The Celtic Crusaders
are a Welsh professional rugby league club based in Bridgend, Wales. They are part of the European Super League after having been awarded a licence by the Rugby Football League on July 22, 2008.
Home games have traditionally been played at the Brewery Field in Bridgend, although they have plans for a new stadium in the town. Due to the shortcomings of their current ground they have announced that they will play at Rodney Parade in Newport for the 2010 and 2011 Super League seasons. [1] They are coached by John Dixon
In their first season much of the squad were Welsh-qualified, having been recruited from the Welsh Conference sides, mainly Bridgend Blue Bulls and Aberavon Fighting Irish, but have since looked further afield for players with more professional Rugby League experience. They are genuinely accepted as an embarrasment to the Sport. They also run an academy side drawn from every club in the Welsh Conference. The academy side play under the name Crusader Colts and currently play their games in the Rugby league Conference.
The Crusaders are attracting fans of the now defunct rugby union team Celtic Warriors, [2] who participated in the Celtic League during the 2003-2004 season, before they were disbanded by the WRU.
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CELTIC CRUSADERS TICKETS
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History
Celtic Warriors
In the summer of 2003, the WRU voted to reduce the top tier of Welsh professional rugby union from nine clubs into five regions. The
Celtic Warriors officially represented the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, which in practice meant that they were a combination of Pontypridd RFC and Bridgend RFC.
Financial problems at Pontypridd RFC led to the sale of their half of the Warriors to Bridgend RFC owner Leighton Samuel, which he gifted to the WRU. He then later sold his half to the WRU who in the Summer of 2004 decided to liquidate the club.
Celtic Crusaders
Leighton Samuel then created a team which he claimed was the resurrection of the old Celtic Warriors franchise, however, instead of playing
rugby union they would play
rugby league. The
RFL had long wanted a team based in South Wales to play in their leagues and accepted his proposals.
The initial plan to re-use the 'Celtic Warriors' name was abandoned in favour of 'Celtic Crusaders' which had been considered by the rugby union franchise. They were to play their home games at
Brewery Field and games were planned to be held at Sardis Road as well.
The Crusaders' aim was to reach
Super League and to represent south Wales. Previous attempts to create
rugby league franchises in non-traditional areas have met with mixed success.
Gateshead Thunder and
Paris Saint Germain were given automatic entry to the Super League, Paris survived only two seasons and Gateshead were forcibly merged and reincarnated as a national league two side despite a successful first year. The philosophy behind the creation of the Crusaders was a bottom up approach to ensure that the club grew with its playing and spectator base, into a nationally recognised sporting brand. The Crusaders' first match took place against
Harlequins Academy at Brewery Field. The Crusaders used the fixture as a chance to view the fringe players in their squad and secured a 22-22 draw. Their first competitive games were in the National League Cup; Crusaders were placed in a group along with
London Skolars,
Hemel Stags and
St Albans Centurions. Crusaders won every game convincingly and were installed as favourites to win National League Two in their first year. However, the team finished a creditable third and lost out 26-27 in the Final Eliminator to
Swinton Lions. They played against
Brisbane Broncos in the
Bulmers Original Cider Challenge at the Brewery Field on Thursday
February 15 2007, losing with a respectable scoreline of 6-32.
In only their second season of existence, the Celtic Crusaders won the 2007 National League Two championship, thus earning automatic promotion to
National League One in 2008. The title was sealed with one match left to play as a result of
Featherstone Rovers away loss at
Barrow Raiders on
September 8,
2007.
[3] In that year fullback Tony Duggan won the National League Two Player of the Year award for 2007 with 40 tries through 2007.Jace Van Dijk, Neale Wyatt, Damien Quinn, Mark Dalle Cort, Neil Budworth, all joined Duggan in the National League Two all-star team.
[4]
Their highest ever attendance in National league 2 was on Friday
May 4,
2007 when 3,441 people witnessed them play
Oldham Roughyeds at the
Brewery Field. Most of the crowd consisted of
engage Super League fans who had travelled to south Wales for the
Millennium Magic weekend in
Cardiff but the majority were locals thanks to a marketing campaign by the club. This attendance was also an NL2 record attendance and the first NL2 match broadcast live on British television. In 2008, a crowd of 6,152 attended the game against Featherstone Rovers on Friday May 3, again on the weekend of Millennium Magic.
[5] Again made by the Magic Weekend.
In their first ever Co-operative National League One match, Celtic Crusaders, in atrocious conditions, claimed a hard-fought 14-12 win over Dewsbury Rams.
[6]
Super League
Crusaders were awarded a three year Super League licence in July 2008 as the league abandoned automatic promotion and relegation in favour of franchising from
Super League XIV onwards.
[7]
They lost their first game in the
European Super League against then World Champions and back-to-back Super League Champions
Leeds Rhinos 28-6 at
Headingley Stadium. The Crusaders' first try in the Super League was scored by
Luke Dyer, and converted by
Josh Hannay.
[8]
The Crusaders registered their first Super League victory on 17 May 2009, in the 12th game of the season against the
Bradford Bulls winning 30–24 away at the
Odsal Stadium in Bradford. Their second win of the season, and their first at home, came on 13 June against a visiting Wigan side.
On May 26, 2009, the Crusaders announced they will play the Leeds Rhinos in Newport in a bid to take some games on the road and expand the game in Wales.
[9]
David Watkins took over the position of Celtic Crusaders boss from
Jonathan Davies in 2009.
[10]
In August, the
UK Border Agency found that six Celtic Crusaders players had breached visa regulations and were to be deported. These included captain
Jace van Dijk and fellow Australians
Tony Duggan,
Damien Quinn,
Darren Mapp,
Mark Dalle Cort and
Josh Hannay.
The club dropped the "Celtic" label to become simply
Crusaders
, adopted a new badge and announced that they would be playing at
Rodney Parade, Newport for the next two years.
Symbols
The club's first badge was used between its founding in 2005 and 2008. The badge featured the
Flag of Saint David on a shield. A ribbon around the bottom of the shield bore the motto
Oderint dum metuant
(Latin for "Let them hate, so long as they fear"), which is attributed to the Roman tragic poet,
Lucius Accius and later became famous as a saying of the Emperor
Caligula. Above and below the shield were the world "Celtic" and "Crusaders Rugby League Club" respectively.
The club's colours were black and gold, inspired by the Flag of St David.
The blue and white colours of the change strip were the same as the club colours of
Bridgend RFC.
The Crusaders' current badge was adopted following the 2007 season.
[11] David Thompson, the then chief executive commented, "The new badge is modern, progressive and business-friendly. Our Welsh identity is prominent as ever through the gold and black Flag of St David which still provides the colours of our home strip".
The round badge, ringed with "Celtic Crusaders", features a warrior holding a sword and a shield with the Flag of St David on it, in the background are two
Celtic knots. The badge bears striking similarity to the badge intended for use during the Celtic Warriors' unplayed 2004/05 season.
For the 2009 season, the club used a red and white away strip, colours associated with Welsh national teams.
The club have revealed a new logo ready for use in the 2010 season. The badge, inspired by the
Prince of Wales's feathers, has three white feathers adorning the centre of a disc with the Flag of St David on. To the left and right of the feathers, the words "Rugby" and "League" appear on the disc. Beneath the feathers is written "Crusaders".
Stadium
The Crusaders play their home matches at
Brewery Field, the traditional home of Bridgend rugby. There are plans to construct a
new 15,000 capacity stadium to further aid the development of the club.
[12]
2009 Squad
| No
| Nat
| Player
| Position
| Previous Club
|
| 2
|
| Luke Dyer
| Wing
| Hull Kingston Rovers
|
| 5
|
| Anthony Blackwood
| Wing
| Halifax RLFC
|
| 8
|
| Ryan O'Hara
| Prop
| Wests Tigers
|
| 9
|
| Lincoln Withers
| Hooker
| Canberra Raiders
|
| 10
|
| Mark Bryant
| Prop
| Manly Sea Eagles
|
| 11
|
| Jason Chan
| Second Row
| Windsor Wolves
|
| 13
|
| Marshall Chalk
| Loose Forward
| Canberra Raiders
|
| 14
|
| Matty Smith
| Scrum Half
| Widnes Vikings
|
| 15
|
| Peter Lupton
| Utility
| Castleford Tigers
|
| 16
|
| David Tangata-Toa
| Prop
| Hull Kingston Rovers
|
| 17
|
| Jordan James
| Prop
| Widnes Vikings
|
| 18
|
| Mark Lennon
| Wing
| Hull Kingston Rovers
|
| 19
|
| Adam Peek
| Prop
| Cronulla Sharks
|
| 20
|
| Ben Flower
| Second Row
| Bedwas
|
| 21
|
| Chris Beasley
| Second Row
| Saint-Gaudens
|
| 22
|
| Steve Tyrer
| Centre
| Widnes Vikings
|
| 23
|
| Neil Budworth
| Hooker
| Harlequins RL
|
| 24
|
| Aled James
| Centre
| Sheffield Eagles
|
| 25
|
| Geraint Davies
| Loose Forward
| Llanelli Scarlets
|
| 26
|
| Terry Martin
| Second Row
| Canberra Raiders
|
| 27
|
| Paul Ballard
| Wing
| Leigh Centurions
|
| 28
|
| Lloyd White
| Halfback
|
|
| 27
|
| Ashley Bateman
|
|
|
2009 Transfers In/Out
In
|
| Name
| Signed from
| Date
|
|
| Ryan O'Hara
| Wests Tigers
| October 2008
|
|
| Lincoln Withers
| Canberra Raiders
| October 2008
|
|
| Mark Bryant
| Manly Sea Eagles
| October 2008
|
|
| Adam Peek
| Cronulla Sharks
| October 2008
|
|
| Marshall Chalk
| Canberra Raiders
| October 2008
|
|
| Matty Smith
| Widnes Vikings
| October 2008
|
|
| Peter Lupton
| Castleford Tigers
| October 2008
|
|
| Ste Tyrer
| Widnes Vikings
| October 2008
|
|
| Jason Chan
| Windsor Wolves
| January 2009
|
Out
| Nat
| Name
| Signed for
| Date
|
|
| Ian Webster
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Aaron Summers
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Neale Wyatt
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Gareth Dean
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Philippe Gardent
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Jamie I'Anson
|
| October 2008
|
|
| Rod Peake
|
| October 2008
|
Crusaders Colts
In 2007 Celtic Crusaders setup a feeder side called the Crusaders Colts with the prime objective of producing young Welsh players to play for both Celtic Crusaders and the
Welsh national side. The squad is made up of the best young players in Wales and they will play their fixtures in the
Co-operative Conference National, a league which is three divisions below the
European Super League, where Celtic Crusaders are competing until at least 2011, and a division above the Welsh Conference Premier.
The majority of the Colts’ first ever side are taken from the
Welsh Conference Premier but there are a few new faces to rugby league including Josh Hannam who comes to the club after an impressive record with both Glamorgan Wanderers and Newport Gwent Dragons under 20 and Lewis Mills, who has previously only played university rugby for Glamorgan.
[13]
The Crusaders Colts played their first game against Dewsbury Celtic winning comfortably 66-12.
[14]
Statistics
Super League XIV
National League One
Play-Offs
Semi-Final:
Salford City Reds 18-44 Celtic Crusaders
[15]
Final: Celtic Crusaders 18-36 Salford City Reds (at Warrington, after extra time)
[16]
National League Two
National League Two
Play-Offs
Semi-Final:
Sheffield Eagles 26-16 Celtic Crusaders
[17]
Elimination Semi-Final: Celtic Crusaders 26-27
Swinton Lions (after golden point extra time)
[18]
Records
- Biggest winning margin: 82– 4 against Swinton Lions (Brewery Field, April 28, 2007)
- Most points scored: 84–10 against Hunslet Hawks (Brewery Field, August 11, 2007)
- Biggest defeat: 56–6 against Widnes Vikings (Brewery Field, February 9, 2007)
- Highest attendance: 6,351 against St Helens RLFC (Brewery Field March 7, 2009)
Honours
- National League Two Champions 2007.
See also
- Celtic Warriors
- Wales national rugby league team
- Rugby League in Wales
- Rugby League Conference
- Rugby League National Leagues
References
- BBC move to Newport
- Crusaders set to attract giants of rugby league,
- BBC SPORT | Rugby League | Gateshead 16-60 Celtic Crusaders
- CrusadersRFL.com - NL2 Player of the Year. The winner is
- BBC SPORT | Rugby League | Crusaders 28-18 Featherstone
- CrusadersRFL.com - March 21st - Dewsbury Rams (h)
- Crusaders join Super League
- Leeds 28-6 Celtic Crusaders
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8068825.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/solpda/ifs_sport/hi/newsid_8145000/8145967.stm
- New look for Crusaders
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/7777104.stm
- CrusadersRFL.com - Crusaders Colts match off
- CrusadersRFL.com - Sat 5 April - Dewsbury Celtic (a)
- http://crusadersrfl.com/2008seasonmatch31.htm
- http://crusadersrfl.com/2008seasonmatch32.htm
- http://crusadersrfl.com/2006seasonmatch32.htm
- http://crusadersrfl.com/2006seasonmatch33.htm