 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Thatto Heath Crusaders ARLFC |
| Colours | Black, red and white |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Website | www.thattoheathcrusaders.org |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Coach | Mike Woods |
| Captain | Jamie Tracey David Pike Adam Saunders |
| Competition | National Conference League |
Thatto Heath Crusaders is an amateur rugby league club situated in Thatto Heath, St Helens, Merseyside. The club currently competes in the National Conference League Premier Division
Thatto Heath RLFC began life in 1981, originally formed by ex-St Helens R.F.C. player Frankie Barrow. The team began competing in the North West Counties 4th Division, and the ‘A’ Team entered Division 5.
The team progressed through the divisions rapidly and finished the 1986−87 season by lifting the North West Counties Premier Division Championship Trophy, the St Helens Cup and they took out the BARLA National Cup Final with a 15–8 victory over the National Conference League Champions Heworth. Captain John McCabe entered the record books as the only player to appear on the winning side in five National Cup Finals.
During the next 20 years Thatto Heath enjoyed enormous success, including the National Cup Trophy, a record five County Cups, two Champions Challenge successes, a record seven North West Counties Premier Division titles, two North West Counties Challenge Cups, three North West Counties Premier Challenge Cups and eight St Helens Cups. It was during this period the club recorded their most famous win, against Chorley Chieftains 27−12 in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup third round in January 1996.
Over the years, the club has produced numerous players who have moved on to join the professional ranks including Andy Brown, Gary Forber, Scott Ranson, Stuart Wakefield, Barry Ashall (Swinton), Darren Harris, Paul Bishop, Darren Abram, Gary Sanderson (Warrington), Derrick Seabrook, Steve Dudley (St Helens), Neil Slater (Trafford Borough), Chris Honey (Barrow), Arthur Bradshaw (Salford) and in more recent times Ray Waring, Ste Gee, Mark Gleave and Lydon Smith (Chorley Chieftains). Alex Murphy was also a graduate from the club.
During 1999, the club found themselves without a ground so a merger was proposed with another local rugby league club, St Helens Crusaders. With the approval of the SIDAC social club, the club then became Thatto Heath Crusaders – St. Helens.
The club was eventually elected to the National Conference League in 2000–01. Thatto Heath took out the National Conference Division 2 Championship title that same year.
In 2007 Thatto Heath went up rapidly through the leagues to the championship.
Thatto Heath won the Division One title in 2010 and promotion to the Premiership and in 2011 Thatto Heath went on to win the Conference League Premiership title defeating Siddal in the final. Captained by Mark Beech, Crusaders then went on to become European champions the same year.
In 2015 Thatto Heath were relegated from the Premier Division after finishing 11 from 12 teams, ending their five-year stay in the top flight. Thatto Heath appeared in the playoffs in each of the seasons in the Premier Division (except for 2015), including finishing top of the table in 2011 and 2013.
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 1 Jan 2024 | ||||||
| Player | Club | Date |
|---|---|---|
 Andrew Lea | Rochdale Hornets | January 2024 |
 Ellis Keppel | Pilkington Recs | January 2024 |
| Sam Haynes | Swinton Lions | February 2024 |
| Player | Club | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nathan Taylor | Crosfields ARLFC | January 2024 |
| Adam Carr | North Wales Crusaders | January 2024 |
| Greg Wilde | Culcheth Eagles ARLFC | January 2024 |
| Jamie Morris | Garswood Stags ARLFC | January 2024 |
Thatto Heath run a junior team in the Gillette National Youth League.
In 2013, the Thatto Heath Crusaders women's side competed in the Women's Rugby League Conference where they finished top of the Premier League [1] and defeated Bradford Thunderbirds 32–6 to win the Grand Final. [2] Following becoming league champions in 2014, 2015 and 2016 the team became founding members of the RFL Women's Super League in 2017. The club also won the Women's Challenge Cup four years in a row from 2013 to 2016. Ahead of the 2018 season, the side were bought out by St Helens R.F.C. [3]
While this means that they no longer play in the top tier of Women's competition, as of the 2021 season they continue to field teams in lower leagues (e.g. National Conference League) under the Thatto Heath Crusaders name.
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In British rugby league, winning the Treble currently refers to winning the Super League Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield, and Challenge Cup in the same season. Up until 1973 this was achieved by winning the Championship Final, finishing top of the league during the regular season, and winning the Challenge Cup.
Leigh Miners Rangers are a community amateur rugby league football club from Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the National Conference League, the National Conference Premier Division. The club also operates an A team, Masters, an Under 18's team, and numerous junior teams. In 2022, Miners Rangers also fielded a Ladies side in the RFL Women's Super League Group 2.
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 seasons. It was replaced in 2017 by a new three division structure comprising the Women's Super League, the Women's Championship and the Women's Championship 1.
Tara-Jane Stanley is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback for York Valkyrie in the Women's Super League. She has played at representative level for England, and club level for Thatto Heath Crusaders and Castleford Tigers Women.
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 Women's Challenge Cup is a rugby league knockout competition organised by the Rugby Football League. The competition started in 2012.
Emily Rudge is a British rugby league player who plays for St Helens Women in the Women's Super League. She plays at second-row. Born in Warrington Rudge attended Cardinal Newman High School and first played rugby league for a local Warrington club before joining Thatto Heath Crusaders. While at Warrington she was first selected for the England women's national rugby league team in 2008, aged 16. In 2011, Rudge was in the Warrington team that won the Championship Final of the Women's Rugby League Conference in August, before joining for Featherstone Rovers for the interim season before the launch of the first summer-based season.
Jodie Cunningham is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback or loose forward at international level for England and domestically for St Helens in the Women's Super League.
The rugby league club St Helens R.F.C. have operated a women's team since they took some women from Thatto Heath Crusaders, and other women's sides in 2017 ahead of the 2018 season. They won four successive Challenge Cups from 2013 to 2016. The 2016 win formed part of their treble winning season. The side won the 2021 Women's Challenge Cup after beating York City Knights, adding to the four cup titles won as Thatto Heath. That season, they also completed the treble for the second time.
Tara Jones is an English rugby league player and referee. She is the starting hooker for St Helens and the England national team. In both disciplines, her career took off in 2018, when she captained St Helens in their debut women's Super League and became the first female men's Super League match official.
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 2016 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 12 teams during the summer of 2016. The Challenge Cup was won by Thatto Heath St Helens who beat Leigh Miners Rangers 6–62 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by the Thatto Heath Reserves team who beat Whitley Bay Barbarians 0–44 in the final. Both finals took place on 31 July 2016 at the Provident Stadium, Bradford.
