London Skolars

London Skolars
Club information
Full name London Skolars Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s) Skolars
Website skolarsrl.com
Colours
Founded 1995 (as Student Rugby League Old Boys)
Current details
Ground(s)
Coach(s) Jermaine Coleman
Captain(s) David Williams
Competition Kingstone Press League 1
2014 Championship 1 7th
Records
London League 3 (2000, 2001, 2004)
RLC Challenge Cup 1 (2004)
RLC Southern Division 1 (2000)
RLC London & South Division 1 (2002)
Middlesex 9s 1 (2003)

London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in North London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Kingstone Press League 1 in the 2015 season.[1] They also run an A-team (formerly known as Haringey Hornets) that play in the South Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference.

History

Student Rugby League Old Boys were founded in 1995 by Ian "Hector" McNeil. They were initially created for post-university graduates in London, with a number of ex-student international rugby league players.[1] The team originally played at Hackney RFC. The club quickly went "open"; relying on players from the student game and London-based antipodeans as well as local players.

The club name was changed to London Skolars two years later as they nearly got a big sponsorship from Skol. After initial success in the London League, in 1997 the club became a founder member of the Southern Conference League (the forerunner to the Rugby League Conference), under the name North London Skolars, and won the inaugural competition.[1] They also moved to New River Stadium. Later in 1997, they entered the National Conference League and were the only club south of Sheffield in the competition for four consecutive seasons.

In 1998 Skolars hosted Strella XIII, the first time a team from Tatarstan had toured Great Britain. During the 1999 season, the Skolars toured Russia, the first time that an amateur club had toured the former Soviet Union.[1]

Skolars first team won the Southern Division of the Rugby League Conference in 2000 and the second team won the London League that same year. The second team won the London League again in 2001.

In 2002 the club applied to join the National Leagues and was accepted, the first club in eighty years to make the transition from the amateur ranks to the professional leagues.[1] The A team joined the Conference and won the London & South Division in its first year.

In 2003, the Skolars first season in National League 2, they finished bottom of the league,[2] but made further progress in 2004. They won the Middlesex 9s whilst the A team won the London League and the RL Challenge Cup. The club dropped "North" from their name to become London Skolars. The appointment of Latham Tawhai as a full-time coach at the end of the 2005 season marked another step forward in the club's progress.

Tawhai left Skolars at the end of 2007 to become assistant coach at Harlequins Rugby League and was replaced by Tony Benson.[3]

Tony Benson left his job at London Skolars at the end of the season due to the inconvenience of travelling from his home in Leigh, Greater Manchester. Callum Irving took over as head coach at the club, Irving was Tony Benson's number two in the 2008 season. He resigned in July 2009, citing personal reasons. Injured player Jermaine Coleman took over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The club appointed its first full-time chief executive officer in 2009, Phillip Browne, who was replaced in 2010 by Howard Kramer. The Skolars finished the 2009 in 10th position of the Championship One table, taking the wooden spoon with just one win all season and five points. London Skolars announced that James Massara, a Hammersmith-born thirty-two-year-old will take the reins as head coach at New River Stadium in 2010. In October 2010 the London Skolars appointed former Harlequins Rugby League player Joe Mbu as their head coach.

In 2013, London finished 4th in the 2013 Championship 1 season. That was the first time they finished in the play-offs in their Championship 1 venture. However they didn't achieve promotion after being knocked out in the semi-finals.

On 13 April 2014, the Skolars announced they will be playing 6 home games (May–August) at Enfield Town FC due to their home ground, New River, was having a new 4G pitch and new floodlights installed and the main stand was being refurbished.

2015 squad

* Announced on 24 February 2015.

2014 Squad Numbers

No Player Position Former club
1 Matthew Cook Full Back, Centre Hunslet Hawks - On Loan
2 Sebastian Kolasa Wing
3 Kazeem Fatouri Centre, Wing Hemel Stags
4 Mike Benson Centre, Second Row Oxford RLFC
5 Judd Greenhalgh Wing
6 James Anthony Stand Off, Full Back Newtown Jets
7 Vince Spurr Scrum Half
David Williams Prop, Second Row London Broncos
9 Sam Druce Hooker London Skolars
10 Dion Champion Prop, Second Row Oldham Roughyeds
11 Will Lovell Second Row London Broncos
12 Harvey Burnett Second Row London Broncos - Dual Reg
13 Will Fairhurst Loose Forward
Sam Wellings Loose Forward South Wales Scorpions
Danny Burke Second Row
16 Oliver Bloom Prop
17 Anthony Cox Second Row, Prop London Broncos
Aaron Small Centre Hemel Stags
James Carty Wing
Tommy Connick Stand Off Oxford RLFC
21 Dave Ellison Prop Oxford RLFC
22 Max Edwards Utility Back Australia RU
Louis Robinson Loose Forward, Prop London Broncos
24 Michael Sykes Prop Northern Suburbs
Smokie Junor Wing Haringey Rhinos
John Paxton Full Back, Wing Gateshead Thunder
Louis Sutherland Second Row
Michael Greenhalgh Second Row
Matt Lyle
Caleb Adetona
Michael Crabtree Wing Oxford RLFC
Chris Brown Wing

2015 transfers

Gains

Player Club Contract length Date
England Will Lovell London Broncos 1 Year March 2015
England Max Edwards Australia RU 1 Year April 2015
England Matthew Cook Hunslet Hawks 1 Month Loan April 2015
England Jimmy Morgan Hemel Stags 1 Year April 2015
England Craig Boot Newcastle Thunder 1 Month Loan April 2015
England Harvey Burnett London Broncos Dual Reg April 2015
England Joel Wicks London Broncos Dual Reg April 2015
England Jon Wallace London Broncos Dual Reg April 2015

Losses

Player Club Contract length Date
England Martin Olima Released 1 Year December 2014

'A' team

London Skolars run an A team which compete in the South Premier division.

Juniors

Skolars run under-12s, under-14s and under-16s teams who all compete in the London Junior League.

Club honours

Coaching register

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Oxford league inspires : Oxford Rugby League v. London Skolars (match programme). Oxford: Oxford Rugby League. 2013.
  2. ↑ "Hull KR shock Salford". BBC Sport. 8 September 2003. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "'BENSON MAKES SKOLARS SWITCH". Sportinglife. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.

External links