Midlands Hurricanes
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2016) |
 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Midlands Hurricanes Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The Hurricanes |
| Colours |  Purple |
| Founded | 1998 (as Coventry Bears) |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| CEO |  Alan Robinson |
| Chairman | Mike Lomas |
| Coach | Richard Squires |
| Manager | Darren Morson |
| Competition | League 1 |
| 2022 season | 8th |
 Current season | |
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, currently known as League 1, in 2015. The club rebranded itself as the Midlands Hurricanes in 2022.
History
1998–2014: Foundation and Amateur years
The club were formed as Coventry Bears 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]
2015–2021: League 1
The Bears 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. Coventry finished their final season as the Bears in the 2021 League 1 season in 8th place.[3]
2022–present: Rebrand to Midlands Hurricanes
On 3 November 2021 the club announced a major rebranding in an effort to attract a wider support base from the English midlands region. The club will be known as the Midlands Hurricanes for the 2022 RFL League 1 season onwards.[4] As part of the re-branding the club relocated from Butts Park Arena to the Portway Stadium - home of rugby union team Birmingham & Solihull Bees for 2022. The club intends to move to the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr in 2023.[5]
In May 2022 coach, Richard Squires, was banned from the sport for three months (with one month suspended) by the Rugby Football League (RFL) for breaching RFL rules on betting. In his absence, assistant coach, Dave Scott took charge of the team.[6]
Reserves and development
The club will still use the Coventry Bears branding for its reserves and development squad which will play in the amateur Midlands Rugby League.
Coventry Bears' junior teams take part in the Midlands Junior League.
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.
2004–2021: 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.
2021 squad
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Head coach Assistant coach
Updated: 3 March 2021 | ||||||
2022 transfers
Gains
| Player | Club | Contract | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 Dave Scott |
Batley Bulldogs | 1 Year | September 2020 |
| Jordan Paga |
Huddersfield Giants | 2 Years | September 2020 |
| Kian Morgan |
Castleford Tigers | 1 Year | October 2020 |
| Kieran Sherratt |
North Wales Crusaders | 2 Years | October 2020 |
| Sam Bowring |
Batley Bulldogs | 1 Year | October 2020 |
| Dan Coates |
Newcastle Thunder | 2 Years | October 2020 |
| Dan Bedford |
Unattached | 1 Year | October 2020 |
| Andy Joy |
Saddleworth Rangers | 1 Year | October 2020 |
| Delaine Bedward |
London Broncos | 1 Year | November 2020 |
| Elliott Townsend |
Hull FC | 1 Year | November 2020 |
| Jack Dawson |
Derby City Elks | 2 Years | November 2020 |
| Matt Welham |
Keighley Cougars | 1 Year | November 2020 |
| Jed Charlton |
Newcastle Thunder | 1 Year | November 2020 |
| Niall Sidney |
Newcastle Thunder | 1 Year | January 2021 |
| Ben Pointer |
Newtown Jets | 1 Year | February 2021 |
 Bradley Ho |
Bradford Bulls | Season Loan | April 2021 |
Losses
| Player | Club | Contract | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Clavering |
Dewsbury Rams | 1 Year | October 2020 |
| Jonny Allen |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Tyler Chant |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Niall Collett |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Zak Fellows |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Ben Gray |
Released | October 2020 | |
 Fiach Millward |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Jay Neath |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Aaron Ryan |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Kieran Smith |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Cameron Stewart |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Euan Tiernan |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Alex Williams |
Released | October 2020 | |
| Reece Williams |
Released | October 2020 |
Seasons
| Season (As  Coventry Bears)
|
League | Challenge Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Play-offs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000: Played in RLC Western Division |
|
Did not participate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002: Played in RLC Midlands Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005: Played in RLC National Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009: Played in RLC Midlands Premier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012: Played in RLC National Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014: Played in Conference League South | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Championship 1 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 430 | 755 | 10 | 12th | Did not qualify | R3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | League 1 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 289 | 460 | 9 | 11th | Third in Shield | R3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | League 1 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 287 | 615 | 4 | 14th | Sixth in Shield | R3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | League 1 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 406 | 1058 | 14 | 11th | Did not qualify | R5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | League 1 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 365 | 829 | 8 | 9th | Did not qualify | R3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | League 1 | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom | R4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | League 1 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 405 | 532 | 12 | 8th | Did not qualify | Did not participate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season (As Middlands Hurricanes)
|
League | Challenge Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Play-offs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | League 1 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 546 | 696 | 12 | 8th | Did not qualify | R2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
League
- Winners (1): 2004
- RFL Midlands Division One:
- Winners (1): 2013
- RLC Midlands Premier:
- Winners (3): 2007, 2009, 2010
- RLC Midlands Division:
- Winners (2): 2001, 2002
- RLC Western Division:
- Winners (1): 2000
Cups
- Harry Jepson Trophy:
- Winners (1): 2002
Nines
- Midlands 9s:
- Winners (1): 2007, 2009, 2013
- Kilkenny 9s
- Winners (1): 2007
Women
- RLC Women's Plate:
- Winners (1): 2010
- RLC Women's South Division:
- Winners (1): 2011
Notes
- ^ Promotions and relegation are not based of league positions in the Rugby League Conference but by application to the RFL.
References
- ^ "History". Coventry Bears Rugby Club. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Coventry Bears: Rugby league side step up to Championship One". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
- ^ "An up and down season for Hunslet RLFC". www.southleedslife.com. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ "From Coventry Bears to Midlands Hurricanes: Third-tier semi-pro rugby league side rebrand". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ Ibbetson, Stephen (11 November 2021). "Midlands Hurricanes home ground for 2022 revealed". TotalRL.com | Rugby League Express | Rugby League World. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ "Official Statement Richard Squires". Midlands Hurricanes. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
External links
| Current teams | |
|---|---|
| Seasons | |
| Results | |
| Major events | |
| Related | |
