Kippax Knights are an amateur

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 11 ...

team based in Kippax, Leeds,

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 ...

. The team plays 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 ...

History

1948-2009

Kippax Welfare rugby league has been a part of Kippax village for many years. The first team was formed in 1948 by Jack Kielty based at the ''Old Tree inn''. In 1958 Kippax went on to win the Yorkshire Cup beating Castleford Lock Lane. By the late 1960s through to the 70s, Kippax were now playing from the ''White Swan''. Kipaax has played in the Challenge Cup qualifying rounds on numerous occasions, but 1973–74 was the first time Kippax played in the proper first round of the Challenge Cup coming up against Leigh Centurions which Kippax fell just short of winning. In the early 1980s, Kippax moved to the Longdike Lane facilities. This also saw the introduction of youth and junior teams, two England and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

internationals,

Danny Orr Daniel Crawford Orr (born 17 May 1978), is an English rugby league coach and former player. He is an assistant coach for the Salford Red Devils. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain international representative or , Orr pla ...

and Andy Lynch. During the early 2000s, Kippax Welfare played in the Pennine Leagues under ex-Hunslet player Andrew Atha. Ex-pros in Gateshead Thunder player Andy Walker and Featherstone Rovers duo Kieran Hickman and Dean Ripley helped the team become Division Three Champions in 2002–03, Division Two Champions in 2004–05 and Division One Champions in 2008–09. The team were Castleford Cup Champions as well in 2008–09. Atha was eventually replaced by a coaching team of David Jessey and Kippax Welfare and former Super League player Gavin Swinson. The Kippax 'A' (second) team won Pennine Division Six (Undefeated) coached by Neil Collins.

2009–Present

In February 2009, the team was renamed ''Kippax Knights'' and they joined the Yorkshire Premier division of 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 Knights won the 2009 Yorkshire Premier Division in this first season, then they also went on to win the Grand Final, making it a double winning 2009 season. In 2010, Kippax were promoted to the National League. The 2011 season started with a first round date in the Challenge Cup against Loughborough University with the Knights narrowly losing. The Knights finished 2011 in the Grand Final at

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, ...

, losing to Huddersfield Underbank Rangers.

Club honours

* RLC Yorkshire Premier League Winners: 2009 * RLC Yorkshire Premier Grand Final Winners: 2009 * Forty-20 Shield Winners: 2014

External links

{{Conference League South Rugby League Conference teams Sport in Leeds Rugby clubs established in 2009 Rugby league teams in West Yorkshire