Coventry Bears
 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Coventry Bears Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Bears |
| Colours |
 |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Chairman |
 Alan Robinson |
| Coach(s) | Tom Tsang |
| Competition | League 1 |
Coventry Bears RLFC are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Coventry, England, formed in 1998. They have a proud history pioneering rugby league in the Midlands, their major honours include winning the National League 3 title in 2004 (now called Rugby League Conference National Division) and the Rugby League Conference in 2002.
They play at the Butts Park Arena, and run two open-age sides as well as a women's team and a selection of youth teams.
History
Coventry Bears were formed in 1998 by a group of university students led by Alan Robinson. They made an approach to Keith Fairbrother, the Coventry rugby union club’s Chairman and one time rugby league player, with a plan to form a team to play from Coundon Road Stadium.
The club were admitted into the Rugby League Conference for the 2000 season and were unbeaten by any club within their division. They then won their quarter-final against Manchester Knights before being narrowly defeated by only one point in the semi-finals at Super League club Warrington Wolves’ Wilderspool Stadium. Further success followed in 2001 with the Bears reaching the Grand Final at Webb Ellis Road, Rugby, only to lose out by a very narrow margin in a match against Teesside Steelers. The following season Coventry won the Rugby League Conference Grand Final in September 2002 when they beat Hemel Stags at Cheltenham. Following on from this success the club applied for, and won, elevation to the newly formed National League Three.
The Bears reached the National League Three Grand Final in 2004, winning comfortably. The following season Coventry Bears RLFC experienced difficulties and chose to resign from the National League to take time to rebuild and regroup. 2006 saw the return of the Bears as a Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier side, and the club finished the season in second place. They went on to beat Leicester Phoenix in the qualifying semi-final to set up a Midlands Grand Final with Nottingham Outlaws, which ended in defeat.
Coventry defeated Nottingham Outlaws in 2007 to win the Midlands Premier and also won the Kilkenny 9s, The Bears went on to finish as runners-up to St Albans Centurions losing 28-20 in the final of the Harry Jepson Trophy. In 2008, the Bears finished as runners up in the Midlands Premier to Nottingham. In 2010, Coventry linked up with Super League side Wigan Warriors.[1]
2015-present: League 1
They were accepted into the semi-professional ranks of League 1 for the 2015 season,[2] and entered their newly formed reserve side into the Conference League South in the same season. They finished their first semi-professional season in 12th place.
Stadiums
1998-2004: Coundon Road
The Bears moved into Coundon Road shortly after their formation in 1998. The ground had been owned and operated by sister rugby union club Coventry R.F.C. They stayed there for six years until the ground was sold and demolished in 2004. Both clubs moved out to the newly built Butts Park Arena at the other side of Coventry.
2004-present: Butts Park Arena
The stadium was built in 2004 and currently has one stand, the East Stand, which has a capacity of 3,000 and includes a number of conference and banqueting facilities. The West Stand which was a temporary structure holding 1,000 was removed at the end of the 2005–06 season on grounds of health and safety.
2016 squad
* Announced on 26 February 2016:
| No | Player | Position | Former club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joel James | Full Back | Gloucestershire All Golds |
| 2 | Ben Warrilow | Wing, Full Back | Swinton Lions |
| 3 | Brett Barlow | Centre | Ossett Trinity Tigers |
| 4 | Matt Reid | Centre, Second Row | North Wales Crusaders |
| 5 | Hayden Freeman | Wing | Midlands Hurricanes |
| 6 | Charlie O'Mara | Stand Off | Midlands Hurricanes |
| 7 | Jay Lobwein | Half Back, Hooker | Sunshine Coast Falcons |
| 8 | James Guertjens | Prop | Norths Devils |
| 9 | James Redman | Hooker | Central ASA Tigers |
| 10 | John Aldred | Prop | |
| 11 | Elliot Holton | Second Row, Centre | Midlands Hurricanes |
| 12 | Liam Thompson | Second Row | West Belconnen Warriors |
| 13 | Jono Milizewski | Loose Forward, Second Row | Norths Devils |
| 14 | Elliot Norman | Second Row, Loose Forward | |
| 15 | Richie Hughes | Hooker | Halton Simms Cross |
| 16 | Gavin Grant | Second Row | Coventry University |
| 17 | Chris Barratt | Prop, Second Row | Salford Red Devils |
| 18 | Alex Beddows | Prop | Broadstreet RFC |
| 19 | Trae O'Sullivan | Prop | Midlands Hurricanes |
| 20 | Adam Sayner | Hooker | |
| 21 | Jason Bass | Full Back, Wing | Midlands Hurricanes |
| 22 | Chris Dixon | Wing, Full Back | Leamington Royals |
| 23 | Eddie Medforth | Centre | Sheffield Eagles |
| 24 | David Weston | Centre, Full Back | Gloucestershire Warriors |
| 25 | Jamahl Hunte | Wing | Halifax RLFC |
| 26 | Matt Cooper | Loose Forward | |
| 27 | Craig White | Full Back | North Wales Crusaders |
| 28 | Jack Morrison | Prop | Swinton Lions |
| 29 | Dylan Bale | Hooker | Leicester Storm |
| Tommy Holland | Prop | North Wales Crusaders - On Loan | |
| Elliot Liku | Prop | North Wales Crusaders - On Loan | |
| HC | Tom Tsang | Head Coach | |
| AC | Mark Sloan | Assistant Coach |
2016 transfers
Gains
| Player | Club | Contract length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 James Redman | Central ASA Tigers | 1 Year | September 2015 |
| Jay Lobwein | Sunshine Coast Falcons | 1 Year | September 2015 |
 Matt Reid | North Wales Crusaders | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Trae O'Sullivan | Midlands Hurricanes | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Hayden Freeman | Midlands Hurricanes | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Jono Milizewski | Norths Devils | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Charlie O'Mara | Loughborough University | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| David Weston | Gloucestershire Warriors | 2 Years | October 2015 |
| Brett Barlow | Ossett Trinity Tigers | 2 Years | October 2015 |
| Craig White | North Wales Crusaders | 2 Years | October 2015 |
| Gavin Grant | Coventry University | 2 Years | October 2015 |
| Ben Warrilow | Swinton Lions | 2 Years | December 2015 |
Losses
| Player | Club | Contract length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Phillips | Retirement | N/A | September 2015 |
| Jordan Harper | Doncaster RLFC | 1 Year | September 2015 |
| Jack Francis | Rochdale Hornets | 1 Year | September 2015 |
| Jake Pratley | Rugby Union | 2 Years | September 2015 |
| Dan Price | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | September 2015 |
| Stephen Coleman | Rugby Union | 2 Years | September 2015 |
| Alex Brown | Retirement | N/A | September 2015 |
| Josh Bell | Rugby Union | 2 Years | September 2015 |
| Callum Wishart | Rugby Union | 2 Years | September 2015 |
| Ben Parry | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Dan Parker | Newcastle Thunder | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Cameron Boulter | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Kenny Kelliher | Gladstone Brothers | 2 Years | October 2015 |
 Morgan Evans | Gloucestershire All Golds | 2 Years | October 2015 |
| Nick Taylor | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Dan Poulton | Gloucestershire All Golds | 1 Year | October 2015 |
| Troy Brophy | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | November 2015 |
| Liam Scott | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | November 2015 |
| Ben Tyers | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | November 2015 |
| Andrew Unsworth | Gloucestershire All Golds | 1 Year | November 2015 |
| Billy Sheen | Community Rugby League | 1 Year | December 2015 |
| Tom Hall | Oxford RLFC | 1 Year | December 2015 |
| Dave O'Connor | Hemel Stags | 1 Year | December 2015 |
| Andy Winfield | London Skolars | 1 Year | January 2016 |
Reserves
Coventry Bears runs a reserve team that plays in the amateur Conference League South, the 4th tier of British Rugby League. The Bears were approached to run a team in an expanded Conference League South after the first team were admitted into the Championship 1, turning semi-professional. The reserves act as a pathway for players to make it to the first team and a professional career. The club plays its home matches at the Xcel Leisure Centre. They were coached in their debut season by James Carter. The club in its first season in Conference League South finished 4th.
Juniors
Coventry Bears' junior teams take part in the Midlands Junior League.
Club honours
- RLC Western Division: 2000
- RLC Midlands Division: 2001, 2002
- Harry Jepson Trophy: 2002
- National League 3: 2004
- RLC Midlands Premier: 2007, 2009, 2010
- Midlands Rugby League Division One: 2013
- Kilkenny 9s: 2007
- Midlands 9s: 2008, 2009, 2013
- Women's RLC Plate: 2010
- Women's RLC South Division: 2011
References
- ↑ http://coventrybears.co.uk/club/history/
- ↑ "Coventry Bears: Rugby league side step up to Championship One". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||