The West Wales Raiders were 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 based in

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

, Wales. They competed in League 1, 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 ...

, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an amateur club. In July 2017, owner Andrew Thorne bought League 1 club

South Wales Ironmen The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as League 1) between 2010 an ...

, relocating them to

Stebonheath Park Stebonheath Park (''Welsh: Parc Stebonheath'') is a multi-use stadium in Llanelli, West Wales with a capacity of 3,700. It is primarily used as a football ground and is the home of Llanelli Town A.F.C. It was also used for athletics and Llanel ...

. The Ironmen were renamed West Wales Raiders in 2018 and continued to play at Stebonheath Park.

History

In July 2017, West Wales Raiders owner Andrew Thorne bought League 1 club

. The Ironmen moved to

effective immediately. The club was rebranded the West Wales Raiders in 2018 and remained in League 1 and, as such, the Raiders can be regarded as a continuation of the Ironmen club, and their previous incarnation the

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

. In April 2018, the club were on the receiving end of a record score and losing margin when they lost 0–144 to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the previous highest scoring game was in November 1994 when

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 ...

beat

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

by 142–4, the losing margin was also equalled the next day in 1994 by Barrow who beat

Nottingham City Mansfield Marksman was a rugby league team based at various times in Mansfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Alfreton and ultimately Nottingham. The club changed its name to Nottingham City in 1989, and folded in 1994 a year after exiting the Rugby Foo ...

138–0. An Australian news article after the York defeat suggested the team as "the world’s worst rugby league team ever". The West Wales Raiders finished the 2018 Betfred League 1 season winless and on negative points. 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 ...

imposed a four-point, retrospective deduction after the club pleaded guilty to breaching a number of Operational Rules regarding the fielding of ineligible players. The 2019 season saw the West Wales Raiders again finish at the foot of the table but a win was registered in a home match against Coventry Bears. In 2019 they played 20 league matches and won 1, lost 19, scoring a total of 222 points and conceding 1091. In 2020 former

Wales rugby union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, ove ...

international

Gavin Henson Gavin Lloyd Henson (born 1 February 1982) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre. Between 2000 and 2019 he played for Llanelli, Swansea RFC, the Ospreys, Saracens, Toulon, Ca ...

switched codes and signed for the Raiders. In the 2021 League 1 season, West Wales finished bottom of the table failing to win a single game for the entire year. In the 2022 League 1 season, West Wales finished last on the table winning only one game for the entire year and losing their other 19 matches conceding 1196 points. On 22 December 2022 the joint owners of the club, Andrew Thorne and Peter Tiffin, announced that the club had withdrawn from League One and the Challenge Cup for 2023.

Seasons

Records

*Biggest win: ::44-16 vs

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, ...

(at Llanelli, 20 July 2019) *Biggest defeat: ::144-0 vs

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

(at

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...

, 29 April 2018)

Notes

References

External links

Raiders Rugby League website

Wales Rugby League Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Wales Raiders Rugby league in Wales Welsh rugby league teams Sport in Llanelli 2015 establishments in Wales Rugby clubs established in 2015