 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Dublin Blues RLFC |
| Nickname(s) | BLUES |
| Short name | Dublin |
| Colours | Sky Blue and Navy |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Website | Dublinrl.com |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Chairman | Conor Kelly |
| Coach | Carl De Chenu |
| Captain | TBC |
| Competition | Euro XIII |
The Dublin Blues were an Irish rugby league team from Dublin, Ireland.
The Dublin Blues were Ireland's first ever rugby league club having been founded in 1989 by Brian Corrigan following a meeting with a delegation from the Rugby Football League which took place in 1988.
Initially the club played touring teams from the United Kingdom as there were no other teams in Ireland for a number of years. However, in 1995 the RFL financed a development programme in Ireland which would lead to the first domestic competition in 1997.
The Blues would become the inaugural champions of Ireland beating Tallaght Tigers in the 1997 Grand Final. They would go on to compete in the next two grand finals winning one and losing one.
Following their win in 1997 the Blues would become the first ever Irish team to enter into the Challenge Cup where they would be drawn away to Dewsbury Moors and would find themselves at the wrong end of a 32–7 score line. [1]
Another foray into the Challenge Cup followed in 1999 this time the Blues would again come undone in the first round against Farnworth.
The Blues were a dominant force in the late 90's and early 00's in Irish rugby league in total they took part in 6 All Ireland Grand Finals winning 3 and also an Al Ireland Challenge Cup Final in 1998.
While the early 2000s bore fruit for Ireland's oldest team the Blues became weakened towards the end of the decade and in 2008 ceased to exist.
It seemed the once powerhouse of Irish Rugby League who produced Wigan Warriors legend Brian Carney would be resigned to the history books. However, 10 years after they ceased playing a plan was hatched to bring back the Blues.
The initial plan was to seek the funding to enter RFL League 1 and to give Irish players an opportunity to play semi-professional rugby league without the necessity to relocate to another country.
In 2020 the launch of the Euro XIII competition caught the working groups eyes and they successfully enter to participate in the 2021 competition. [2] [3] [4] However this competition never took off and Dublin blues remains a memory.
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.
The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Football League.
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.
Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship.
Rugby league is a team sport played in Ireland on an all-Ireland basis.
The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.
Wheelchair rugby league is a wheelchair-based version of rugby league football, one of two recognised disability versions of the sport. It was developed in France in 2000. Unlike other wheelchair sports, people without disabilities are allowed to compete in top-level competition. The sport is also unique in the fact that men and women of any age can play against each other in top-level competition.
The History of the Bradford Bulls stretches back from their former incarnation as Bradford F.C. in 1863 to 2017.
The Catalans Dragons are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the club competes in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's oldest cup competition in either code of rugby. A concurrent Women's Challenge Cup and Wheelchair Challenge Cup have been held since 2012 and 2015 respectively.
The RLI Premiership is the top tier of domestic rugby league in Ireland founded in 1997.
Rugby league is played across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but its heartland in parts of Northern England is where the sport is most popular, and is where the majority of professional clubs are based. The sport was first established in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, where 22 clubs split from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Rugby Football Union.
The 1941–42 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the third season of the rugby league’s Wartime Emergency League necessitated by the Second World War. With fewer clubs than the previous season the Rugby Football League (RFL) decided to amalgamate the two county leagues into one joint league. The season started with 18 clubs but finished with 17 after Broughton Rangers withdrew in January 1942. The single division championship was won by Dewsbury, who had finished the season in first position and then defeated Bradford Northern in the play-off final.
The 1998 Challenge Cup, known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 97th staging of the Challenge Cup, a rugby league cup competition.
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 2019 Challenge Cup known as the Coral Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the 118th 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 2021 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 120th edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). This year's competition will be contested between only the professional clubs.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the sport of rugby league in both the northern and southern hemispheres with the two major league competitions suspended for periods and numerous other leagues and cup competitions cancelled or abandoned.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League South was introduced as a top tier women's rugby league club competitions in Great Britain for teams Southern England and South Wales that ran parallel to the RFL Women's Super League.
| Federation | |
|---|---|
| National Teams | |
| Domestic Competitions | |
| All-Ireland Rugby League Championship | |
