East Cumbria Crusaders is 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 based in Carlisle,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. They play in the North East 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 ...

. Their home ground is Creighton RUFC.

History

The club were founded in 2003 as Carlisle Centurions by former international Bev Risman and joined the North West Division of the

which it won. The Centurions went on to reach the Grand Final of the Harry Jepson Trophy in 2003 when they were narrowly beaten at

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 ...

Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wal ...

. The 2004 season saw Carlisle Centurions leave the Conference to join the newly formed National League Three. Centurions 'A' continued to play in the Conference in a newly formed Cumbrian Division but withdrew mid-season. However, Carlisle Centurions failed to complete the 2005 National League Three because of travelling difficulties causing serious player-availability issues. The club was reformed in 2006 under coach Geoff Grieves and returned to the Rugby League Conference in 2006 joining the North Division. The club began to cut its early reliance on out-of-season West Cumbrian

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

players and focused on gaining new recruits. The club failed to reach the final losing out to Liverpool Buccaneers. Carlisle stepped up to the Premier North in 2007 and won it; they continued in this competition in 2008 and successfully defended their title. In both 2007 and 2008 the club lost out at the National semi-final stage to

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, ...

and Nottingham Outlaws, suffering for a lack of genuine competition in the Northern Premier competition. In 2009, they returned to National League Three reconstituted as the Rugby League Conference National Division. Former

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

player Dennis Bibby became coach after Grieves left mid-season. Carlisle Centurions withdrew from the National Division mid-season in 2010 after suffering a string of heavy defeats and struggling to raise a team. The club regrouped as ''East Cumbria Crusaders'' with a host of younger, inexperienced players, playing out of Creighton rugby union club. They joined the RLC North East Division. East Cumbria Crusaders moved up to the North East Premier Conference in 2012 after winning 13 of 14 regular league fixtures in the NE Regional Conference in 201

Honours

* RLC North West Division: 2003 * RLC North Division: 2006 * RLC North Premier: 2007, 2008 * RLC North East Regional: League Leaders' Shield 2011 * North East Rugby League Regional Division: 2013

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Cumbria Crusaders Rugby League Conference teams Rugby league teams in Cumbria Rugby clubs established in 2003 2003 establishments in England Sport in Carlisle, Cumbria English rugby league teams