Club information | |
---|---|
Full name | Barrow Rugby League Football Club Ltd |
Colours | Blue and White |
Founded | 2021[1] |
Website | barrowrlfc.com |
Current details | |
Ground(s) | |
Coach | Amanda Wilkinson |
Competition | RFL Women's Super League |
2023 | 2nd (Group 2) |
Current season |
The Barrow Raiders Ladies are the women's rugby league team of Barrow Raiders from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. They compete in the Women's Super League, and play their home games at Craven Park. Before taking the Barrow Raiders name the team were called the Barrow Island Ladies.
In 2016, Barrow Ladies played in the Merit League and were based at Barrow Island ARLFC. They initially had difficulty in finding opponents as many of their games were cancelled. [2] Barrow had previously had a women's team that had included Great Britain internationals such as Lindsay Anfield, [3] Sally Milburn [4] and Allie and Liz Kitchin, [5] but by 2016 it had been more than ten years since Barrow had last played a competitive home fixture. [6] Barrow entered in the 2016/17 WRLA Winter League, but by the end of January they had withdrawn from the competition [7] and in March 2017 they joined the Women's Premier Division. [8] At the end of April they made their Challenge Cup debut in a 58–13 loss to the Oulton Raidettes. [9] In 2018, Barrow recorded their first win in the Challenge Cup defeating Brighouse Rangers 62–10 to reach the second round (quarter-finals). [10] In 2019, Barrow finished second in the Championship. On 15 September, for their final home game of the regular season, Barrow faced Oulton in the first women's game to be played at Craven Park. [11] Barrow reached the Championship Grand Final with a 14–12 semi-final victory over Stanningley, [12] but lost 40–4 to Warrington Wolves [13] who had also knocked Barrow out of the Challenge Cup earlier in the season. [14] In 2020, Barrow were to face Warrington in the second round of the Challenge Cup again. [15] However, a week before the match the RFL suspended all competitions. [16]
On 14 March 2021, it was announced that the Barrow Island Ladies team had been adopted by Barrow Raiders to form the Barrow Raiders Ladies team. [17] [18] In the 2021 season, Barrow reached the Grand Final of the Championship by defeating Widnes Vikings 16–6 in the play-offs. [19] They lost the final 10–6 to the league leaders, Leigh Miners Rangers, [20] but a top two finish in the league meant promotion along with Leigh to Group 2 of the Super League. [21] In November 2021, Amanda Wilkinson was appointed as Head Coach. [22] The 2022 season began for Barrow with the Challenge Cup. After defeats to St Helens and Warrington Wolves, a 36–0 win over the Army was not enough for Barrow to progress from the group stage. [23] Barrow made their Super League debut on 15 May with a 32–6 loss at home to Warrington. [24] [25] Barrow finished second in Group 2 before losing 12–10 to Featherstone Rovers in the play-off semi-final. [26] As with the 2022 season, Barrow began 2023 with two defeats in the Challenge Cup before ending their campaign with a win; 20–11 over Hull KR. [27] [28] A closely fought Super League competition saw the top three teams in Group 2 (Leigh Leopards, Barrow and Featherstone) separated by only one point going into the final day of the regular season. In the last round of matches Barrow defeated Leigh but missed out on automatic promotion as they finished behind the league leaders, Featherstone, on points difference. [29] [30] However, a 14–8 victory over Leigh in the Group 2 Final secured their place in the restructured Super League in 2024. [31]
Season | League | Play-offs | Challenge Cup | Ref. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | ||||
2021 | Championship | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 288 | 144 | 17 | 2nd | Lost in Final | Did not participate | [32] |
2022 | Super League Group 2 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 386 | 168 | 18 | 2nd | Lost in Semi-Final | GS | [32] |
2023 | Super League Group 2 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 336 | 88 | 16 | 2nd | Won in Final | GS | [32] |
2024 | Super League | GS | [32] |
Ryan Lee Hall is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Betfred Super League, and for England and Great Britain at international level.
The Women's Rugby League Conference was a rugby league for female teams in Britain that ran from 2008 to 2013.
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Ben Hellewell is a Scotland international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League.
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The RFL Women's Rugby League was an amateur women's rugby league competition in the United Kingdom. First played for in 2014, the league ran for three full seasons. The 2017 season was not completed as the league was replaced in July 2017 by a new three division structure comprising the Women's Super League, the Women's Championship and the Women's Championship 1.
The 2018 Challenge Cup, also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 117th staging of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league has developed with the 2023 season being contested by 12 teams playing home and away against each other in two groups with subsequent play-offs and Grand Final. In January 2023 it was announced that the league would be reduced to eight teams in the 2024 season.
The 2022 RFL Women's Super League was the sixth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The 2022 Women's Challenge Cup was the 10th staging of the Rugby Football League's cup competition for women's rugby league clubs. The competition was won by St Helens who beat Leeds Rhinos 18–8 in the final at Elland Road on 7 May.
The 2023 RFL Women's Super League was the seventh season of the Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The 2017 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 16 teams during the summer of 2017. The competition was won by Bradford Bulls who beat Featherstone Rovers 50–18 in the final on 30 July 2017.
The Featherstone Rovers Women are the women's rugby league team of Featherstone Rovers in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in the RFL Women's Super League and play their home games at Post Office Road which is also home to the men's team.
The 2012 Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for during the summer of 2012. This was the first staging of the Challenge Cup and it was won by Featherstone Rovers who beat Bradford Thunderbirds 46–0 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by Widnes Vikings who beat Stanningley 40–10 in the final. Both finals took place on 15 July 2012 at the Tetley's Stadium, Dewsbury.
The 2013 Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for during the summer of 2013. This was the second staging of the Challenge Cup and it was won by Thatto Heath who beat Bradford Thunderbirds 54–12 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by Normanton Knights who beat Featherstone Rovers 34–16 in the final. Both finals took place on 23 June 2013 at The LoveRugbyLeague.Com Stadium, Batley.
The Warrington Wolves Women are the women's rugby league team of Warrington Wolves in Warrington, Cheshire, England. They compete in the RFL Women's Super League, playing their home games at Victoria Park and some games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium; the home of the men's team.
The Leigh Leopards Women are a women's rugby League team based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The team originally competed as the ladies' team of the Leigh Miners Rangers before an agreement between the club and the Leigh Leopards led to the rebranding of the team in late 2022. In 2022 and 2023 the team took part in the Women's Super League. As of 2024 they compete in the Northern Women's Championship.
The 2024 RFL Women's Super League is the eighth season of the Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The RFL Women's Championship is the second tier of women's rugby in the British rugby league system sitting below the RFL Women's Super League.