The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional
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 jointly based in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
,
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
,
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 ...
. They were founded as the Coventry Bears in 1998 and entered the third tier of the
British rugby league system
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
There is no system of automatic promotion and relegation between all five tiers although teams have moved between them in the past. Since ...
, currently known as
League 1, in 2015. The club rebranded itself as the Midlands Hurricanes in 2022.
History
1998–2014: Foundation and Amateur years
The club were formed as Coventry Bears in 1998 by a group of university students led by
Alan Robinson. They made an approach to Keith Fairbrother, the
Coventry rugby union club's Chairman and one time rugby league player, with a plan to form a team to play from
Coundon Road Stadium
Coundon Road Stadium in Coventry was the home ground for Coventry R.F.C. from 1921 to 2004. The stadium has now been demolished.
The first game at the ground was against United Services, Portsmouth, with Coventry R.F.C. losing 13–3.
The b ...
.
The club were admitted into 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, ...
for the 2000 season and were unbeaten by any club within their division. They then won their quarter-final against Manchester Knights before being narrowly defeated by only one point in the semi-finals at Super League club Warrington Wolves’
Wilderspool Stadium
Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
History
In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...
. Further success followed in 2001 with the Bears reaching the
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
at Webb Ellis Road,
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
, only to lose out by a very narrow margin in a match against
Teesside Steelers. The following season Coventry won the Rugby League Conference Grand Final in September 2002 when they 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 ...
at
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
. Following on from this success the club applied for, and won, elevation to the newly formed
National League Three.
The Bears reached the
National League Three Grand Final
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* National, Maryland, c ...
in 2004, winning comfortably. The following season Coventry Bears RLFC experienced difficulties and chose to resign from the National League to take time to rebuild and regroup. 2006 saw the return of the Bears as a Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier side, and the club finished the season in second place. They went on to beat
Leicester Phoenix
Leicester Storm are an amateur community rugby league football club based in Leicester, England. They compete in the Conference League South and their Academy Team compete in the 3v Sport Midlands Rugby League. The club's home is Phoenix Park w ...
in the qualifying semi-final to set up a Midlands Grand Final with
Nottingham Outlaws, which ended in defeat.
Coventry defeated Nottingham Outlaws in 2007 to win the Midlands Premier and also won the
Kilkenny 9s
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilkenn ...
, The Bears went on to finish as runners-up to
St Albans Centurions
The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans.
Founded in 1996, they first played in various loca ...
losing 28–20 in the final of the
Harry Jepson Trophy
The Harry Jepson Trophy is a rugby league competition contested by teams from successor leagues to the Rugby League Conference. It is named after Harry Jepson.
History
The Harry Jepson trophy was first contested in 1997 by members of the then S ...
. In 2008, the Bears finished as runners up in the Midlands Premier to Nottingham. In 2010, Coventry linked up with Super League side
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League.
Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...
.
2015–2021: League 1
The Bears were accepted into the semi-professional ranks of
League 1 for the 2015 season, and entered their newly formed reserve side into the
Conference League South in the same season. They finished their first semi-professional season in 12th place. Coventry finished their final season as the Bears in the 2021 League 1 season in 8th place.
2022–present: Rebrand to Midlands Hurricanes
On 3 November 2021 the club announced a major rebranding in an effort to attract a wider support base from the English midlands region. The club will be known as the Midlands Hurricanes for the 2022 RFL League 1 season onwards. As part of the re-branding the club relocated from Butts Park Arena to the Portway Stadium - home of rugby union team Birmingham & Solihull Bees for 2022. Alan Robinson resigned from the Midlands Hurricanes during the 2022 season and is no longer part of the Midlands Hurricanes club in any capacity. The club intends to move to the
Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium is a track and field athletics stadium in Perry Park, Birmingham, England. It hosted the athletics and opening/closing ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Other events held there include the annual British Grand Prix ...
in
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khali ...
in 2023, but no announcements have been made so far.
In May 2022 coach, Richard Squires, was banned from the sport for three months (with one month suspended) by the
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
(RFL) for breaching RFL rules on betting. In his absence, assistant coach, Dave Scott took charge of the team.
Stadiums
1998–2004: Coundon Road
The Bears moved into Coundon Road shortly after their formation in 1998. The ground had been owned and operated by sister rugby union club
Coventry R.F.C. They stayed there for six years until the ground was sold and demolished in 2004. Both clubs moved out to the newly built
Butts Park Arena
Butts Park Arena is a multi-use sports stadium in Spon End, Coventry, England. Its main use is as a Rugby football, rugby stadium (both rugby union, union and rugby league, league). It is the home ground for Coventry R.F.C. (since its opening) an ...
at the other side of Coventry.
2004–2021: Butts Park Arena
The stadium was built in 2004 and currently has one stand, the East Stand, which has a capacity of 3,000 and includes a number of conference and banqueting facilities. The West Stand which was a temporary structure holding 1,000 was removed at the end of the 2005–06 season on grounds of health and safety.
2021 squad
2022 transfers
Gains
Losses
Seasons
Honours
League
*
National League Three:
::Winners (1): 2004
* RFL Midlands Division One:
::Winners (1): 2013
*RLC Midlands Premier:
::Winners (3): 2007, 2009, 2010
*RLC Midlands Division:
::Winners (2): 2001, 2002
* RLC Western Division:
::Winners (1): 2000
Cups
* Harry Jepson Trophy:
::Winners (1): 2002
Nines
* Midlands 9s:
::Winners (1): 2007, 2009, 2013
* Kilkenny 9s
::Winners (1): 2007
Women
* RLC Women's Plate:
::Winners (1): 2010
* RLC Women's South Division:
::Winners (1): 2011
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Midlands Hurricanes
Rugby league teams in the West Midlands (county)
Sport in Coventry
Rugby clubs established in 1998
English rugby league teams