The New York Raiders were an American

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 ...

football team based in

Congers, New York Congers is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Valley Cottage, east of New City, across Lake DeForest, south of Haverstraw, and west of the H ...

. The team played in the

American National Rugby League The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout it ...

(AMNRL) from 2002 to 2013, when the AMNRL folded its domestic competition. The team originated as the Wilmington Vikings of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, who joined the AMNRL as the league's first

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in 2002. Afterward the club experienced a series of moves and name changes; they relocated to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 2003, becoming the New Jersey Vikings, then moved again after the season to

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

, taking the name Northern Raiders. In 2010 they adopted their current name. They made their first national playoff appearance in 2011 with the help of Dan Fullerton, Matt Vautin, Lesili Alovili, Rob Ploth, Phil Giuliano

History

The team joined the

in 2002 as the Wilmington Vikings, based in

. The AMNRL's first real

, they brought the number of member franchises up to six. Like the other AMNRL teams, they started a team partnership with a club in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL), in this case the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

. They played in Wilmington for one season before relocating to

Gloucester County, New Jersey Gloucester County () is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 302,294. Gloucester County is located approximately southeast of Philadelphia and northwest of Atlantic City. I ...

in December 2002, changing their name to the New Jersey Vikings. They hoped the move would help them draw talent from

Gloucester County College Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) is a public community college with two campuses in New Jersey, including one in Sewell (Gloucester Main Campus) and one in Vineland and Millville (Cumberland Branch Campus). The college was established in ...

to overcome the recruitment problems they had faced in Delaware. Physician Merrick Wetzler took over as owner. The move did not end the team's recruitment troubles, and following the 2003 season they relocated once more to

. In keeping with their partnership with the Canberra Raiders, they changed their name to the Northern Raiders. For the 2006 season they attempted to turn their losing record around, taking on Australian

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Ben Kelly; however, they just failed to qualify for the AMNRL playoff series. For a period they were based in Wallkill in

Ulster County, New York Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

, and play their home games at the Wallkill Airport Rugby Fields. In 2011 they relocated to

and play in

Rockland Lake State Park Rockland Lake State Park is a state park located in the hamlets of Congers and Valley Cottage in the eastern part of the Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. The park is located on a ridge of Hook Mountain above th ...

Uniform and colors

For their inaugural

season the club adopted the colors of white, green and black but the uniforms they wear are predominantly white they have kept this uniform till this day. They are also part of an affiliate partnership with Australian NRL club the

. In 2010, the club, along with other AMNRL teams, adopted a new badge, replacing the one that had been modeled after that of the Canberra Raiders. File:Northern Raiders.png, Until 2010 File:Northern Raiders logo.jpg, Initially for 2010 File:New york raiders amnrl2010.jpg, 2010–2013

Honors

* AMNRL Championship titles: 0 ::

Official sponsors

As announced in 2008 the main shirt sponsor for the then Northern Raiders RLFC became online accommodation specialists

Wotif.com Wotif is a website that provides a reservation service for hotels in Australia and international destinations across the globe. It was set up in March 2000 by Graeme Wood in Brisbane, Australia. It has since established offices in Canada, Malay ...

References

External links