St Ives Roosters are 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 11 ...

club from St Ives in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

. They were founded in 1991 as one of the first rugby league clubs in East Anglia. Currently they play in the Rugby League Conference East Division.

History

The club were founded in 1991 as ''St Ives Sharks''. Their first game was against Newmarket at the St Ivo Outdoor Centre. It was a friendly fixture with both clubs having very little experience in their sides. The Sharks won 56-

The club then joined the Eastern Counties League. After the brief Shark era, the club relocated in the 1995 / 6 season to Huntingdon and thus were renamed ''Huntingdon Bombers''. In 1995–96, the Eastern Counties League was absorbed into the London League (rugby league), London League and were also crowned Champions in that year, finishing the season unbeaten. Between 1991 and 2001, Dan McCormack was the top-points scorer with a total of 486 points broken down into 40 tries and 43 goals. Eventually in 2001 they returned to St Ives after sorting out agreements with the ground and fixtures with the local rugby union clu

In 2003 the first team moved up to 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 ...

from the London League (rugby league), London League. After being requested to adopt a nickname "Roosters" was chosen after a competition in The Huntingdon Pos

They have been in the Rugby League Conference ever since. In 2005, Roosters made it to the RLC Shield final at the

Butts Park Arena Butts Park Arena is a multi-use sports stadium in Spon End, Coventry, England. Its main use is as a rugby stadium (both union and league). It is the home ground for Coventry R.F.C. (since its opening) and was the home of Midlands Hurricanes (wh ...

, Coventry where they played Blackpool Sea Eagles with Blackpool running out 74 - 10 winners. St Ives made to the regional grand final in 2006 but were beaten by Bedford Tigers. St Ives Roosters returned to the St Ivo Outdoor Sports Centre for the 2011 season as St Ives rugby union club was unavailable due to refurbishment works taking place. St.Ives Roosters have enjoyed many successful seasons at California Road. After their fifth successive Grand Final appearance in 2014, they finally lifted the trophy after beating Bedford Tigers, 42–30. Coach Paul Ashbridge works hard to keep the club running and is backed up by Roosters captain, Mickey Blackley. They continue to move the club forwards so they're able to compete at the highest level possible.

Leagues

* 1991-1994: Eastern Counties League * 1995-2002: London League (rugby league), London League * 2003-2008:

External links

Official Website

Roosterpedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Ives Roosters Rugby League Conference teams Sport in Huntingdonshire Rugby clubs established in 1991 1991 establishments in England Rugby league teams in Cambridgeshire Rugby league teams in England