Saint-Estève XIII Mavericks are a French

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

side based in Saint-Estève near

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

in the département of

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

. Originally known as AS Saint-Estève until 2000, the club was founded in 1965. Home games are played at the Stade Municipal.

History

The club was founded in 1965 as Association Sportive Saint-Estève XIII better known as AS Saint-Estève. For a club of its size the success they had was remarkable their best spell was between 1986 and 2000 when they contested 17 finals winning 8 of them. Their best season was 1992-93 when they completed their one and only league and cup double. In 2000 Bernard Guasch brought Saint Esteve and

XIII Catalan XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with ...

together to form Union Treiziste Catalane, better known in the English speaking world by their

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

identity of Catalans Dragons. The aim was to get the new club into the Super League which they did in 2006. A presence in the French

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

was maintained by firstly the retaining of the name Union Treiziste Catalane and then after a rebranding Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan. Meanwhile, the youth teams which had been set up in 1968 were maintained under a new name Saint-Estève XIII nicknamed the ''Mavericks''. It was then decided that the ''Elite One'' club needed a feeder team so the ''Mavericks'' introduced a senior side to go along with their junior sides. Thus a new club was born out of an old club while retaining its own identity In the 2018–19 season, the club won the Federal championship by defeating Gratentour XIII 23–12 in the final. The club was dormant during the 2019–20 season, and in June 2020 announced plans to restart as Saint-Estève XIII Riberal for the 2020–21 season. The club were scheduled to play in Pool E of the Federal Division, but in October 2020 the season was cancelled.

Stadium

''Saint-Estève'' play at the Stade Municipal which is a stadium used for rugby. It has floodlights and a main stand with 2,000 seats. In 2015 it hosted France A match against the

Serbia national rugby league team The Serbia national rugby league team represents Serbia in the sport of rugby league football. They have competed in international competition since 2003 under the administration of the Serbian Rugby League. They are coached by Englishman Darren ...

. The stadium is also used by

Saint-Estève XIII Catalan Saint-Estève XIII Catalan are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Perpignan in the region of Pyrénées-Orientales in the south of France. Founded in 2006 following the transfer of Catalans Dragons from the French rugby league system ...

in the French

Notable players

* Jean-Marc Garcia *

Jerome Guisset Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

Honours

''As AS Saint-Estève'' * French Championship (6): 1970–71, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 * Lord Derby Cup (4): 1972, 1993, 1994, 1995 ''As Saint-Estève XIII Mavericks'' * Federal Division : 2018–19

References

Rugby league teams in France Sport in Pyrénées-Orientales Catalans Dragons 1965 establishments in France Rugby clubs established in 1965 {{Rugbyleague-team-stub

History

Stadium

Notable players

Honours

See also

References