Club information | |
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Full name | Weald Warriors RLFC |
Colours | Black & Yellow with Cherry Red trim |
Founded | 2012 |
Website | http://www.wealdwarriors.com |
Current details | |
Ground(s) |
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Competition | RFL London and South East Championship |
Weald Warriors RLFC are a rugby league team playing in the London and South East Championship of the Rugby League Conference London & South Division. The club is based in Royal Tunbridge Wells, [1] Kent with players recruited from West Kent and East Sussex.
The club runs two seniors (open age) sides and currently two Academy / Junior sides (under 16 and under 17), all of whom play in black and canary yellow, with cherry red trim.
The club is the current Kent & Sussex Courier Sports Team of the Year (2015) and will host an under 10s - under 15s Summer Camp in July 2016.
Weald Warriors were founded in 2012 by former Barrow and London Skolars player Anthony Bennett, along with local schoolteacher Tom Phillips, Max Currums and former Northampton Gremlins player Alex Nicholson. [2] Their initial goal was the introduction of rugby league into the West Kent and East Sussex area.
The club's inaugural season in the London and South East Merit League saw them finish 4th in the table. The first competitive game for the club came against Dagenham Bulldogs [3] on 26 May 2012. The club's first try scorer was Anthony Bennett.
In 2013 Earl Gorman became the first Weald Warriors player to gain representative honours, appearing for GB Police RL, whilst a member of the club.
In 2015 Weald Warriors achieved their first silverware, winning the London and South East Cup. They finished the 2015 season as League champions following a play off final win versus Newham Dockers.
In 2016 the club has announced it will run four sides: two open age sides and an Academy side (under 16s to under 18s). The club is affiliated under the TWRFC Ltd umbrella organisation, which sees all home games hosted at St Marks Recreation Ground, home of Tunbridge Wells RFC.
The club has the unique distinction of hosting Royal Tunbridge Wells' first ever competitive game of Rugby League in 2012. [4]
In 2015, Weald Warriors won the RFL London and South East Cup (The Gordon Anderton Memorial Trophy) beating Newham Dockers 46-18. This was the first silverware for the Weald Warriors.
In 2015, Weald Warriors completed the 'double, by winning the RFL London and South East Championship play off final, again defeating Newham Dockers, by a record 4-84 score line, to be crowned divisional winners.
In recognition of the club's success and development of the game in the Weald area, the club was nominated for Sports Team of the Year in the Courier Media Group Regional Awards 2012. Weald Warriors were awarded 3rd place overall at the awards night held at Lingfield Park on 25 October 2012. In 2015 the club were again nominated following their record breaking wins in the play off final and Regional Cup success. Weald Warriors were awarded 1st place, in the Kent and Sussex Sports Team of the Year category, at a ceremony held at Lingfield Park on 18 January 2016.
Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe. It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone.
East Sussex is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Brighton and Hove, and the county town is Lewes.
Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 km) south of London. It had a population 20,607 at the 2011 Census.
The Weald is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre, the clay "Low Weald" periphery and the Greensand Ridge, which stretches around the north and west of the Weald and includes its highest points. The Weald once was covered with forest and its name, Old English in origin, signifies "woodland". The term is still used, as scattered farms and villages sometimes refer to the Weald in their names.
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, 30 miles southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. The town was a spa in the Restoration and a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s under Beau Nash when the Pantiles, and its chalybeate spring, attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity as a spa town waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town still derives much of its income from tourism.
The Borough of Tunbridge Wells is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It takes its name from its main town, Royal Tunbridge Wells. The borough also contains the towns of Paddock Wood and Southborough, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Large parts of the borough fall within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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 Hastings line is a secondary railway line in Kent and East Sussex, England, linking Hastings with the main town of Tunbridge Wells, and London via Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. Although primarily carrying passengers, the railway also serves a gypsum mine which is a source of freight traffic. Southeastern Trains operates passenger trains on the line, and it is one of their busiest lines.
Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells.
Tunbridge Wells Football Club is a football club based in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. They are currently members of the Southern Counties East League Premier Division. They play their home games at Culverden Stadium. The club is affiliated to the Kent County Football Association.
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.
Tunbridge Wells RFC is an English Rugby union club that plays in Regional 1 South Central from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.
London 3 South East is an English level 8 Rugby Union League involving club sides from Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and the south-east London. It is made up of teams predominantly from London, Sussex and Kent. The twelve teams play home and away matches from September through to April. Each year all clubs in the division also take part in the RFU Senior Vase - a level 8 national competition.
London 2 South East is an English level 7 Rugby Union League. When this division began in 1987 it was known as London 3 South East, changing to its current name ahead of the 2009–10 season. The division is made up of teams predominantly from south-east London, Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex. The twelve teams play home and away matches from September through to April. Each year all clubs in the division also take part in the RFU Intermediate Cup - a level 7 national competition.
Regional 2 South East, previously known as London 1 South, is an English level 6 rugby union regional league for rugby clubs in London and the south-east of England including sides from East Sussex, south Essex, south Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. When this division began in 1987 it was known as London 2 South, changing to London 1 South ahead of the 2009–10 season. It used to be the feeder league for London & South East Premier into which the champion team each season was promoted whilst the second-placed team entered a play-off against the runner-up of London 1 North. Three teams were relegated into either London 2 South East and London 2 South West depending on their location. The league was renamed as Regional 2 South East for the 2022-23 season and moved from a 14 team, to a 12 team competition. The champion would be promoted to either Regional 1 South Central or Regional 1 South East depending on geographical location, whilst relegated sides would go to either Counties 1 Kent or Counties 1 Surrey/Sussex.
Higher Common Ground is a cricket ground on Tunbridge Wells Common in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. It was used as a ground by Kent County Cricket Club in the 19th century and is the home ground of Linden Park Cricket Club.
Luke Baldwin is a retired rugby union player born in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England. He most recently played for Dragons in the Pro14 on loan from Aviva Premiership side, Worcester Warriors as a scrum-half.
Sport in Sussex forms an important part of the culture of Sussex. With a centuries-long tradition of sport, Sussex has played a key role in the early development of both cricket and stoolball. Cricket is recognised as having been formed in the Weald and Sussex CCC is England's oldest county cricket club. Slindon Cricket Club dominated the sport for a while in the 18th century. The cricket ground at Arundel Castle traditionally plays host to a Duchess of Norfolk's XI which plays the national test sides touring England. The sport of stoolball is also associated with Sussex, which has a claim to be where the sport originated and certainly where its revival took place in the early 20th century. Sussex is represented in the Premier League by Brighton & Hove Albion and in the Football League by Crawley Town. Brighton has been in the Premier League since 2017 and has been a League member since 1920, whereas Crawley was promoted to the League in 2011. Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. play in the FA Women's Super League from 2017. Sussex has had its own football association, since 1882 and its own football league, which has since expanded into Surrey, since 1920. In horse racing, Sussex is home to Goodwood, Fontwell Park, Brighton and Plumpton. The All England Jumping Course show jumping facility at Hickstead is situated 8 miles (13 km) north of Brighton and Hove.
The Kent Rugby Football Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the county of Kent in England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for Kent, and administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in the county. It also administers the Kent county rugby representative teams.
Ellie Miles is a women's rugby union player from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England who plays for Harlequins Ladies in the Premier 15s as a scrum-half or wing. She started her career at her hometown club Tunbridge Wells RFC and helped coach rugby at her school, Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School before joining Harlequins Ladies. She has been noted as an up-and-coming female rugby player.