Leigh Centurions
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| Leigh Centurions | |
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| Full name | Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club |
| Emblem | Centurion |
| Colours | Red and white |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | National League One |
| Ground | Hilton Park Leigh Greater Manchester |
| Official website | www.leighrl.co.uk |
Leigh Centurions are a semi professional rugby league club based in Leigh, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester traditionally Lancashire, United Kingdom. They were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season and now play in National League One. They were originally known as Leigh Rugby League Club.
The club adopted the Centurions moniker for the 1995-96 season. However, it was announced in January 2007 that the club would undergo a rebranding exercise that would ultimately lead to the Centurions name being dropped and replaced with a new name in time for the club's move to its new stadium.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in 1878 and initially played at Buck's Farm, Pennington.
As one of the founder members of the Northern Union in 1895, the first season of the new game kicked off in September with Leigh recording a 6-3 loss against Leeds. Leigh finished ninth overall that season.
In 1906 Leigh become Northern Union champions following a superb season, boasting an 80% win rate. Their next major success came in 1921 when they won the Challenge Cup with a shock 13-0 victory over Halifax at The Cliff, Broughton, Salford.
In 1934 they played under floodlights for the first time, losing 8-25 at London Highfield.
During the Second World War, the club was forced to leave its ground as the adjacent cable factory extended onto the land. The townsfolk of Leigh, under chairman James Hilton's inspiration, cleared some fields on the edge of the town, and built a new stadium, including moving and rebuilding the old grandstand from the original ground.
In 1947 they moved to their new Kirkhall Lane headquarters and in 1953 floodlights were installed at a cost of £4,100. The ground saw a record home crowd of 31,326 attend a Challenge Cup tie with St Helens in the same year. Later, Kirkhall Lane was officially renamed Hilton Park after James Hilton.
Leigh signed Jim Ledgard from Dewsbury in 1948 for a then record fee of £2,650.
Leigh and Bradford Northern were the first rugby league clubs to stage matches on a Sunday in December 1954, although there was opposition from the Sunday Observance lobby.
The 1955-56 season saw a tournament titled the ITV Floodlit Competition. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually running out 43 - 18 victors over Leigh at Loftus Road.
Alex Murphy joined Leigh as player-coach. In 1971, Leigh reached the Challenge Cup final and defeated Leeds, 24-7. Murphy left Leigh shortly afterwards to become player-coach at Warrington.
In 1978 John Woods played and scored in every game as Leigh secured the Second Division. In 1982, Leigh were Champions for only the second time, as Alex Murphy guided them to a tense 13-4 victory at Whitehaven, after Leigh trailed 4-1 at half time.
[edit] Recent history
In 1995, the soccer team Horwich RMI made the decision to relocate from Horwich, near Bolton, to Hilton Park, changing their name to Leigh RMI in the process. As part of the deal a new company, Grundy Hill Estates, was formed to take over the ownership of the ground. Leigh added Centurions to their name for the 1995/6 season.
In 1998 Ian Millward was appointed head coach. Leigh had come close to relegation to the game's third tier. Under Millward, they were turned into promotion contenders. Millward left in 2000 to coach St Helens after the sacking of Ellery Hanley.
Australian Paul Terzis was coach of Leigh Centurions from 1999-2003. His reign was notable for a number of 'near misses' as Leigh attempted to win promotion to Super League. In 2001 Leigh recorded a shock Challenge Cup victory over Super League neighbours Salford City Reds, finish 9 points clear at the top of the Northern Ford Premiership and claim the Trans-Pennine Cup. However, Leigh were defeated in the play-off semi-finals and Widnes went on to win the Grand Final and a place in Super League.
In 2002 and 2003, the relegated Super League sides, Huddersfield Giants and Salford City Reds remained fully professional teams. Thus, their full-time fitness and coaching led to defeat in successive grand finals for Leigh.
In October 2003, Darren Abram was appointed head coach, with a view to taking them into Super League. When Halifax were relegated to play in the 2004 National League competition, their financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled, paving the way for Leigh to go about achieving their dream. Whitehaven were the opponents when Leigh won the National League One Grand Final 32-16 (after extra time, 16-16 at full-time) in 2004, thus securing promotion to Super League.
Leigh's Super League season of 2005, however, proved a disaster and the club were relegated back to National League One after winning just two games. Abram resigned in August 2005 after a disagreement with the board, who felt unable to offer him the full-time contract he wanted for 2006 if the club were not in Super League.
New Zealander Tony Benson, was appointed head coach in September 2005. Leigh's relegation from Super League had been all but confirmed at the time of his appointment.
In July 2006, Leigh won the Northern Rail Cup after defeating Hull KR 22-18 at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool. It was the second time the club had won that particular trophy having also triumphed in the 2004 final against the same opposition.
Following Leigh's 23-22 defeat to Batley Bulldogs in the 2006 NL1 play offs, the club's future was thrown into doubt. The club's owners decided to part company with Tony Benson causing some of the back room staff and management to resign in support of their colleague. The uncertainty also caused a number of the club's playing staff to leave.
Darren Shaw was appointed as coach of the club in October 2006 to replace Tony Benson.
In January 2007, the club announced that it was to drop the Centurions name ahead of its move to a new stadium. The club also changed the name of its current stadium back to Hilton Park after re-naming it The Coliseum a number of years earlier.
[edit] New stadium
In the forthcoming years, Leigh Centurions will move into their new all-seater stadium, which will have a capacity of 10,000. The stadium will form part of the Leigh Sports Village complex and will be shared with the Leigh RMI soccer club. The move to the new stadium is expected to go ahead in 2008. Hilton Park will be demolished with the land sold for a housing development. The as yet unnamed stadium will be the cornerstone of Leigh's application for a Super League franchise in the coming years.
Hall Construction Services Ltd of Durham won the £17.5 million contract to construct the stadium in January 2007.
[edit] Current squad
As of 24 December 2006:
| Nationality | Player | Position | Previous Club |
|---|---|---|---|
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Anthony Stewart | FB/C/W | Salford City Reds |
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John Hill | P | Rochdale Hornets |
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Dave Alstead | FB/C/W | Swinton Lions |
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Aaron Heremaia | SH | Wests Magpies |
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Warren Stevens | P | Warrington Wolves |
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Dana Wilson | P | York City Knights |
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Rob Roberts | LF/SO | Tumut |
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Tommy Grundy | SR/LF/C | Blackpool Panthers |
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Chris Hill | SR/P | Leigh Centurions Academy |
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James Taylor | SR | Leigh East |
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Danny Speakman | C | Wigan Warriors |
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Paul Rowley | H | Huddersfield Giants |
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Tim Jonkers | SR | Salford City Reds |
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Darryl Kay | SR | Wigan Warriors |
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Adam Hughes | C | Widnes Vikings |
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Sam Butterworth | FB/HB/H | Rochdale Hornets |
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Miles Greenwood | FB | St. Helens RFC |
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Rob Smyth | FB/W | Unattached |
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Mailangi Styles | SR/P | Manly Sea Eagles |
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Martin Ainscough | HB | Widnes Vikings |
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Nathan DeBartolo | HB/H/LF | Sydney Bulls |
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Damien Couturier | C | Hull KR |
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Leroy Rivett | FB/W | Hull KR |
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John Clough | H | Halifax RLFC |
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John Braddish | HB | Sale Sharks |
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John Cookson | P/SR | Leigh Centurions Academy |
[edit] Honours
- RL Champions: 1905-06, 1981-82 (twice)
- Challenge Cup winners : 1920-21, 1970-71 (twice)
- Lancashire Cup winners: 1952-53, 1955-56, 1970-71, 1981-82 (4 times)
- Second Division champions (including National League One): 1977-78, 1985-86, 1988-89, 2004 (4 times)
- Second Division runners-up : 2000, 2002, 2003
- Second Division Minor Premiers (League Leaders) : 2001
- BBC2 Floodlit Trophy: 1969-70, 1972-73 (twice)
- Trans-Pennine Cup: 2001
- National League Cup: 2004, 2006
[edit] Coaching history
1994-1996: Ian Lucas
1996: Eric Hughes
1996-1998: Keith Latham
1998: Norman Turley
1998-2000: Ian Millward
2000-2003: Paul Terzis
2003-2005: Darren Abram
2005-2006: Tony Benson
2006-present: Darren Shaw
[edit] Records
[edit] Player records
- Highest attendance: 31,326 vs St Helens
- Biggest victory: 92-2 vs Keighley
- Heaviest defeat: 4-94 vs Workington Town
[edit] Team records
- Most tries in a game: 6 by Jack Wood vs York, 1947 & by Neil Turley vs Workington Town, 2001
- Most goals in a game: 15 by Mick Stacey vs Doncaster, 1976
- Most points in a game: 42 by Neil Turley vs Chorley Lynx, 2004
- Most tries in a season: 55 by Neil Turley, 2001
- Most goals in a season: 187 (inc 10 drop goals) by Neil Turley, 2004
- Most points in a season: 468 by Neil Turley, 2004
- Most career tries: 189 by Mick Martyn, 1954-67
- Most career goals: 1043 by Jim Ledgard, 1948-58
- Most career points: 2492 by John Woods, 1976-85, 1990-92
- Most career appearances: 503 by Albert Worrall, 1920-38
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