Swinton Lions
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Club information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Swinton Rugby League Football Club | ||
Nickname(s) | Lions | ||
Colours | |||
Founded | 1866 | ||
Website | swintonlionsrlfc.co.uk | ||
Current details | |||
Ground(s) |
| ||
Coach | Alan Kilshaw | ||
Captain | Rhodri Lloyd | ||
Competition | RFL Championship | ||
2023 | 10th | ||
Current season | |||
Uniforms | |||
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Records | |||
Premierships | 6 (1926–27, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1962–63, 1963–64) | ||
Second Division | 1 (1984–85) | ||
Most capped | 14 – Martin Hodgson | ||
Highest points scorer | 2,095 – Ken Gowers |
The Swinton Lions are a professional
History
Early years
The club was formed in 1866 when members of Swinton Cricket Club decided to take up "football" in the winter to keep fit. Other than an annual challenge against the local Lancashire Rifle Volunteers from 1869, the only games played were amongst the club's own membership.
In 1871, they joined the Rugby Football Union as "Swinton and Pendlebury F.C.", playing their first game at Burying Lane against Eccles Standard. The team quickly became virtually unbeatable in the Manchester area and beyond. This rise in stature was surprising because Swinton and Pendlebury was a tiny colliery village with a few cotton mills, but it had a large number of local junior teams from which the club drew its talent.
In 1873, they moved from Burying Lane (Station Road from circa 1889) to a ground known as Stoneacre, and used the nearby White Lion
Having gone three years undefeated in the mid-1870s, the Lions gradually sought a tougher fixture list. In 1878, the club ventured into Yorkshire, and was soon travelling throughout England taking on opponents including
and Swinton on 22 October 1878.In 1886, they moved to Chorley Road. The new ground could accommodate much larger crowds and the staging of County matches added to Swinton's growing reputation. The Lions produced several England internationals and dozens more who gained representative recognition wearing the red rose of Lancashire.
They were initially reluctant to join the new Northern Union, but did so on 2 June 1896 due to the fact that the majority of other teams in the area had done so, causing financial hardship to the club. The Northern Union was then split into two county leagues, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
In 1900, led by
.On Saturday 8 September 1906, Swinton hosted a
The period leading up to the Great War was not particularly auspicious for the Lions. Financial crisis followed financial crisis and only the sale of the main stand saved the club from closure during 1917. The war took the lives of 13 Swinton players, but back home the Lions played on throughout in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.
Inter-war period
Lions' directors managed to call upon the support of local businessmen. The signings of Hector Halsall, a centre and future captain, and Albert Jenkins, a Welsh half-back, provided the catalyst. Throughout the 1920s the Lions got better and better, they beat the visiting Australasian team of the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain 9–0. At last they won the Lancashire County Cup in 1925 before recapturing the Challenge Cup in 1926.
They then followed this with their first-ever Championship a year later, and in 1928 the team reached its zenith becoming the last team to secure All Four Cups; they were also the only side from Lancashire to achieve this feat (Hunslet and Huddersfield were the two other clubs). In addition to the Championship Trophy, the Challenge Cup, the Lancashire League and the Lancashire Cup; Swinton won a fifth cup, the Salford Royal Hospital Cup, which was competed for by Salford, Broughton Rangers and Swinton. Crowds in excess of 20,000 were commonplace at Chorley Road.
Under captain,
The 1927–28 season saw the Lions sweep all before them. They topped both the Championship and the Lancashire League, having already defeated Wigan in the Lancashire Cup. In a tense Challenge Cup Final they squeezed past Warrington 5–3, and three weeks later the Holy Grail was achieved when they comfortably eased past Featherstone Rovers 11–0 to take the Rugby Football League Championship.
A rent dispute in 1928 caused the club to search for pastures new. In 1929, the club then moved to a new stadium back near their original home off Station Road, taking the old stands with them. This new stadium's name was named after its location, Station Road. In March 1929, a 22,000 thousand crowd saw the Lions defeat Wigan in the first match on new turf. This soon became a favoured ground for major fixtures such as Test matches, Challenge Cup semi-finals, Lancashire Cup finals and Championship finals.
Further Championships were won in 1931 and 1935.
Swinton won the Lancashire Cup against
Post-war
Throughout the late 1940s, and the 1950s the Lions strove unsuccessfully to repeat former glories and often flattered to deceive, but the appointment of Welshman
A proposal in 1960 to create a Manchester rugby league club at the former
Swinton made it to the final of the
Swinton became Champions of the
As Swinton coach in the late 1960s/early 1970s, Albert Blan guided the team to a fourth and final
When two divisions were reintroduced in 1973, Swinton were out of the top flight, and have struggled to regain their former glories ever since. By the end of the 1970s the club had hit rock-bottom, even though Station Road continued to host semi-finals and finals.
Initially under
Swinton offered Leigh the option of a ground share at Station Road in June 1991 but they turned it down. In 1992, financial mis-management necessitated the sale of Station Road for property development. The club moved to Gigg Lane, Bury, the home of Bury F.C. In the Lions' last season at Station Road they were drawing crowds of 3,000 but this sudden move caused the club to lose many supporters.[2]
Swinton were saved from liquidation by a consortium headed by former chairman Malcolm White in January 1993.
1996–2020: Summer era
In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season.[3] The rest of the professional game in Britain would follow this move to summer.
In 1996, Swinton officially added Lions to their name. Peter Roe led Swinton to promotion from Division Two in 1996. The former Great Britain captain, Mike Gregory was the head coach of the club between 1998 and 2001. The popular but ultimately disastrous reign of Tony Humphreys followed in the early period of 2002. Humphreys was sacked in late May 2002 and replaced by former player Phil Veivers. Under the guidance of Veivers performances and result improved significantly and the Lions finished in a promotional playoff position. Only a loss to Sheffield Eagles denied the Lions the opportunity of promotion to National League One.
The financial failure of major creditor and de facto owner Hugh Eaves in 2002 put the future of the club in jeopardy, the chairman and benefactor Malcolm White resigned. The Swinton Supporters' Trust began life on 14 February 2002 in the White Lion public house and set about raising funds for the club. Shortly afterwards, Swinton were forced out of Gigg Lane by the financial problems of their landlords, Bury F.C.[4]
In August 2002, the club were brought the club back to within one mile of the Swinton and Pendlebury border when they played their first match at Moor Lane in
In 2004, the Lions moved to Park Lane, Whitefield, home of Sedgley Park R.U.F.C.
Peter Roe quit as coach of Swinton Lions in September 2003, after less than a year in charge. He rejected a two-year contract to continue as the coach and general manager and left the National League Two club.[5]
In 2006, the return to Swinton and Pendlebury was taken one step further when club chairman, John Kidd, announced on 9 August that the club had acquired a site to build a 6,000 capacity stadium with training facilities and community use in Agecroft, Pendlebury.
In May 2007, Swinton Lions went into administration for about 48 hours to restructure the club from top to bottom. A new company, Swinton Lions Rugby Club, was set up to remove problems with shareholdings from the previous administration. The club came under the stewardship of chairman, John Kidd and fellow directors Paul Kidd (chairman's son), Dave Roberts and Ben Jones.
In May 2009, John Kidd announced that he hoped to be in a position to apply for planning permission from the local council by the autumn. Once given approval by Salford Council it was envisaged that construction could be completed quickly.
During the autumn of 2009 director Paul Kidd stood down as
On 26 September 2010, former Barrow coach Steve McCormack was confirmed as the head coach for the 2011 season with Ian Watson and Marlon Billy continuing in their roles as assistant coaches. Swinton played their home games for the 2011 season at the Willows, Weaste, Salford. Swinton went on to win promotion to the Co-operative Championship as Champions of Championship 1.
As of 7 June 2011 when the club hosted a fans' meeting at Moorside Social Club, Swinton, Mr Kidd stated that he expected that the building of the stadium should commence no later than New Year's Day, 2012 with completion set for the end of April (2012). However, the predicted return date of spring 2012 proved to be a somewhat optimistic and premature forecast. Ultimately the funding did not materialise and the club later relinquished its lease on the Agecroft site.
With
On 18 March 2013 the club announced the appointment of Gary Chambers as head coach. Gary, a teacher at
In January 2014, Salford City Reds owner
In June 2014, Ian Watson left to join
Following their promotion from League 1 to the Championship in 2015, Swinton were forced to play their home league games in nearby Salford and Widnes as Park Lane (Sedgley Park RUFC) did not meet the minimum requirements for the Championship, before moving to Heywood Road, Sale. As of March 2016 the club has re-engaged with the project to establish a community stadium in the Agecroft district of Pendlebury.
In July 2017 after a very poor season on the field and serious financial problems off it, coach John Duffy departed and took a new coaching post with Featherstone Rovers after their man in charge, Jon Sharp left his post. He was immediately replaced by former player and assistant coach Stuart Littler.
On 5 September 2017 the club announced that former
In September 2019 the club announced that they were seeking permission from the Rugby Football League to rebrand the club as Manchester Lions from the 2020 season onwards. The official name of the club would remain Swinton Lions but the branding and presentation would all become Manchester.[9] The plan was met with considerable opposition including local councillors and the Mayor of Salford.[10] As a result of the opposition the re-brand plans were shelved and almost the entire board resigned on 12 September 2019, leaving sole remaining director Steve Wild in charge to re-structure the club. Since then a new board of directors has been assembled, which has subsequently taken ownership of the company.[11]
In the 2021 Championship season, Swinton finished bottom of the table and were relegated after winning only two matches for the entire year.[12] On 2 October 2022, Swinton achieved promotion from League 1 back to the championship after beating Doncaster 16-10 in the playoff final. In the 2023 RFL Championship season, Swinton finished 10th on the table.[13]
2024 squad
First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
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Head coach
Updated: 13 December 2021 |
2022 transfers
Gains
Player | Club | Contract length | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Reece Hamlett | Bradford Bulls | 1 Year | September 2021 |
Max Roberts | Oldham RLFC |
1 Year | September 2021 |
Matty Wilkinson | Oldham RLFC |
1 Year | September 2021 |
Dan Abram | Oldham RLFC |
1 Year | October 2021 |
Jack Spencer | Oldham RLFC |
2 Years | October 2021 |
Lewis Else | Widnes Vikings | 1 Year | October 2021 |
Jordan Case | Widnes Vikings | 1 Year | November 2021 |
Lewis Charnock | Oldham RLFC |
2 Years | November 2021 |
Harry Darby | Leigh Miners Rangers | 1 Year | November 2021 |
Losses
Player | Club | Contract length | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Taylor Brown | Retirement | N/A | September 2021 |
Luis Roberts | Leigh Centurions |
1 Year | September 2021 |
Geronimo Doyle | Whitehaven RLFC |
1 Year | September 2021 |
Sam Brooks | Barrow Raiders | 1 Year | October 2021 |
Martyn Ridyard | Oldham RLFC |
2 Years | October 2021 |
Paul Nash | North Wales Crusaders | 1 Year | October 2021 |
Cobi Green | Rochdale Hornets | 1 Year | October 2021 |
Dan Clare | Released | October 2021 |
Players
Players earning international caps while at Swinton
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Other notable players
- Owen Badger
- Tom Banks 1888 British Isles tourist (RU)
- Mark Bourneville
- Walter Bumby 1888 British Isles tourist (RU)
- Russell Burn from Cardiff RFC[1] 1950
- Andy Coley
- Lawrence Critch Scrum-half 1901–1906
- Philip Cushion
- Kelvin Earl
- Morvin Edwards
- Jack Evans
- Karl Fitzpatrick
- "Richie" Hawkyard
- Rees Thomas
- Arthur Hickman
- Les Holliday
- Graham Holroyd
- Chico Hopkins
- Bill Hopkin
- Dave Hull
- Gary Hulse
- Robert Irving
- Jordan James
- Mark Lee
- Talite Liava'a
- Davide Longo
- Paul Loughlin
- Alex Melling (Testimonial match 1994)
- Martin Moana
- Tony Morrison (to Castleford 1992)
- Mick Nanyn
- Arthur George Paul 1888 British Isles tourist (RU)
- "Jack" Preston1900 Challenge Cup Winner
- Gavin Price-Jones
- Graham Rees
- Ken Roberts
- Robert Seddon
- Mark Sheals
- Barry Simpson
- Steve Snape
- Paul Southern
- Bob Valentine
- Mike Wainwright
- John Walker
- Joe Warham
- David Watkins
- Mark Welsby (from Wigan 1992)
- Derek Whitehead
- Graham Williams
- Willie Wolfgramm
Coaches
- Sam Jones 1945
- Albert Jenkins 1945–1951
- Griff Jenkins 1951–1954
- Cliff Evans 1954–1967
- Dai Moses1967–1968
- Albert Blan 1968–1971
- David Mortimer 1971–1972
- Rees Thomas 1972–1974
- Austin Rhodes 1974–1975
- Bobby Fleet 1975–1976
- Johnny Stopford1976–1977
- Bobby Fleet 1977
- Terry Gorman 1977–1978
- Ken Halliwell 1978–1979
- Bobby Fleet 1979
- Stan Gittins 1979–1980
- Alan Ratcliffe 1981-1988
- Frank Myler 1980–1981
- Tom Grainey 1981–1983
- Jim Crellin 1983–1986
- Bill Holliday & Mike Peers1986–1987
- Peter Smethurst 1987–1988
- Frank Barrow 1988–1989
- Jim Crellin 1989–1991
- Chris O'Sullivan 1991
- Tony Barrow 1992–1996
- Peter Roe 1996–1997
- Les Holliday 1997–1999
- Mike Gregory 1999–2001
- Tony Humphries 2001–2002
- Tony Barrow 2002
- Phil Veivers 2002
- Peter Roe 2003
- Paul Kidd 2004–2009
- Paul Smith 2010
- Paul Kidd 2010
- Steve McCormack 2011–2012
- Gary Chambers 2013
- Ian Watson 2014
- John Duffy 2014-2017
- Stuart Littler 2017-21
- Allan Coleman (interim) 2021–present
Seasons
Summer era
Season | League | Play-offs | Challenge Cup | Other competitions | Name | Tries | Name | Points | |||||||||
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Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Top try scorer | Top point scorer | |||||||
1996 | Division Two | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 785 | 295 | 36 | 2nd | R4 | |||||||
1997 | Division One | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 355 | 488 | 14 | 9th | R4 | |||||||
1998 | Division One | 30 | 17 | 1 | 12 | 702 | 544 | 35 | 5th | Lost in Elimination Playoffs | R5 | ||||||
1999 | Northern Ford Premiership | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 645 | 641 | 20 | 13th | R4 | |||||||
2000 | Northern Ford Premiership | 28 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 726 | 733 | 28 | 9th | R4 | |||||||
2001 | Northern Ford Premiership | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 538 | 711 | 20 | 15th | R4 | |||||||
2002 | Northern Ford Premiership | 27 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 473 | 918 | 13 | 15th | R4 | |||||||
2003 | National League Two | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 445 | 426 | 17 | 7th | QF | |||||||
2004 | National League Two | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 547 | 460 | 24 | 4th | Lost in Elimination Final | R3 | ||||||
2005 | National League Two | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 623 | 434 | 22 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | R4 | ||||||
2006 | National League Two | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 641 | 475 | 27 | 7th | Lost in preliminary final | R4 | ||||||
2007 | National League Two | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 605 | 649 | 33 | 7th | Lost in Elimination Playoffs | R4 | ||||||
2008 | National League Two | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 482 | 777 | 22 | 10th | R4 | |||||||
2009 | Championship 1 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 513 | 516 | 27 | 7th | Lost in Elimination Playoffs | R4 | ||||||
2010 | Championship 1 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 570 | 581 | 33 | 8th | R5 | |||||||
2011 | Championship 1 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 720 | 479 | 47 | 1st | Promoted as Champions | R5 | ||||||
2012 | Championship | 18 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 366 | 632 | 19 | 8th | R5 | |||||||
2013 | Championship | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 516 | 738 | 7 | 10th | R3 | |||||||
2014 | Championship | 26 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 570 | 865 | 24 | 13th | R5 | |||||||
2015 | Championship 1 | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 899 | 402 | 33 | 3rd | Won in Promotion Final | R5 | League 1 Cup | RU | ||||
2016 | Championship | 23 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 449 | 813 | 15 | 9th | R4 | |||||||
Championship Shield | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 596 | 1001 | 21 | 5th | |||||||||
2017
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Championship | 23 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 477 | 648 | 12 | 10th | R6 | |||||||
Championship Shield | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 629 | 862 | 16 | 6th | |||||||||
2018
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Championship | 23 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 402 | 866 | 8 | 11th | Won in Relegation Playoff | R4 | ||||||
Championship Shield | 30 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 502 | 1112 | 10 | 8th | |||||||||
2019
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Championship | 27 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 619 | 803 | 21 | 9th | R4 | 1895 Cup | R2 | |||||
2020 | Championship[a] | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 55 | 2 | 10th | R5 | |||||||
2021 | Championship | 21 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 308 | 748 | 5 | 13th | R6[b] | 1895 Cup | SF | |||||
2022 | League 1 | 20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 834 | 317 | 32 | 2nd | Won in Promotion Final | R3 | ||||||
2023 | Championship | 27 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 426 | 739 | 18 | 10th | R3 |
Honours
- Rugby Football League Championship: 6
- 1926–27, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1934–35 (also Match of Champions), 1962–63, 1963–64
- Challenge Cup: 3
- 1899–1900, 1925–26, 1927–28
- Lancashire County Cup: 4
- 1925–26, 1927–28, 1939–40, 1969–70
- Lancashire League: 5
- 1924–25, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1960–61
- Second Division Championship: 1
- 1984–85
- Second Division Premiership: 1
- 1986–87
- RFL League 1: 1
- 2011
Records
Player records
- Most tries in a match: 6 by Mark Riley vs Prescot Panthers, 11 August 1996
- Most goals in a match: 15 by Dan Abram vs West Wales, 13 August 2022
- Most points in a match: 38 by Dan Abram vs West Wales, 13 August 2022
- Most tries in a season: 48 by Jim Valentine, 1888–89, (2nd most tries in a season, John Stopford, 42, season 1963–64)
- Most goals in a season: 128 by Albert Blan, 1960–61
- Most points in a season: 338 by Ian Mort, 2011
- Most career tries: 301 by Jim Valentine, 1884–1901
- Most career goals: 970 by Ken Gowers
- Most career points: 2,105 by Ken Gowers
- Most career appearances: 602 (including 8 as substitute) by Ken Gowers, 1954–1973.
- World record distance for a penalty goal, 77¾ yards by Athletic Grounds, Rochdale, 13 April 1940
Team records
- Biggest victory: 96–0 vs LLaneli, 30 January 2021
- Heaviest defeat: 0–112 vs Warrington Wolves, 20 May 2011
- Highest attendance:
- Club: 26,891 vs Wigan, RL Challenge Cup 1st round replay, Wednesday, 12 February 1964 (Swinton defeated Wigan 13–8 at Station Road)[14]
- Station Road: 44,621 for Challenge Cup semi-final Warrington vs Wigan, 7 April 1951[14]
- vs International touring team: 13,341 vs Australia, 4 November 1933 (1933–34 Kangaroo Tour. Swinton defeated Australia 10–4 at Station Road)
2012 Player Awards
- Player of the Season: Darren Hawkyard
- Leading Try Scorer: Martin Ainscough (16 Tries)
Notes
- ^ The 2020 Championship was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Statistics shown are those at time of abandonment and are not official.
- ^ Officially round 3 due to the competitions temporary restructure in 2021.
References
- ^ "Operational Rules". RFL. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- ^ Swinton return from the wilderness[dead link]
- ^ Dave Hadfield (20 December 1995). "Rugby's pounds 87m deal gives Murdoch transfer veto". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
- ^ Reborn Lions happy to walk into Wigan's den
- ^ Ward set to retire after passion fades[dead link]
- ^ "Swinton Lions to share Leigh Sports Village next season". BBC Sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ^ "Swinton Lions appoint Gary Chambers as head coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- ^ "Officials — Swinton Lions". Swinton Lions. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ "Swinton confirm Manchester Lions name change". Love Rugby League. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Swinton Lions: Board resign over objection to Manchester name change". BBC News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "Swinton Lions board wanted to become Manchester Lions - now they've all resigned". Manchester Evening News. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "Championship side announces they are going full-time". www.seriousaboutrl.com. 3 October 2021.
- ^ "Swinton Lions secure promotion back to the Championship". www.loverugbyleague.com. 2 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Swinton's record attendance". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3,108. 12 February 2018. p. 34.
Further reading
Wild, Stephen (1999). The Lions of Swinton - A Complete History.