West Wales Raiders

Many professional and semi-professional Welsh teams have played rugby league in the otherwise English competitions since the formation of the Northern Union in 1895. The latest attempt to expand the game to South Wales began when the Crusaders joined the National League Two in 2006. The club was initially based in Bridgend.

The idea of a second professional side in Wales was discussed before the Celtic Crusaders had even played a game. The Crusaders' plan was to help a Rugby League Conference Welsh Premier club join the National Leagues to act as a feeder club if Crusaders reached Super League.[5] The idea was also talked about in mid-2009 when Rugby Football League decided that Super League Reserves would be turned into an under-20 competition, a move that could have halted the development of rugby league players in the area after they turned 21 years old.

The formation of the South Wales Scorpions was accelerated after the Crusaders left South Wales and moved to Wrexham F.C.'s Racecourse Ground.[4] South Wales RLFC were formed by a consortium of businessmen led by Phil Davies in late 2009. They were accepted into Championship One the third tier of British rugby league for the 2010 season.

Several suggestions for a team moniker were made by various people. The club had a poll among fans online to choose between the various options. Scorpions proved to be the most popular choice with Crusaders just beaten into second place. On 22 December 2009, the club formally adopted the name South Wales Scorpions RLFC. An updated version of the logo was released in February 2010 following feedback.[6]

The initial badge in 2009

The initial batch of players were selected from an open trial plus a few signings from other clubs. Some players were dual-registered with Crusaders RL and had played for the Crusaders reserves. Before a ball had been kicked, the club celebrated its first international players, Loren Quick and Lewis Reece, who played for Wales and Great Britain at under-18 level. Anthony Seibold, who had been an assistant coach at Crusaders, was the first head coach.

The Scorpions' first ever competitive game was against Workington Town on 28 February 2010, who also provided the competition for Celtic Crusaders' first match in the 2006 National League Two competition. The Scorpions won this encounter 22–20, in front of a crowd of over 500 at the Gnoll; with stand-off Lloyd White, on a months loan at South Wales from Crusaders, landing the crucial penalty goal to secure victory. The team went on to finish sixth in the table and made the play-offs. Seibold returned to Australia at the end of the season.

Wales Rugby League, agreed to take over the running of South Wales Scorpions for the 2014 season after Phil Davies decided to step down. Professional rugby league returned to the Bridgend county borough as Scorpions moved to Maesteg RFC.[7] This move however would only last a single season as at the end of the season the club announced it would be moving to ground share with Mountain Ash RFC at Parc Dyffryn Pennar.[8]

In 2016 South Wales Scorpions played their home matches at Virginia Park the home of Caerphilly RFC. Their final match of the season was played at Blackwood RFC due to a damaged playing surface in Caerphilly.

South Wales rebranded as South Wales Ironmen for the 2017 season as the club moved to Merthyr Tydfil. The town of Merthyr Tydfil was, at one time, the largest producer of iron in the world.

In July 2017, it was announced that after a takeover by Andrew Thorne, owner of amateur club West Wales Raiders Rugby League, the club would play the rest of their home games for the 2017 season at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli and that from 2018 the club will be known as West Wales Raiders and based permanently in Llanelli.[9]

In April 2018, the club were on the receiving end of a record score and losing margin when they lost 0–144 to York, the previous highest scoring game was in November 1994 when Huddersfield beat Blackpool by 142–4, the losing margin was also equalled the next day in 1994 by Barrow who beat Nottingham City 138–0.

West Wales Raiders Rugby League Football Club

The West Wales Raiders Rugby League Club previously known as Raiders RL is the rugby league club[10] in West Wales formed in January 2015. They are based at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli.[11]

The West Wales Raiders finished the 2018 Betfred League 1 season winless and on negative points. The Rugby Football League imposed a four-point, retrospective deduction after the club pleaded guilty to breaching a number of Operational Rules regarding the fielding of ineligible players.[12]

The 2019 season saw the West Wales Raiders again finish at the foot of the table but a win was registered in a home match against Coventry Bears. In 2019 they played 20 league matches and won 1, lost 19. Scored a total of 222 points and conceded 1091. A points difference of minus 869. Average result 55 - 11. The average home crowd was 258.

In 2020 former Wales rugby union international Gavin Henson switched codes and signed for the Raiders[13]