North Derbyshire Chargers
Encyclopedia
North Derbyshire Chargers RLFC are a rugby league
club who play in the Midlands Rugby League
at open age and junior level. Shortly after formation a merger was agreed with the Chesterfield Spires club.
Sunday League. Due to shortage of players, the team ceased playing at the beginning of 1983. The club also ran an Under 15s team, recently identified via an article in a West Yorkshire newspaper from 1980 indicating that the team lost 110-0 to Upton ARLFC http://www.uptonarlfc.co.uk/page1979.htm. The last secretary of the club was Patrick (Paddy) Fagan.
Within a year, Shirebrook
Rugby League Club had been formed by Paddy Fagan and Mick Meadows. Although this new club had a few players from the old Chesterfield team, the majority of the players were from the Shirebrook area.
A new team was also formed at Clowne shortly afterwards. Both Clowne and Shirebrook were stalwarts of winter rugby league on the fringes of the game's heartlands in the 1980s and early 1990s. With the introduction of summer rugby in the mid 1990s, both clubs disappeared, with their players moving to the new summer clubs or to winter clubs in Yorkshire.
In 1997 a new junior club was formed in the town of Eckington
on the back of development work by the Sheffield Eagles
club. The Eckington Eagles played in the Yorkshire league for a few seasons but after the Eagles merged with Huddersfield and then reformed at a lower level there was no development support and the club folded.
Although for many years there has been a latent interest in the sport around Chesterfield, not the least due to the Sheffield Eagles
using the football club's Saltergate
home for games in the early 1990s, the town itself was not represented in rugby league circles until 2003, when Chesterfield Spires was formed by a group of three friends in the Welbeck Arms on Soresby Street on July 29, 2003. The first training session was held the week after on Highfield Park with only three players.
The Spires grew steadily in the autumn of 2003 and many players gained rugby league experience with the Worksop Sharks in the 2004 season, including one game where the club provided 6 players for a game. The club itself hit a standstill in the autumn of 2004 and it was feared that the ambitious project was dead. However a series of meetings demonstrated that there was still energy for rugby league in the town and the club began to prepare solid foundations for the future.
By the end of April 2005 the club had signed a deal to play rugby league at Gosforth Fields in Dronfield
, and they made their first appearance competitively in the Sheffield 7's tag tournament on May 3, 2005 finishing 3rd in their group with two wins and being beaten 6 - 3 by York
in the elimination stage of the competition.
The club played a series of friendlies in 2005, winning their first game against the Sheffield IMBRL side, later to become the Sheffield Forgers
. The return fixture was won by Sheffield, and a heavy loss was sustained away at Telford Raiders
, but the club was up and running.
In 2006 the club entered the Midlands Merit League, a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference
. They ended the season in 7th place, winning two matches. The first competitive victory was against the Telford Trojans on July 29.
In 2007 the club reached agreement with Chesterfield Rugby Union Club to play their games at the Stonegravels ground. The season started slowly but ended with the club in 7th out of 13 in the MML, thus qualifying for the Shield play-offs. This included a first win over the Nottingham Outlaws
, arguably the club's best result thus far. In their first knock-out fixture they beat the Barton Bulldogs 40-34 but went out in the semi-final to a strong East Riding team.
Before the 2008 season started, it was decided that the club should merge with the newly formed North Derbyshire Chargers, who were based in the town of Eckington
to prevent dilution of resource in the area.
In October 2010 Sam Hull became the first Chargers player to be called up for National honours when he was selected for England Under 18 Community Lions against France.
at years 9 and 11 and into Champion Colleges
, with the year 9 team winning the Derbyshire Championship.
Enough interest was seen for there to be discussions about starting a club to develop the juniors as rugby league players. With volunteers and some sponsorship on board, the club was launched in January 2008 with proposed teams at under-14, under-16, open age (based on 6th form players) and a women's section.
Before the 2008 season actually started, it was decided that the club should merge with the Chesterfield Spires to make a stronger, regional club. A link was made with the Sheffield Eagles
, now firmly back in the business of schools development, and the club began playing matches in March 2008.
The club ran teams at Open Age in the RL Merit League and at under-16 and under-14 in the Midlands Junior League
. The under 16 team also played friendlies against teams from Yorkshire, including a curtain raiser against Hillsborough Hawks at the Don Valley Stadium
. The under-14 team played a curtain raiser at Belle Vue
before the Super League game between Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
and Catalans Dragons
The club moved from Chesterfield RUFC to Mount St Mary's College
in Spinkhill and joined the newly formed Midlands Rugby League
with teams at Open Age, under-16, under-14 and under-12. The club also started working with Frederick Gent School
in South Normanton. The Open Age team reached the Grand Final of the Midlands Rugby League, losing 16-26 to the Birmingham Bulldogs
.
In 2010, North Derbyshire linked up with Super League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
. On April 18th 2010 the club won its first silverware when it took the Midlands 9s
title, but fell again at the last hurdle when losing 22-24 to Leicester Storm in the Midlands League Grand Final.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club who play in the Midlands Rugby League
Midlands Rugby League
The 3vSport.com Midlands Rugby League is a summer rugby league tournament in the Midlands region of England. It is a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference and a successor league to the Midlands Merit League...
at open age and junior level. Shortly after formation a merger was agreed with the Chesterfield Spires club.
History of rugby league in North Derbyshire
Rugby league in the area can be traced back to 1978 when a team bearing the Chesterfield name were involved in the West YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
Sunday League. Due to shortage of players, the team ceased playing at the beginning of 1983. The club also ran an Under 15s team, recently identified via an article in a West Yorkshire newspaper from 1980 indicating that the team lost 110-0 to Upton ARLFC http://www.uptonarlfc.co.uk/page1979.htm. The last secretary of the club was Patrick (Paddy) Fagan.
Within a year, Shirebrook
Shirebrook
Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district of north-east Derbyshire on the border with Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 UK Census it had a population of 9,291 , 10,412...
Rugby League Club had been formed by Paddy Fagan and Mick Meadows. Although this new club had a few players from the old Chesterfield team, the majority of the players were from the Shirebrook area.
A new team was also formed at Clowne shortly afterwards. Both Clowne and Shirebrook were stalwarts of winter rugby league on the fringes of the game's heartlands in the 1980s and early 1990s. With the introduction of summer rugby in the mid 1990s, both clubs disappeared, with their players moving to the new summer clubs or to winter clubs in Yorkshire.
In 1997 a new junior club was formed in the town of Eckington
Eckington, Derbyshire
Eckington is a town in North East Derbyshire, 7 miles north of Chesterfield and 8.5 miles south of Sheffield on the border with South Yorkshire.Eckington has a population of 11,152....
on the back of development work by the Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles RLFC are an English rugby league club based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Their home games are played at Bramall Lane after leaving Don Valley Stadium in late 2009....
club. The Eckington Eagles played in the Yorkshire league for a few seasons but after the Eagles merged with Huddersfield and then reformed at a lower level there was no development support and the club folded.
Although for many years there has been a latent interest in the sport around Chesterfield, not the least due to the Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles RLFC are an English rugby league club based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Their home games are played at Bramall Lane after leaving Don Valley Stadium in late 2009....
using the football club's Saltergate
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
home for games in the early 1990s, the town itself was not represented in rugby league circles until 2003, when Chesterfield Spires was formed by a group of three friends in the Welbeck Arms on Soresby Street on July 29, 2003. The first training session was held the week after on Highfield Park with only three players.
The Spires grew steadily in the autumn of 2003 and many players gained rugby league experience with the Worksop Sharks in the 2004 season, including one game where the club provided 6 players for a game. The club itself hit a standstill in the autumn of 2004 and it was feared that the ambitious project was dead. However a series of meetings demonstrated that there was still energy for rugby league in the town and the club began to prepare solid foundations for the future.
By the end of April 2005 the club had signed a deal to play rugby league at Gosforth Fields in Dronfield
Dronfield
Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire in the North Midlands region of England. It comprises the three communities of Dronfield, Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It is sited in the valley of the small River Drone, and lies between the town of Chesterfield and the city of Sheffield. The...
, and they made their first appearance competitively in the Sheffield 7's tag tournament on May 3, 2005 finishing 3rd in their group with two wins and being beaten 6 - 3 by York
York City Knights
York City Knights Rugby League Club is a British professional rugby league club hailing from York. They play at the Huntington Stadium, situated to the north of York city centre...
in the elimination stage of the competition.
The club played a series of friendlies in 2005, winning their first game against the Sheffield IMBRL side, later to become the Sheffield Forgers
Sheffield Forgers
Sheffield Forgers RLFC was a rugby league club in Sheffield, England. It has an Open Age team that plays in the summer in the Rugby League Conference and the Yorkshire & Humber Merit League and in the winter in the Pennine League It is also developing a junior section.-Foundation:The genesis of the...
. The return fixture was won by Sheffield, and a heavy loss was sustained away at Telford Raiders
Telford Raiders
Telford Raiders ARLFC are a rugby league club based in the town of Telford in Shropshire, England. Their first team plays in the Midlands Regional division of the Rugby League Conference and they have a development team in the Midlands Rugby League as well as an active junior development...
, but the club was up and running.
In 2006 the club entered the Midlands Merit League, a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...
. They ended the season in 7th place, winning two matches. The first competitive victory was against the Telford Trojans on July 29.
In 2007 the club reached agreement with Chesterfield Rugby Union Club to play their games at the Stonegravels ground. The season started slowly but ended with the club in 7th out of 13 in the MML, thus qualifying for the Shield play-offs. This included a first win over the Nottingham Outlaws
Nottingham Outlaws (rugby)
Nottingham Outlaws are a rugby league club from the city of Nottingham, England. They were founded in 1999 and their first team plays in the National Division. They have a junior section and in 2006 launched an academy team, which plays in the Midlands Rugby League. They play their home matches at...
, arguably the club's best result thus far. In their first knock-out fixture they beat the Barton Bulldogs 40-34 but went out in the semi-final to a strong East Riding team.
Before the 2008 season started, it was decided that the club should merge with the newly formed North Derbyshire Chargers, who were based in the town of Eckington
Eckington, Derbyshire
Eckington is a town in North East Derbyshire, 7 miles north of Chesterfield and 8.5 miles south of Sheffield on the border with South Yorkshire.Eckington has a population of 11,152....
to prevent dilution of resource in the area.
In October 2010 Sam Hull became the first Chargers player to be called up for National honours when he was selected for England Under 18 Community Lions against France.
Restart in Eckington
Also in 2007 interest was reignited at Eckington school, where the original Eckington Eagles had briefly been based. The school, branded as the Eckington Chargers, entered teams into Champion SchoolsChampion Schools
The Champion Schools tournament is a full contact knock-out rugby league football competition open to every secondary school in England, Scotland and Wales and is the largest rugby league tournament in the World "RFL-13-05-07" The competition is operated by the Rugby Football League and the...
at years 9 and 11 and into Champion Colleges
Champion Colleges
Carnegie Champion Colleges is a rugby league competition administered by the Student Rugby League. It is open to teams in the 12-13 year groups at Sixth Forms and FE Colleges in the UK...
, with the year 9 team winning the Derbyshire Championship.
Before the 2008 season actually started, it was decided that the club should merge with the Chesterfield Spires to make a stronger, regional club. A link was made with the Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles
Sheffield Eagles RLFC are an English rugby league club based in the South Yorkshire city of Sheffield. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Their home games are played at Bramall Lane after leaving Don Valley Stadium in late 2009....
, now firmly back in the business of schools development, and the club began playing matches in March 2008.
The club ran teams at Open Age in the RL Merit League and at under-16 and under-14 in the Midlands Junior League
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.Many of the teams taking part also run open-age sides in the Rugby League Conference or Midlands Rugby League....
. The under 16 team also played friendlies against teams from Yorkshire, including a curtain raiser against Hillsborough Hawks at the Don Valley Stadium
Don Valley Stadium
The Don Valley Stadium is a stadium in Sheffield, England and is the home of Rotherham United F.C.. The stadium is an athletics stadium which has hosted major UK Athletic events and the 1991 World Student Games. Sheffield Eagles RLFC and Parramore Sports FC also use the stadium. It was designed by...
. The under-14 team played a curtain raiser at Belle Vue
Belle Vue (Wakefield)
Belle Vue is a rugby league stadium in Wakefield, England. It is the home stadium of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. It is located beside the A638 Doncaster Road, approximately one mile south of Wakefield City Centre.- Description :Currently, the East stand has a covered stand with seating, with some...
before the Super League game between Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
and Catalans Dragons
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom...
The club moved from Chesterfield RUFC to Mount St Mary's College
Mount St Mary's College
Mount St Mary's College is an independent coeducational boarding school situated at Spinkhill, Derbyshire, near Sheffield, England. It was founded in 1842 by Fr Randal Lythgoe, the Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order commonly known as the Jesuits. The...
in Spinkhill and joined the newly formed Midlands Rugby League
Midlands Rugby League
The 3vSport.com Midlands Rugby League is a summer rugby league tournament in the Midlands region of England. It is a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference and a successor league to the Midlands Merit League...
with teams at Open Age, under-16, under-14 and under-12. The club also started working with Frederick Gent School
Frederick Gent School
The Frederick Gent Comprehensive School is a comprehensive school on Mansfield Road in South Normanton in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire.-History:...
in South Normanton. The Open Age team reached the Grand Final of the Midlands Rugby League, losing 16-26 to the Birmingham Bulldogs
Birmingham Bulldogs
Birmingham RLFC are a rugby league team based in Birmingham. They play in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:Birmingham Bulldogs were founded in 1989...
.
In 2010, North Derbyshire linked up with Super League side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
. On April 18th 2010 the club won its first silverware when it took the Midlands 9s
Midlands 9s
The Midlands 9s is a rugby league nines event held in the Midlands region and organised by the Midlands Rugby League. It was first held on April 20, 2008 at the home ground of Old Coventrians, Coventry, England...
title, but fell again at the last hurdle when losing 22-24 to Leicester Storm in the Midlands League Grand Final.