The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, 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

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. They played in 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 ...

(currently known as League 1) between 2010 and 2017. The team initially played at

The Gnoll The Gnoll ( cy, Y Gnol) in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for rugby union and rugby league, although it has also been used previously for association football and cricket. The stad ...

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...

, before spells at

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wi ...

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * '' Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosa ...

, Maesteg, and

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

. Under new ownership, the club relocated to

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, Carma ...

effective immediately in July 2017. The following season, they began competing as

West Wales Raiders The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an amateur club. In ...

History

In December 2009, South Wales RLFC was admitted into Championship One for the 2010 season. This followed the relocation of

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

club

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League ( cy, Croesgadwyr Rygbi'r Gynghrair) was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in t ...

from

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. The Scorpions moniker was announced on 22 December.

Wales Rugby League Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales. In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted th ...

agreed to take over the running of the Scorpions for the 2014 season after club owner Phil Davies decided to step down. In 2014, the Scorpions played at

Llynfi Road Llynfi Road is a rugby stadium in Maesteg in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. It is the home of Maesteg RFC. Club house fire On 13 August 2013, the club's house was devastated by fire, destroying the Sponsor's Lounge including memorabilia and ...

in Maesteg. The club relocated the following year, to Parc Dyffryn Pennar in

, which also served as a training ground. In 2016, the team played at Virginia Park in

. The club was renamed South Wales Ironmen for the 2017 season, coinciding with their move to

The Wern The Wern is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is the home of rugby union club Merthyr RFC and was, for a short period in 2017, also home of rugby league club South Wales Ironmen. The stadium is located on Cae'r Wern in the east of ...

. In July 2017, the club was bought by Andrew Thorne, owner of amateur club

. The Scorpions began using

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 Llanell ...

as their home ground for the remainder of the season. The club were rebranded as the West Wales Raiders and remained in League 1 in 2018 - and, as such, the Raiders can be regarded as a continuation of the Ironmen club, and their previous incarnation the South Wales Scorpions.

Seasons

References

External links

Wales Rugby League Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Wales Scorpions Rugby league in Wales Welsh rugby league teams Sport in Neath Sport in Llanelli 2009 establishments in Wales 2017 disestablishments in Wales Rugby clubs established in 2009