Southern Discomfort Roller Derby (SDRD) is a men's

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

league based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Founded in 2010, the league consists of two teams which compete against teams from other leagues. They were members of the Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) until suspension in 2021, and are current members of the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA).

League History

The league was founded in November 2010, initially as a south of England representative team. After playing a single bout against the Northern England Roller Dudes (NERD), it remained inactive until August 2011, when it was resurrected on a permanent basis. In September, SDRD played a further game against the Northern England Roller Dudes, then later in the year suffered its first defeat to a mixed team of skaters from two new leagues: The Inhuman League from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, and Tyne and Fear Roller Derby from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. Late in 2011, Southern Discomfort was again involved in two firsts for UK roller derby: the first international men's bout, against

Roller Derby Toulouse Roller Derby Toulouse is a roller derby league based in Toulouse, France. Founded in 2010, the league currently consists of two men's teams, three women's teams and one junior team. The league was founded in February 2010 by Chakk Attakk, follo ...

's Quad Guards, and the first women vs men game, against the

London Rockin' Rollers London Rockin' Rollers (LRR) is a flat-track roller derby league based in London, England. Founded in 2007, the league is a member of both the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). ...

. In 2013, Southern Discomfort skater "Sutton Impact" said the league's greatest rivalry was with Toulouse. In 2012, Southern Discomfort won the first Men's European Roller Derby Championships, and also played a hard-fought game against the New York Shock Exchange on their tour of Europe. In December, Southern Discomfort was accepted as one of the first three non-American members of the

Men's Roller Derby Association The Men's Roller Derby Association (MRDA) is the international governing body of men's flat track roller derby. It was founded in 2007 under the name Men's Derby Coalition (renamed to Men's Roller Derby Association in 2011), and currently has 59 ...

(MRDA). They followed this in May 2013 by competing in the Big O tournament in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, at which they played Golden State Heat,

Puget Sound Outcast Derby Puget Sound Outcast Derby (PSOD) is a men's roller derby league based in Seattle, Washington. The league was founded in 2007 by Chuck“Hollywood Hendrick, and consists of a two teams, The Puget Sound Outcasts and the Puget Sound Castaways whi ...

and Deep Valley Belligerents. In 2017 Southern Discomfort competed in MRDA Championships in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, the first time this level of tournament had been held outside of North America in the men's game. During the tournament SDRD bested

, but were beaten by Portland Men's Roller Derby, and the San Diego Aftershocks. Southern Discomfort finished 4th in this tournament, ahead of its European rivals. In 2018, Southern Discomfort again competed in the MRDA Championships, this time hosted in Salem,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, by Portland Men's Roller Derby. Southern Discomfort went into the tournament ranked third, but following an unexpected defeat to The Vancouver Murder, dropped in their post-tournament ranking to 11th. Southern Discomfort were ranked fifth in the world in the MRDA rankings in March 2020. The league's membership of the association was rescinded in June 2021 after a number of HR complaints were raised regarding several league members, and the

felt that these were not dealt with timeously in line with the required standards and therefore the league were felt to not be fulfilling the requirements of a member league as per the Code of Conduct.

Men's Roller Derby Association Suspensions

Various league members were suspended from the MRDA in 2019 following sexual assault and harassment allegations. Following investigation of the allegations, Savage Hun faced a three game suspension and a year of probation based on the

Code Of Conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

violations assessed from two victim statements. Horndog, Rolling Thunder and Sutton Impact were banned from the MRDA for 2 years. Ballistic Whistle was placed on probation for 1 year from the point of reinstatement to any MRDA league.

References

{{s-end Roller derby in England Roller derby leagues in the United Kingdom Roller derby leagues established in 2010 Sports leagues in London Men's roller derby Men's sport in England 2010 establishments in England