Midlands Hurricanes

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Midlands Hurricanes

Club information
Full name	Midlands Hurricanes Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Hurricanes
Colours	Purple
Founded	1998; 24 years ago (1998) (as Coventry Bears)
Current details
Ground(s)	Coundon Road Stadium (1998–2004) Butts Park Arena (2004–2021) Portway Stadium (2022)
CEO	Alan Robinson
Chairman	Mike Lomas
Coach	Richard Squires
Manager	Darren Morson
Competition	League 1
2021 season	8th

The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club jointly based in Birmingham and Coventry, West Midlands, England. The club was formed in 1998 as Coventry Bears and currently play in the third tier RFL League 1. The club will play at the Portway Stadium of rugby union club Birmingham & Solihull Bees in 2022.

History[]

1998–2014: Foundation and Amateur years[]

The club were formed as Coventry Bears in 1998 by a group of university students led by Alan Robinson. They made an approach to Keith Fairbrother, the Coventry rugby union club's Chairman and one time rugby league player, with a plan to form a team to play from Coundon Road Stadium.

The club were admitted into the Rugby League Conference for the 2000 season and were unbeaten by any club within their division. They then won their quarter-final against Manchester Knights before being narrowly defeated by only one point in the semi-finals at Super League club Warrington Wolves’ Wilderspool Stadium. Further success followed in 2001 with the Bears reaching the at Webb Ellis Road, Rugby, only to lose out by a very narrow margin in a match against . The following season Coventry won the Rugby League Conference Grand Final in September 2002 when they beat Hemel Stags at Cheltenham. Following on from this success the club applied for, and won, elevation to the newly formed National League Three.

The Bears reached the in 2004, winning comfortably. The following season Coventry Bears RLFC experienced difficulties and chose to resign from the National League to take time to rebuild and regroup. 2006 saw the return of the Bears as a Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier side, and the club finished the season in second place. They went on to beat Leicester Phoenix in the qualifying semi-final to set up a Midlands Grand Final with Nottingham Outlaws, which ended in defeat.

Coventry defeated Nottingham Outlaws in 2007 to win the Midlands Premier and also won the , The Bears went on to finish as runners-up to St Albans Centurions losing 28–20 in the final of the Harry Jepson Trophy. In 2008, the Bears finished as runners up in the Midlands Premier to Nottingham. In 2010, Coventry linked up with Super League side Wigan Warriors.^[1]

2015–2021: League 1[]

The Bears were accepted into the semi-professional ranks of League 1 for the 2015 season,^[2] and entered their newly formed reserve side into the Conference League South in the same season. They finished their first semi-professional season in 12th place. Coventry finished their final season as the Bears in the 2021 League 1 season in 8th place.^[3]

2022–present: Rebrand to Midlands Hurricanes[]

On 3 November 2021 the club announced a major rebranding in an effort to attract a wider support base from the English midlands region. The club will be known as the Midlands Hurricanes for the 2022 RFL League 1 season onwards.^[4] As part of the re-branding the club relocated from Butts Park Arena to the Portway Stadium - home of rugby union team Birmingham & Solihull Bees for 2022. The club intends to move to the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr in 2023.^[5]

Reserves and development[]

The club will still use the Coventry Bears branding for its reserves and development squad which will play in the amateur Midlands Rugby League.

Coventry Bears' junior teams take part in the Midlands Junior League.

Stadiums[]

1998–2004: Coundon Road[]

The Bears moved into Coundon Road shortly after their formation in 1998. The ground had been owned and operated by sister rugby union club . They stayed there for six years until the ground was sold and demolished in 2004. Both clubs moved out to the newly built Butts Park Arena at the other side of Coventry.

2004–2021: Butts Park Arena[]

The stadium was built in 2004 and currently has one stand, the East Stand, which has a capacity of 3,000 and includes a number of conference and banqueting facilities. The West Stand which was a temporary structure holding 1,000 was removed at the end of the 2005–06 season on grounds of health and safety.

2021 squad[]

Coventry Bears 2021 Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
1 – FB 2 – WG 3 Liam Welham – CE, SR 4 – CE 6 – SO 7 – SH 8 – PR, LF 9 – HK 11 – SR 12 – SR, LF 15 – PR 18 – CE 19 – PR		21 – FB, WG 22 – PR 23 – LF Dave Scott – FB, WG – HB – FB – HK, LF – SR, LF – SO, HK – HK, LF – PR – PR – SR, PR		– CE – CE, SR – SR – WG, FB Ben Pointer – HK – WG				Head coach Assistant coach Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice captain(s) Updated: 3 March 2021 Source(s): 2021 Squad

2021 transfers[]

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Dave Scott	Batley Bulldogs	1 Year	September 2020
	Huddersfield Giants	2 Years	September 2020
	Castleford Tigers	1 Year	October 2020
	North Wales Crusaders	2 Years	October 2020
	Batley Bulldogs	1 Year	October 2020
	Newcastle Thunder	2 Years	October 2020
	Unattached	1 Year	October 2020
	Saddleworth Rangers	1 Year	October 2020
	London Broncos	1 Year	November 2020
	Hull FC	1 Year	November 2020
		2 Years	November 2020
	Keighley Cougars	1 Year	November 2020
	Newcastle Thunder	1 Year	November 2020
	Newcastle Thunder	1 Year	January 2021
Ben Pointer	Newtown Jets	1 Year	February 2021
	Bradford Bulls	Season Loan	April 2021

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Brad Clavering	Dewsbury Rams	1 Year	October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
Ben Gray	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
Cameron Stewart	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
	Released		October 2020
Reece Williams	Released		October 2020

Seasons[]

Season	League										Challenge Cup
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Play-offs
2000: Played in RLC Western Division		2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 ? ? ? 8th 1st 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 7th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 7th 3rd ? ? ? NB: Promotions and relegation are not based of league positions in the Rugby League Conference but by application									Did not participate
2001–2002: Played in RLC Midlands Division
2003–2005: Played in RLC National Division
2006–2009: Played in RLC Midlands Premier
2010–2012: Played in RLC National Division
2013–2014: Played in Conference League South
2015	Championship 1	22	5	17	0	430	755	10	12th	Did not qualify	R3
2016	League 1	14	4	1	9	289	460	9	11th	Third in Shield	R3
	League 1	15	2	0	13	287	615	4	14th	Sixth in Shield	R3
	League 1	26	7	0	19	406	1058	14	11th	Did not qualify	R5
2019	League 1	20	4	0	16	365	829	8	9th	Did not qualify	R3
	League 1	League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom									R4
	League 1	17	6	0	11	405	532	12	8th	Did not qualify	Did not participate

Honours[]

League

• National League Three:

Winners (1): 2004

• RFL Midlands Division One:

Winners (1): 2013

• RLC Midlands Premier:

Winners (3): 2007, 2009, 2010

• RLC Midlands Division:

Winners (2): 2001, 2002

• RLC Western Division:

Winners (1): 2000

Cups

• Harry Jepson Trophy:

Winners (1): 2002

Nines

• Midlands 9s:

Winners (1): 2007, 2009, 2013

• Kilkenny 9s

Winners (1): 2007

Women

• RLC Women's Plate:

Winners (1): 2010

• RLC Women's South Division:

Winners (1): 2011

References[]

External links[]

• Official website