The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and National Rugby League titles, and several other competitions. First founded as the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC), it is the only club to have played in each and every season at the elite level, and since the 1970s has often been dubbed the glamour club of the league. The Sydney Roosters have won 15 premierships, equal to the record of the St George Dragons. Only the South Sydney Rabbitohs have won more premierships. The club holds the record for having won more matches than any other in the league, the most Minor Premierships and the most World Club Challenge trophies. The Sydney Roosters are one of only two clubs to finish runners-up in their inaugural season. Currently coached by Trent Robinson and captained by James Tedesco, the Roosters play home games at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Russell Lance Fairfax is an Australian former Rugby Union and Rugby League player. A precocious talent, he played his first rugby international while still at school. Having played eight tests for the Wallabies, he moved to Rugby League's Eastern Suburbs Roosters in 1974. Following his retirement from Rugby League, Fairfax coached in the 1989 and 1990 seasons.
Jack Gibson OAM was an Australian rugby league coach, player, and commentator. He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the sport's history. Nicknamed 'Supercoach', he was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation, as he introduced new coaching and training methods into the sport in the 1970s, and 1980s, when first-grade rugby league was then still played and coached on a semi-professional basis.
John Brass is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer - a dual-code international. He made twelve international representative rugby union appearances with the Wallabies from 1966 to 1968 and six representative rugby league appearances for the Kangaroos in 1970 and 1975, as national captain on one occasion.
Ian 'Shoey' Schubert is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He later became chief salary cap auditor for the National Rugby League. An Australian international representative player, Schubert had a long club career which began with a sensational opening season for Eastern Suburbs, before fading out and re-inventing himself with Manly-Warringah and Western Suburbs so well that he regained his Australian jumper after having been in reserve grade a year prior. By the time his career closed Schubert had played 269 first grade games, which stood as the third highest in the history of the NSWRFL.
Johnny Mayes is an Australian former rugby league halfback who represented Australia in the 1975 World Cup. He also played in three consecutive premiership-winning teams from 1973 to 1975, the first for Manly-Warringah and the latter two for Eastern Suburbs. His feat of playing in three consecutive premiership sides for different clubs is comparable only with Glenn Lazarus in the early 1990s for Canberra and the Brisbane Broncos, who played in four premiership sides between 1989 and 1993.
David Royce Ayliffe is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative, he played for and captained the Eastern Suburbs club. Ayliffe also played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs club. During the 1976 NSWRFL season, Brass played in the forwards, helping Eastern Suburbs to victory in their unofficial 1976 World Club Challenge match against British champions St. Helens in Sydney. While attending Wollongong Keira High School, Ayliffe played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1972. He also gained selection for the Australian Kangaroos in 1981. Since retirement he has served on the NRL Judiciary.
The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. This season NSWRFL teams also competed for the inaugural Amco Cup.
Robert "Rocky" Laurie was an Australian rugby league footballer. He played for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.
The 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 68th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1975 Amco Cup.
The 1976 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 69th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from around Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah and Parramatta clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1976 Amco Cup.
The 1975 Eastern Suburbs season was the 68th in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRFL's 1975 Premiership, winning all but 3 of their 25 matches and finishing premiers, as well as the 1975 Amco Cup, which they also won.
The 1974 Eastern Suburbs season was the 68th in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRFL's 1974 premiership, finishing the regular season as minor premiers. They went on to play in and win the grand final. Easts also competed in the 1974 Amco Cup.
The 1978 Eastern Suburbs Roosters season was the 71st in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRFL's 1978 Premiership. They also won the 1978 Amco Cup. Their home ground was the Sydney Sports Ground.
The 1976 World Club Challenge was an unofficial trial of what would later become the World Club Challenge concept, with the 1975 NSWRFL season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs hosting the 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season's Premiership and Challenge Cup winners St. Helens. The one-off challenge match was played on 29 June, right in the middle of the 1976 NSWRFL season, at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 26,856.
Geoffrey Pimblett, also known by the nickname of "Pimmer" was an English professional rugby league and rugby union footballer whose career rose to prominence in the 1970s. He played for St Helens as a goal-kicking fullback and captain, and also represented England internationally. He was the first player to win both the Lance Todd and the Harry Sunderland trophies.
The 1981 Eastern Suburbs Roosters season was the 74th in the club's history. Coached by Bob Fulton and captained by Royce Ayliffe, they played in the pre-season 1981 Craven Mild Cup, which they won and also in the 1981 Tooth Cup. The Roosters competed in the NSWRFL's 1981 premiership, finishing the regular season 1st to claim the minor premiership. They then came within one match of the grand final but were knocked out by the Newtown Jets.
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was played in 1976 but did not become a regular fixture until the late 1980s. It was also punctuated in the 1990s by the Super League war but has been held every year since 2000. The Sydney Roosters are the current champions, defeating St Helens 20–12 in 2020.
Ian Mackay is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s. He played for Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition.
Manly-Warringah 
Parramatta 
St. George 
Eastern Suburbs 
Canterbury-Bankstown 
Balmain 
Western Suburbs 
Cronulla-Sutherland 
Penrith 
South Sydney 
North Sydney 
Newtown