The Midlands Hurricanes are 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 jointly based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, West Midlands,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. They were founded as the Coventry Bears in 1998 and entered 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, 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 Coundon Road Stadium in Coventry was the home ground for Coventry R.F.C. from 1921 to 2004. The stadium has now been demolished. The first game at the ground was against United Services, Portsmouth, with Coventry R.F.C. losing 13–3. The b ...

. The club were admitted into the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England ...

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 Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

. Further success followed in 2001 with the Bears reaching the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

at Webb Ellis Road,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, 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 Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. Following on from this success the club applied for, and won, elevation to the newly formed

National League Three The Rugby League Conference National Division (known as the National League Three From 2003 to 2003) was the fourth division of the British rugby league system. In 2012, it became the seventh tier of the system and was known as the National Confe ...

. The Bears reached the

National League Three Grand Final National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

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 Leicester Storm are an amateur community rugby league football club based in Leicester, England. They compete in the Conference League South and their Academy Team compete in the 3v Sport Midlands Rugby League. The club's home is Phoenix Park w ...

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 Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

, The Bears went on to finish as runners-up to

St Albans Centurions The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans. Founded in 1996, they first played in various loca ...

losing 28–20 in the final of the

Harry Jepson Trophy The Harry Jepson Trophy is a rugby league competition contested by teams from successor leagues to the Rugby League Conference. It is named after Harry Jepson. History The Harry Jepson trophy was first contested in 1997 by members of the then S ...

. 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 The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

2015–2021: League 1

The Bears were accepted into the semi-professional ranks of League 1 for the 2015 season, and entered their newly formed reserve side into the

Conference League South The Southern Conference League is a British rugby league division in the Rugby Football League's tier 4. It is the highest level of amateur rugby league in the South of England and South Wales. It was one of the leagues that replaced Rugby Lea ...

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.

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. 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. Alan Robinson resigned from the Midlands Hurricanes during the 2022 season and is no longer part of the Midlands Hurricanes club in any capacity. The club intends to move to the Alexander Stadium in

Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...

in 2023, but no announcements have been made so far. In May 2022 coach, Richard Squires, was banned from the sport for three months (with one month suspended) by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisat ...

(RFL) for breaching RFL rules on betting. In his absence, assistant coach, Dave Scott took charge of the team.

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

2022 transfers

Gains Losses

Seasons

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

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Midlands Hurricanes Rugby league teams in the West Midlands (county) Sport in Coventry Rugby clubs established in 1998 English rugby league teams