St Helens RLFC
The St Helens Rugby League Football Club ( commonly referred to as Saints) is a professional rugby league club based in the town of St Helens in the English region of Merseyside, who plays in the English- French Super League. The team wears their home games at Knowsley Road Stadium, where 17,500 spectators. Team colors are red and white. Compared with the Wigan Warriors prevails traditionally a strong rivalry.
In the existing Super League since 1996, the Saints have won five times the champion trophy. There are also two victories in the World Cup, the World Club Challenge. In Vergängerwettbewerb the Super League, Rugby League Championship, the Saints were seven times. Twelve times they decided the Cup Challenge Cup competition for themselves.
History
The club was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest in the country. 1890 took place the first game in the stadium at Knowsley Road. While in the south of England played mainly representatives of the middle and upper class rugby, the clubs got together in the north largely of workers. The players received no compensation, as the Rugby Football Union ( RFU) insisted on the strict amateurism. On August 29, 1895, representatives of 22 clubs from the north of England, including those from St Helens, to a meeting in Huddersfield and decided to withdraw from the RFU. They founded their own association, the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League).
1897 was St Helens in the final of the inaugural Challenge Cup, but were subject to the Batley Bulldogs. 1932 was the first time the Saints celebrate winning the English league title. Most users ever at Knowsley Road was reached on December 26, 1949, when 35,695 spectators watched the game against Wigan. In the early 1950s, the Saints went on to become the leading teams in the country. You could first time in 1956 the Challenge Cup to decide for themselves, as they defeated the Halifax RLFC in the final at Wembley. Until the mid- 1970s, followed by five more league titles and four additional cup wins.
Once in the 1980s and early 1990s successes were failed, the Saints established after the introduction of the Anglo- French Super League as one of the best teams in the world. Since then she has won five times the champion trophy in the Super League win and could win the Challenge Cup for the second six times. There are also two victories in the World Club Challenge, the World Cup against the champions of the Australian-New Zealand National Rugby League; in both 2001 and 2007 won the Saints against the Brisbane Broncos. In 2006 St Helens was chosen by the BBC for " Team of the Year ".
Achievements
- World Club Challenge: 2001, 2007 (2 items)
- Super League: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006 (5 items)
- Championship: 1931 /32, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1965/66 1969 /70 1970/71 1974 /75 ( 7 items)
- Challenge Cup: 1955 /56, 1960/61, 1965/66, 1971/72, 1975/76, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 (12 items)
- Lancashire League: 1929/30, 1931 /32, 1952/53, 1956/57, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1963/64 1964 /65 1965/66 1966 /67 1968/69 (11 items)
- Lancashire Cup: 1926/27, 1953 /54, 1960/61, 1961/62 1962 /63 1963/64 1964 /65 1967/68 1968 /69 1984/85 1991 /92 ( 11 items)
- Regal Trophy: 1987 /88 ( 1 items)
- Premiership: 1975/76 1976 /77 1984/85 1992 /93 ( 4 items)
- League Leader's Shield: 1964 /65 1965/66, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (6 items)
Famous former and current players
- Lee Briers (England)
- Ray Cale (Wales )
- Gary Connolly (England)
- Kel Coslett (Wales )
- Scott Gibbs ( Wales)
- Martin Gleeson (England)
- Chris Joynt (Wales )
- Leon Pryce (England)
- Vincent Karalius (England)
- Alexander Murphy ( England)
- Paul Sculthorpe (England)
- Freddie Tuilagi (Samoa)
- Tom Van Vollenhoven (South Africa)
- Cliff Watson ( England)
- Paul Wellens (England)