Bramley Buffaloes RLFC is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club from the Bramley area of West

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

At the end of the 1999 season

Bramley RLFC Bramley RLFC was a rugby league club from the Bramley area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, that folded following the 1999 season. The club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed before the formation of the Northern Union in 18 ...

resigned from the

Northern Ford Premiership The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003. During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...

to become a feeder team for Leeds, but this never materialised. Bramley applied to rejoin the

in 2000 but were rejected whilst a similar bid from

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: *Gateshead Thunder (1999) Gateshead Thunder was a professional rugby league club founded in 1999 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, which competed in the 1999 Super League but then merged with Hull Sharks af ...

was accepted. They had planned to play games at the home of soccer club Farsley Celtic and progressively upgrade the ground, this may have been the cause of the rejection. This was rejected by the directors of the club at a public meeting. They were reformed as a supporter-owned club, Bramley Rugby League Community Club (aka Bramley Buffaloes) as an Industrial and Provident Society. The new Bramley club applied again to rejoin the Rugby Football League several times, in 2001 playing at the home of soccer club Farsley Celtic, this was rejected as the ground did not meet the minimum criteria for grounds as per the Framing the Future guidelines and for the 2003 season with their home games to be played at Morley Rugby Union Club, with the long-term aim of establishing their own ground. They were rejected despite meeting the grounds criteria because the stadium was not in Bramley and other clubs in the competition feared the Buffaloes would steal their fans. and joined National League Three, also fielding a side in the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

. The first game against

Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks Sheffield Hawks ARLFC is a rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The Open Age team plays winter rugby in the Pennine League. They also field junior teams from age 6 up to 16. The club has a strong junior setup, with ...

drew a crowd of more than 1,200. In that first 2004 season, coached by Phil Hellewell, the club reached the NL3 Championship semi-finals, losing at eventual champions

Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club jointly based in Birmingham and Coventry, West Midlands, England. They were founded as the Coventry Bears in 1998 and entered the third tier of the British rugby league system, ...

. In 2005 the Buffaloes went a step further reaching the Grand Final at Widnes, losing in the last quarter to

Bradford Dudley Hill Bradford Dudley Hill Rugby League Club is an English rugby league team based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Originally formed after the First World War, the club was re-established in 1948, and since 2006 has played in the National Conference ...

. The third season saw

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

take over as head coach. He took Buffaloes to the Grand Final at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

where the Buffaloes beat

Hemel Stags Hemel Stags are an amateur rugby league club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. They were semi-professional and played in Betfred League 1 from 2013 until 2018. They withdrew from the professional system when their licence was purchased ...

30 points to 8. In 2007, NL3 was rebranded as the

Rugby League Conference National Division The Rugby League Conference National Division (known as the National League Three From 2003 to 2003) was the fourth division of the British rugby league system. In 2012, it became the seventh tier of the system and was known as the National Confe ...

. The Buffaloes finished top again to take the Minor Premiers Trophy, but were beaten by

Featherstone Lions Featherstone Lions are an amateur rugby league club from Featherstone, West Yorkshire who play in the National Conference League and the Yorkshire Men's League The juniors (U7 - U18) play in the Yorkshire Junior & Youth League. The club also ha ...

in the final held at Headingley. In November 2008, Paul Cook left his post as head coach of Bramley Buffaloes to take up an assistant coach role at

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. Mark Butterill was appointed head coach with Jon Nicholls being appointed assistant coach. Buffaloes were again crowned Minor Premiers, finishing top once more but lost to Celtic Crusaders Colts in the Grand Final despite beating them three times during the season. Bramley Buffaloes and Rodley Rockets ARLFC merged from the start of 2014. The new club will play under the Bramley Buffaloes name with their home matches at Rodley’s Canal Bank ground, but on 16 April 2015, the club announced that they had to pull out of the Yorkshire Men's League for the 2015 season (due to having no coach and a lack of players), but hope to be back for the 2016 season. The club returned to action in the

Yorkshire Men's League The Yorkshire Men's League is a rugby league competition for clubs in Yorkshire. It is a successor league for the Rugby League Conference also comprising clubs from the CMS Yorkshire league, Pennine League and Hull & District League. History ...

, playing out of Bramley Phoenix, effectively starting again, in division 5. The club appointed Steve Langton, the ex

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

and

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

player. Langton has brought a new vigour to the club and the club has refound its impetus.

Honours

: 2006¹, 2009 *

Premier Division Champions 2014 ¹ Then known as National League Three.

Past coaches

Also see '' :Bramley Buffaloes coaches'' * Phil Hellewell 2004-05 *

2006-08 * Mark Butterill 2009-10 * Peter Roe Jan 2011-April 2011 *

Chris Gardner Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954) is an American businessman and motivational speaker. During the early 1980s, Gardner struggled with homelessness while raising a toddler son. He became a stockbroker and eventually founded his ow ...

April 2011 * Craig Lingard 2012 *

Steve Gill Steve Gill (born November 15, 1956) is an American conservative talk radio host based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a political commentator and radio host, and was the political editor of the website ''The Tennessee Star'' prior to his August 20 ...

2013 - 2015 * Steve Langton 2016

Records

Player records

*Most goals in a match: 13 by Paul Drake vs

, 24 April 2005 *Most points in a match: 36 by Paul Drake vs

Underbank Rangers Underbank Rangers are a rugby league team based in Holmfirth near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They play in the Premier Division of the National Conference League. The club also competes in the Yorkshire Men's League.Underbank are the second o ...

, 4 September 2005 *Most goals in a season: 146 by Paul Drake, 2005 *Most points in a season: 382 by Paul Drake, 2005

Club records

*Highest score for: 86–0 vs

Essex Eels Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, 19 June 2005

Bibliography

Gateshead and Bramley sweat

Bramley apply to rejoin RFL

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramley Buffaloes Rugby League Conference teams Sport in Leeds Rugby clubs established in 2003 Rugby league teams in West Yorkshire English rugby league teams 2003 establishments in England