East Cumbria Crusaders is a

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 ...

club based in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. They play in the North East Division of the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference, 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, Sco ...

. Their home ground is Creighton RUFC.

History

The club were founded in 2003 as Carlisle Centurions by former international Bev Risman and joined the North West Division of the

which it won. The Centurions went on to reach the Grand Final of the Harry Jepson Trophy in 2003 when they were narrowly beaten at

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 l ...

by Bridgend Blue Bulls. The 2004 season saw Carlisle Centurions leave the Conference to join the newly formed National League Three. Centurions 'A' continued to play in the Conference in a newly formed Cumbrian Division but withdrew mid-season. However, Carlisle Centurions failed to complete the 2005 National League Three because of travelling difficulties causing serious player-availability issues. The club was reformed in 2006 under coach Geoff Grieves and returned to the Rugby League Conference in 2006 joining the North Division. The club began to cut its early reliance on out-of-season West Cumbrian

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created on 3 March 1973 at t ...

players and focused on gaining new recruits. The club failed to reach the final losing out to Liverpool Buccaneers. Carlisle stepped up to the Premier North in 2007 and won it; they continued in this competition in 2008 and successfully defended their title. In both 2007 and 2008 the club lost out at the National semi-final stage to Coventry Bears and Nottingham Outlaws, suffering from a lack of genuine competition in the Northern Premier competition. In 2009, they returned to National League Three and reconstituted as the Rugby League Conference National Division. Former

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

player Dennis Bibby became coach after Grieves left mid-season. Carlisle Centurions withdrew from the National Division mid-season in 2010 after suffering a string of heavy defeats and struggling to raise a team. The club regrouped as ''East Cumbria Crusaders'' with a host of younger, inexperienced players, playing out of Creighton rugby union club. They joined the RLC North East Division. East Cumbria Crusaders moved up to the North East Premier Conference in 2012 after winning 13 of 14 regular league fixtures in the NE Regional Conference in 2011.

Honours

* RLC North West Division: 2003 * RLC North Division: 2006 * RLC North Premier: 2007, 2008 * RLC North East Regional: League Leaders' Shield 2011 * North East Rugby League Regional Division: 2013

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Cumbria Crusaders Rugby League Conference teams Rugby league teams in Cumbria Rugby clubs established in 2003 2003 establishments in England Sport in Carlisle, Cumbria Rugby league teams in England