Hunslet R.L.F.C.

For the original club founded in 1883 and dissolved in 1973, see Hunslet F.C. (rugby league).
Hunslet R.L.F.C.
Club information
Full name Hunslet Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s) Parksiders
Hawks
Website www.hunsletrlfc.com
Colours
Founded 1883
Current details
Ground(s)
Coach(s) James Coyle
Competition League 1

Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which plays in Championship One. Founded in 1973 as New Hunslet, a replacement for the original Hunslet F.C., they became Hunslet in 1979 and played as Hunslet Hawks between 1995 and 2016.

History

1973-1996: New club

In July 1973, the original Hunslet club was wound up because no suitable new location could be found that was financially viable. The £300,000 proceeds of the sale of Parkside were distributed to shareholders.

Due to the efforts of their former Great Britain forward Geoff Gunney (MBE), local businessmen and supporters the club managed to reform as New Hunslet for the 1973–74 season and moved to the Leeds Greyhound Stadium and erected iron American football posts. The resurrected club had a new badge depicting a rising phoenix to symbolise their rebirth. In 1974, New Hunslet adopted green and white as team colours because the traditional myrtle, white and flame colours were still registered to the former Parkside-based club, and they would not release them. The stay at the greyhound stadium was cut short when the owners closed the ground and arranged to demolish everything on the site.

In 1978, coach Bill Ramsey put a lot of pressure on the RFL and finally got permission to use the traditional colours. The club reverted to Hunslet for the 1979–80 season. With the closure of the Greyhound stadium, the next ground to host Hunslet was Mount Pleasant, Batley, for two seasons, before Hunslet moved to Leeds United's Elland Road football stadium then owned by Leeds City Council. After leaving Elland Road, Hunslet had a brief spell at Bramley.

On 19 November 1995, the club, now known as Hunslet Hawks, moved to the South Leeds Stadium, only about half a mile from Parkside. On that day, Leigh were the guests at Hunslet's first home game for twenty-two years. They then narrowly missed out on promotion from Division Two in 1996.[1] Coach Steve Ferres left to join Huddersfield and David Plange took over as player-coach.

1996-2009: Summer era

Old crest

In 1997 the Hawks played in the first (and last) Challenge Cup Plate Final losing 60-14 to Hull Kingston Rovers. It was the Hawks first appearance at Wembley Stadium since 1965. Also in 1997, the Hawks were promoted to the First Division as champions.[1]

In 1999 as a possible merger between Hunslet and Bramley was debated.[2] In 1999 Hunslet won the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final against Dewsbury, 12–11, at Headingley.[1] After that game the Hawks were denied entry to Super League by the Rugby Football League who cited a document called Framing the Future as justification. This caused a number of players to leave the club and for the average attendance to fall by more than 1,200 to 800. A link-up with Leeds Rhinos saw Plange go to Headingley as Academy coach.

Paul March was the player/coach at Hunslet, joining midway through the 2009 season following the resignation of Graeme Hallas. March guided Hunslet to a 6th-place finish and a play-off spot in Championship 1. Hunslet travelled to Blackpool in the first week of the play-offs winning, 18–21, to set up an elimination semi-final against Oldham in which Hunslet were comfortably beaten, 54–30.

2010-present: Promotions and silverware

In 2010 Paul March led Hunslet to their first silverware for over 11 years by securing the Co-operative Championship 1 title, and subsequent survival in 2011.

In 2012, Barry Eaton took over as coach. In 2014 Hunslet won the Grand Final after extra time against Oldham, thus gaining promotion to the Championship. Barry Eaton left in late January 2016 to join Leeds Rhinos and was replaced by his assistant coach and former Hunslet Hawks player Matt Bramald. Bramald left the club at the end of the 2016 season having completed his contract. He was replaced by former Hunslet player James Coyle.

Hunslet Hawks returned to their original name of Hunslet RLFC for the 2017 season following an overwhelming fan vote in favour of their original name. Fans were then asked to choose between the clubs' original 'Rampant Lion' crest and the 'Phoenix Rising' crest adopted by the club in 1973 when the club was reformed. Fans voted 54% to 46% in favour of the lion.

Stadiums

1973-1980: Leeds Greyhound Stadium

The new Hunslet clubs first ground was the Elland Road Greyhound Stadium in Beeston after they were told they could not play at Parkside. American football posts were erected to be used as goal posts.

1980-1982: Mount Pleasant

In 1982, the greyhound stadium closed and Hunslet were left homeless. There only option was to move out of Leeds and ground share with Batley for two seasons while they searched for a permanent home in Leeds.

1983-1995: Elland Road

Main article: Elland Road

In 1983, after leaving Batley, Hunslet negotiated a deal with Leeds City Council to play at Leeds United's Elland Road, which the council owned at the time. This was their permanent home ground until they had the opportunity to return to play in Hunslet for the first time since the original Hunslet club had been dissolved.

1995-present: South Leeds Stadium

Main article: South Leeds Stadium
The grandstand at the South Leeds Stadium

Hunslet moved into the South Leeds Stadium after it was built in 1995. The stadium is used to host athletics and also has a swimming pool and other facilities the club can use. The stadium has one main stand that accommodates the grounds 5,000 capacity.

Past coaches

2016 squad

* Announced on 18 February 2016:

2016 Squad Numbers

No Player Position Former club
1 Jimmy Watson Full Back Leeds
2 Mo Agoro Wing Oldham
3 Jake Normington Centre East Leeds
4 Ayden Faal Centre Batley
5 James Duckworth Wing Leeds
6 Simon Brown (VC) Stand Off Doncaster
7 Danny Ansell Half Back Wakefield Trinity
8 Michael Haley Prop Featherstone Rovers
9 Jack Lee (C) Hooker York
10 Lewis Reed Prop Keighley
11 Brooke Broughton Second Row York
12 Ben Crane Utility Forward Hull Dockers
13 Liam Mackay Loose Forward Featherstone Rovers
14 George Flanagan Hooker Featherstone Rovers
15 Mufaro Mvududu Centre, Second Row London Skolars
16 Matthew Tebb Hooker Dewsbury
17 Marcus Elliott Utility Back Dewsbury
18 Aston Wilson Centre Unattached
19 Matt Carbutt Prop, Back Row Doncaster
20 Danny Thomas Half Back Oxford
21 Nathan Darby Prop Featherstone Rovers
22 Craig Robinson Prop Doncaster
23 Chris Buttery Utility Forward Unattached
24 Jack Pickles Prop, Back Row York
25 Jay Leary Prop, Back Row York
26 Austin Bell Prop, Back Row York
27 Lee Waterman Utility Back Doncaster
28 Ritchie Barnett Wing Keighley
29 Daniel Williams Second Row Stainland Stags
30 Jamie Milburn Prop Oxford
31 Lee Mapals Wing Gloucestershire All Golds
32 Zach Johnson Prop Dewsbury - On Loan
HC Head Coach
AC Mark Cass Assistant Coach

2017 transfers

Gains

Player Club Contract length Date Ref
England Jack Coventry Featherstone Rovers 1 Year September 2016 [3]
England Jack Walton Doncaster RLFC 1 Year October 2016 [4]
Republic of Ireland Gavin Duffy Unattached 1 Year October 2016 [5]
Republic of Ireland Nyle Flynn Leeds Rhinos 1 Year October 2016 [6]
England Joe Sanderson Leeds Rhinos 1 Year November 2016 [7]
England Joel Gibson Thornhill Trojans 1 Year November 2016 [8]
England Cameron Leeming Wyos Roos 1 Year November 2016 [9]
England Brett Whitehead Fylde RU 1 Year November 2016 [10]
England Jack Norfolk Leeds Rhinos 1 Year November 2016 [11]

Losses

Player Club Contract length Date
England Matthew Tebb Shaw Cross Sharks 1 Year June 2016
England Ben Crane Released 1 Year August 2016
England Craig Robinson Retirement N/A September 2016
England Lee Mapals [12] Suspended 4 Years September 2016
England Marcus Elliott Hemel Stags 1 Year September 2016
England Jamie Milburn Hemel Stags 1 Year September 2016
England Richie Barnett Doncaster RLFC 1 Year October 2016
Jamaica Mo Agoro Gloucestershire All Golds 1 Year October 2016
England James Duckworth Featherstone Rovers 1 Year October 2016
England Simon Brown Released October 2016
England Ben Crane Released October 2016
England Stewart Sanderson Released October 2016
England Ayden Faal Released October 2016

Players earning international caps while at Hunslet Hawks

Other notable players

These players have either; won Challenge Cup, Rugby Football League Championship, Yorkshire Cup, Yorkshire League, have received a Testimonial match, were international representatives before, or after, their time at Hunslet, or are notable outside of rugby league.

  • Frank Wagstaff c.-1935
  • Gordon Waite c.-1951
  • Frederick "Fred" Ward (1965 Challenge Cup Runner-up and Captain)
  • Frank Watson c.-1946
  • John "Johnny" Wolford
  • Matt Wray

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History". Hunslet RFLC. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Sport: Rugby League: News Historic name disappears from league". BBC News. 6 October 1999. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Hunslet add Coventry". Love Rugby League. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Hunslet sign Walton from Doncaster". Love Rugby League. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Hunslet sign Duffy". Love Rugby League. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hunslet sign Nyle Flynn". Love Rugby League. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Hunslet swoop to sign Sanderson". Love Rugby League. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Hunslet swoop to sign Gibson from Thronhill". Dewsbury Reporter. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hunslet sign Leeming as Carbut commits". Love Rugby League. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Whitehead signs for Hunslet". Love Rugby League. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Hunslet land Norfolk". Love Rugby League. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Hunslet winger Mapals handed four-year ban for doping offence". Yorkshire Evening Post. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.

External links

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