manager, commented: "There are many great tales told about the 'good old days', and now is time to take stock. The local amateur game has numerous great stories from historic clubs that are now extinct, such as Spotland Rangers, Kirkholt, Milnrow and Newhey etc. and if these stories aren't captured now, they will be lost to future generations, which will be a crying shame."

The £52,000 award from the 'Your Heritage' fund will pay for local community groups to engage with their Heritage through classroom tutorials, and it is the community that will be involved in producing videos, sound recordings and interesting articles, as well as sorting through memoribilia and photos to produce a Rugby League museum at the home of the Hornets.

A book and DVD will also be produced, as well as a 'living' website that will be in use beyond the 12 months of the project.

A 'Spirit of 1922' Hornets Heritage committee has been set up to run and monitor the project, and includes the Rugby League Cares-Heritage Foundation, Touchstones Museum/Link4Life, Beyond the School, Centre for Modern Eduacation as well as representatives from local schools, Hornets fans and Hornets ex players.

One Hornets ex player, Emon Ratu, commented: "Being of Fijian Heritage and playing for Hornets I have great interest in this project. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Hornets but, when you retire, you catch up on your family life, have kids and naturally take a break from the game you spend 25 years in. My son is now coming through the ranks at Mayfield and with the Rochdale Service area, and I want him to know the history of the Ratus, and, likewise, I want him to pass this on to his sons.

"This project will preserve history and allow an archive from which these stories can be told, rather than through hearsay."

Head of youth Matt Calland, 1991 Lancashire Cup finalist with Hornets, added: "I still have my medals, shirts and momentos from my career in a box. They are precious to me and I'm sure the public and fans would get great pleasure out of having access to them. This project will allow those items to be displayed and, if not, be properly preserved, instead of sitting in a shoe box. I can't wait to dig my stuff out and likewise, I can't wait to see what others will have."

The Hornets Heritage Committee will meet on 26 February at Spotland, and formerly launch the project with a specially themed heritage lunch prior to the Hornets v Gateshead Thunder fixture on Sunday 3 March. Ex players will be guests of the club with fans, members and the public able to 'Dine with the legends' . The lunch costs £20, which includes a £12 match ticket, 2 course carvery and tea/coffee.

Anyone wishing to attend is asked to contact the club early to avoid missing out.

info@hornetsrugbyleague.com or 01706 648004.