COVENTRY RUGBY LEAGUE HISTORY

1. It is 13th November 1909, and the first game of Rugby League [actually Northern Union] is played in Coventry to gauge interest in the game, and St. Helens and Hull FC make the journey to play in front of over 4,000 spectators on a ground based at the Butts Park Arena.

2. From 1910, Coventry has its own 13 a side team, playing the likes of Wigan, Barrow and Wakefield. Meanwhile the game flourishes locally with Works teams at several local factories playing the game.

3. In their final game in 1913, Coventry lose at Leeds 102-0, a record for the Yorkshire club. WW1 then broke out, some players lost their lives, but others continued to play the game after the war for other clubs.

4. The game has disappeared from the area, but that doesn’t stop local Rugby League players from emerging from the shadows.  

5 The 1980s and 90s saw green shoots of RL locally and clubs in Redditch, Birmingham, Worcester and even a West Midlands Police ‘works team’! The game also flourished across Universities including Coventry where Alan Robinson led the team and developed the club at Coventry RFC in 1998.

 The first Coventry Bears team from 1998

6. 1998 The current Coventry Bears came into being, and began a rapid rise through the ranks of the amateur game in the South. The team playing its games at the home of Coventry RFC, Coundon Road.

7. Coventry Bears become a major force in the expansion of amateur rugby league. Winning the Rugby League Conference Harry Jepson Trophy in 2002 and National League Division 3 in 2004. The club played in 5 Harry Jepson Trophy National RLC Grand Finals in the 2000’s winning the trophy in 2002 on the second attempt v Hemel Stags. The Club also played in the ‘NCL’ National Conference League from 2011-2015 being the only side in the Midlands and South doing so for many years.

8. 2015 and the Bears enter Championship One now Betfred League 1, the third tier of pro/semi-pro Rugby league, and a year later International Rugby league is played for the first time at the Ricoh Arena in the 2016 4 Nations tournament and Coventry Bears played versus Keighley Cougars at the Ricoh now CBS Arena infront of over 1,000 supporters.

9. 2017 sees The Bears become the first local professional side to cross the Atlantic in a competitive league fixture playing at Toronto Wolfpack in front of 7,000 spectators

10. History was made in 2018 when a first victory against a traditional Northern team was recorded as Keighley were beaten 30-20, all the more special as the Bears had lost 6-98 in the previous encounter.

11. 2018 and home attendance records are broken twice; a Leeds Rhinos friendly sets record crowd of 1,294, being broken months later against Bradford Bulls in the league as 1,465 enjoy a party atmosphere at Butts park.

12. The Bears are now firmly rooted in the community with over 300 youngsters registered and a Community foundation of their own Bears in the Community CIC.

13. 2021, and surviving Covid, Coventry Bears embark on their 6th full season as a semi pro outfit, while the city’s standing as a beacon of the game in the Midlands is confirmed as the 32,000 seat Ricoh Arena hosts a World Cup game between Australia and Scotland in the RLWC2021.

14. The Bears continues to develop rugby league for the City of Coventry and continues to build its lasting legacy for the future.