Stuart Littler (born 19 February 1979) is the former head coach of

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...

. He is a former

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international

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 ...

footballer and a former head coach of

. Littler played for the Salford City Reds in the

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 ...

, playing for his hometown club,

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

and finishing his career with

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the RFL League 1 . The club has won the Rugby Football League Championship, Championship six times and three Challenge Cups ...

, retiring at the end of the 2016 season. Littler's position of choice was as a . He could also operate in the and also played some games on the .

Background

Littler was born in

Higher End Billinge Higher End or Higher End is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Governance Billinge was a civil parish lying within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Lancashire on 2 ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. He is of Irish descent. He is a lifelong resident of

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

Career

Littler is an

international. Littler was expected to leave the club following

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

's relegation to National League One. Littler was expected to seal a move to Harlequins RL, however Chairman Ian Lenagan decided not to offer him a deal. Littler joined Salford in 1998 – his first professional club and is equal top-try scorer in a season for the club, alongside David Watkins. He was named in the Ireland training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and the

squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. In October and November 2014, Stuart played in the 2014 European Cup competition. In 2016, he was called up to the

squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup European Pool B qualifiers.

Coaching

Swinton Lions

After retiring with Swinton he remained with the club as an assistant coach under head coach John Duffy. When Duffy left the club in July 2017, he stepped into the head coach's shoes commencing with an away match at

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

on 23 July 2017. He parted company with Swinton in July 2021.

Oldham RLFC

On 6 October 2021, he was reported as the new head coach for

Oldham RLFC Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. O ...

. On 1 Aug 2023 it was reported that Oldham had announced his departure amid speculation that he was about to take up the vacant

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

head coach role.

References

External links

Salford City Reds profile
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
Ireland profile

*(archived by web.archive.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littler, Stuart 1979 births Living people English people of Irish descent English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Ireland national rugby league team captains Ireland national rugby league team coaches Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leigh Leopards players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches People from Higher End Rugby league players from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league second-rows Salford Red Devils players Swinton Lions coaches Swinton Lions players