Le Soler XIII are a French

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 Le Soler,

Pyrénées Orientales The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

in the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

region. Founded in 1955 and refounded in 2008 the club plays in the Languedoc-Roussillon League in the French

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, East, South 1, South 2, South-East, South-West and West. Cl ...

. Home matches are played at the Stade Municipal Le Soler

History

Founded in 1955 as RC Le Soler XIII by ''Noel Amoros'' and ''Pierre Aspaillange'' the new club reached their first league title final in 1959 when they finished runner-up to RC Salon XIII in the 2nd Division now called the National Division 1 league, losing by 10-21. The following season they finished runner-up again this time in the regional ''Rousillon League''. It was during the early 1980s that the club enjoyed their best spell. Under player-coach ''Cesar Rodriguez'' the club not only produced future top flight players like Jacques Jorda, Michel Charcos, Antoine Gonzalez and their own captain at the time Jo Bruzy they also enjoyed on the field success with these players. In season 82/83 they convincingly won the Federal Division nowadays called the

thrashing RC Lescure-Arthes XIII in the final 47-0. Season 83/84 brought continued success as they went on to lift the National 2 title after beating Saint-Paul Fenouilledes XIII in the final 16-10 and winning promotion to the 2nd tier. During this season they also embarked on their best

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869), known as Lord Stanley from 1834 to 1851, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served three times as Prime Minister of the United K ...

cup run. After despatching

Palau XIII Broncos Palau XIII Broncos also known as Palau XIII or Palau Broncos are a professional rugby league team based in Palau-del-Vidre in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region in the south of France. They currently play in the Elite 2 (rug ...

, top tier club

Limoux Grizzlies XIII Limouxin, also known as Limoux Grizzlies, are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Limoux in the Aude area in southern France. They play in the Super XIII. The club was formed in 1951. They have won the French rugby league ...

and Pennautier XIII in the group stages they went and beat top flight club SM Pia XIII in the Quarter-Finals. At the Semi-Final Stage they were drawn against the current champions and powerhouses

XIII Catalan XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with ...

. The game was played at the Stade Aime-Giral in Perpignan in front of a crowd of 5,000 and the minnows from the 3rd tier Le Soler did themselves proud in only going down 5-15. There then followed some fallow times including a couple of relegations and by the new millennium the club was struggling both on and off the field. In 2008 the club closed down but was quickly reformed under a new name Le Soler XIII. a new board was announced and the club colours were changed from the original red shirts and yellow shorts and socks (Catalan colours) to black and white hoops. The old colours remain on the club logo. In 2010 the newly reformed club won the National Division 2 Languedoc-Rousillon League and in 2011/12 they went one better and won the overall National Division 2 title beating US Trentels XIII 23-12 earning promotion in the process. After a couple of struggling seasons in the National Division 1 they were relegated back to the 4th tier.

Club honours

* National Division 1 (National 2) (1): 1983-84 * National Division 2 (Fédéral Championship) (2): 1982-83, 2011–12

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Soler XIII Rugby league teams in France 2008 establishments in France Rugby clubs established in 2008