The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional

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

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. They played in 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. Professional clubs The following is a list of professional and semi-professional clubs in the British rugby league system: *''*capaci ...

(currently known as League 1) between 2010 and 2017. The team initially played at

The Gnoll The Gnoll () in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for rugby union, rugby league, and cricket, in addition to having previously been used for association football. Description In Jul ...

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

, before spells at

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; , ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley and separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly Mountain. It is north of Cardiff an ...

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

, and

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

. Under new ownership, the club relocated to

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

effective immediately in July 2017. The following season, they began competing as

West Wales Raiders The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in RFL League 1, League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an ama ...

History

In December 2009, South Wales RLFC was admitted into Championship One for the 2010 season. This followed the relocation of

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

club

Crusaders RL Crusaders Rugby League () was a professional rugby league club based in Bridgend and later in Wrexham, Wales. They played for six seasons in the Rugby Football League competitions, including three years in the Super League from 2009 to 2011. F ...

from

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. The Scorpions moniker was announced on 22 December. In 2012, a feeder club for the Scorpions, South Wales Hornets, competed in the

National Conference League The National Conference League (NCL) comprises the five levels of the British rugby league system at the top end of the amateur pyramid below the professional RFL League 1, League One. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Rugby Football League ...

. The team was disbanded after one season.

Wales Rugby League Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales. In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted t ...

agreed to take over the running of the Scorpions for the 2014 season after club owner Phil Davies decided to step down. In 2014, the Scorpions played at

Llynfi Road Llynfi Road is a rugby stadium in Maesteg in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. It is the home of Maesteg RFC. History Rugby Union Maesteg RFC was formed in 1877 in the Llynfi Valley, in the county of Glamorgan. The Llynfi ground (sometimes r ...

. The club relocated the following year, to Parc Dyffryn Pennar in

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

, which also served as a training ground. In 2016, the team played at Virginia Park in

. The club was renamed South Wales Ironmen for the 2017 season, coinciding with their move to

The Wern The Wern is a sports stadium in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is the home of rugby union club Merthyr RFC and was, for a short period in 2017, also home of rugby league club South Wales Ironmen. The stadium is located on Cae'r Wern in the east of Mer ...

. In July 2017, the club was bought by Andrew Thorne, owner of amateur club

. The Scorpions began using

Stebonheath Park Stebonheath Park (''Welsh language, Welsh: Parc Stebonheath'') is a multi-use stadium in Llanelli, West Wales with a capacity of 3,700. It is primarily used as a Association football, football ground and is the home of Llanelli Town A.F.C. It wa ...

as their home ground for the remainder of the season. The club were rebranded as the West Wales Raiders and remained in League 1 in 2018 - and, as such, the Raiders can be regarded as a continuation of the Ironmen club, and their previous incarnation the South Wales Scorpions.

Seasons

References

External links

Wales Rugby League Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Wales Scorpions Rugby league teams in Wales Sport in Neath Sport in Llanelli 2009 establishments in Wales 2017 disestablishments in Wales Rugby clubs established in 2009 Defunct rugby league teams in Wales