North East Worcestershire Ravens, also known as NEW Ravens, are a rugby league club based in [Hopwood], Worcestershire. They play in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference and Midlands Rugby League attracting players from all over the West Midlands and Worcestershire and have become the largest Rugby League Club in the region boasting teams ranging from juniors to open age and have the only Masters team in the Midlands
It all started when…
History of Rugby League in Worcestershire
David Baxendale Pickett loved Rugby League, despite playing Union up to County standard. But League gave him the excitement he craved despite not being on the pitch himself. To this end he decided that what new town Redditch needed was a Rugby League team so a small ad in Open Rugby was placed and brought forward a few Northern exiles who felt the same. The Redditch town emblem in a Kingfisher, so David decided to call his new team the Kingfishers however after a competition was held the winner was Redditch Halcyon - the Halcyon being an Australian Kingfisher. The name was the inspiration for the Royal blue kit with the red chest band.
The first game was in September 1984 Vs Wolverhampton University. 22 February 1989 marked the end of an era, when David Pickett died. Only 57 and just as his team was starting to come good. Georgie and Gay continued to run the club.
1991/92 season the Aussies returned and fired the lads up again and it turned out to be Halcyons most successful year ever - winning the Midlands Challenge Cup, the Heart of England 9s and was top of the MASWARLA league. At the end of 1993/94 season Georgie became pregnant with the baby due in September 1994. Unfortunately this meant the club could no longer continue and came to an end.
In 1996 Super League was born and Andy & Dean Cave started a team in Worcestershire called Worcester Royals. They had a few successful years in the southern conference and were twinned with St Helens and they actually got to walk on the pitch and do some fund raising up there and the lads had a coaching session. They changed the name to Worcester Saints. Saints struggled to secure a regular home ground for training and matches and therefore struggled to recruit players in the Worcester area. 2004 Saints called it a day at the end of the season.
History of Ravens
North East Worcestershire Ravens League Football Club as its now known formed in 2005 when the RFL approached Jason Spafford asking him to form a team to fill the gap in the Midlands League left by the missing Worcester Saints. Redditch Ravens was formed by Jason Spafford and David Parsons took charge of it with the new home ground eventually being the 'Beehive' in Studley - the home of studley football ground. After moving around for several seasons we relocated around 2010 to Bromsgrove RU Club where much development work took place. This included a name change to North East Worcestershire Ravens thus widening the club's remit, a first Masters game, junior development programme, 'Challenge Mug' Competition, a visit of the RL Challenge Cup via the Warrington Wolves and the actual RL World Cup.
In 2014 the NEW Ravens relocated to Hopwood Park, the home of Kings Norton RU Club and from that time onwards came to be regarded as a very proactive RL club in the Midlands. The Challenge Mug competition continues to grow for the seniors with clubs coming from further a field, mixed touch rugby was developed, coaching courses run, junior development expanding even further with wider age ranges, festivals and camps with newly qualified Level 2 coaches, Masters RL developed further, the Seniors organised tours to Gateshead and Liverpool as well as junior all weekend festivals supported by partner Super League Club Saints, training in the use of defibrillators and recently Ravens juniors being selected as Macots for the 4 Nations double header at the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry. Midlands finals were hosted at Ravens in 2017 after a selection process as well as the club organizing regular trips to the RL Challenge Cup and Super League Grand Final for members and friends; distinctive on the field and off field clothing was developed.
NEW Ravens are proud of the development so far and look forward to further expansion and development in the future. We have a well liked facebook page, Instagram and Twitter as well as the new website. The club continues to develop as a family orientated community Rugby League club.
Worcestershire is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county. Over the centuries the county borders have been modified, but it was not until 1844 that substantial changes were made. This culminated with the abolition of Worcestershire in 1974 with its northern area becoming part of the West Midlands and the rest part of the county of Hereford and Worcester. However, in 1998 the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished and Worcestershire was reconstituted without the northern area, which was ceded to the West Midlands.
Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry. At one point, 90% of the world's needles were manufactured in the town and its neighbourhoods. In the 1960s, it became a model for modern new town planning.
Studley is a large village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Situated on the western edge of Warwickshire near the border with Worcestershire, it is 3.5 miles (6 km) southeast of Redditch and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Stratford-upon-Avon. The Roman road of Ryknild Street, now the A435, passes through the village on its eastern edge, parallel to the River Arrow. The name derives from the Old English leah, being a meadow or pasture, where horses, stod, are kept.
Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club are a Professional English rugby union club, playing in the English Premiership. Warriors also compete in the Premiership Rugby Cup, European Challenge Cup, and Premiership Rugby Shield competitions. Their home ground is Sixways Stadium, and the team colours are gold and blue.
The Midland Football Combination was an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprised five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions. The league was one of three official feeder leagues to the Midland Football Alliance.
Studley Football Club is a football club based in Studley, near Redditch, Warwickshire, England. They play in the Hellenic League Division One.
Bristol Sonics are a rugby league club based in Bristol in the South West of England.
Feckenham Football Club is a football club based in Feckenham, near Redditch, Worcestershire, England. They play at Mill Lane.
The Worcestershire Senior Urn is a football competition for Worcestershire County FA club teams, organized by the Worcestershire County Football Association. It began in the 1973–74 season with Malvern Town taking the honours in the first final.
Northampton Demons is a rugby league club based in Duston, Northampton. They play in the RFL Midlands Rugby League Men's South Division.
Harvington is a village near Evesham in Worcestershire, England. Bounded by the River Avon to the south and the Lench Hills to the north, three miles northeast of Evesham and now on the Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. The village today is an amalgamation of two smaller villages, Harvington and Harvington Cross, and has a population of around 1,750.
The Rugby League Conference (RLC), also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group, was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
Midlands 4 West (South) is a level 9 English Rugby Union league and level 4 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands region including clubs from parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and even on occasion Oxfordshire, with home and away matches played throughout the season. Each year some of the clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase - a level 9-12 national competition.
Midlands 5 West (South) is a level 10 English Rugby Union league and level 5 of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the West Midlands region including clubs from parts of Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and even Cheshire and Oxfordshire, with home and away matches played throughout the season. Each year some of the clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase - a level 9-12 national competition.
The Midlands Rugby League Division Two is a summer rugby league tournament in the Midlands region of England. It was previously known as the Midlands Rugby League and the Midlands Merit League. Its season runs from April to August.
Birmingham RLFC are a rugby league team based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. They play in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.
The Midlands Rugby League Premier Division is the highest level of amateur rugby league in the English Midlands. It was previously the Midlands Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. Many of the clubs run juniors in the Midlands Junior League.
The Midlands Junior League is an age group rugby league competition for club in the English Midlands. It is run by the Midlands Rugby League.
The West Midlands Regional Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, Southern, South West, East Mids, North East and North West. The West Midlands Regional Women's Football League feeds directly into the FA Women's Premier League, and lies above the Birmingham Women's Football League, Staffordshire Women's Football League and Worcestershire Women's Football League in the pyramid. The pyramid structure was founded in 1998.
The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Greater Birmingham area.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
