London Skolars

London Skolars

Coat of arms
Club information
Full name	London Skolars Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Skolars
Website	skolarsrl.com
Colours
Founded	1995 (as Student Rugby League Old Boys)
Current details
Ground(s)	1995- New River Stadium (5,000)
Coach(s)	Joe Mbu
Competition	Championship One
Records
London League	3 (2000, 2001, 2004)
RLC Challenge Cup	1 (2004)
RLC Southern Division	1 (2000)
RLC London & South Division	1 (2002)
Middlesex 9s	1 (2003)

London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in North London. They were founded in 1995 and have been semi-professional since 2003, operating in Championship One. They also run an A-team (formerly known as Haringey Hornets) that play in the South Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference.

London Skolars also host the Mx9s (Middlesex 9s) tournament which is competed for annually. In 2006 this became an international tournament.

Skolars Tag Rugby is held at Finsbury Park, London during the summer of 2008 for open age men's teams.[1] and at the Honourable Artillery Club in the City of London annually.

History

Student Rugby League Old Boys were founded in 1995 by Ian "Hector" McNeil. They were initially created for post-university graduates in London, with a number of ex-student international rugby league players. The team originally played at Hackney Marshes. The club quickly went "open"; relying on players from the student game and London-based antipodeans as well as local players.

The club name was changed to London Skolars two years later as they nearly got a big sponsorship from Skol. After initial success in the London League, in 1997 the club became a founder member of the Southern Conference League (the forerunner to the Rugby League Conference), under the name North London Skolars, and won the inaugural competition. They also moved to New River Stadium. Later in 1997, they entered the National Conference League and were the only club south of Sheffield in the competition for four consecutive seasons.

In 1998 Skolars hosted Strella XIII, the first time a team from Tatarstan had toured Great Britain. During the 1999 season, the Skolars toured Russia, the first time that an amateur club had toured the former Soviet Union.

Skolars first team won the Southern Division of the Rugby League Conference in 2000 and the second team won the London League that same year. The second team won the London League again in 2001.

In 2002 the club applied to join the National Leagues and was accepted, the first club in eighty years to make the transition from the amateur ranks to the professional leagues. The A team joined the Conference and won the London & South Division in its first year.

In 2003, the Skolars first season in National League 2, they finished with 1 win and a draw and made further progress in 2004. They won the Middlesex 9s whilst the A team won the London League and the RL Challenge Cup. The club dropped "North" from their name to become London Skolars. The appointment of Latham Tawhai as a full-time coach at the end of the 2005 season marked another step forward in the club's progress.

Tawhai left Skolars at the end of 2007 to become assistant coach at Harlequins Rugby League and was replaced by Tony Benson.^[1]

Tony Benson left his job at London Skolars at the end of the season due to the inconvenience of travelling from his home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.[2] Callum Irving took over as head coach at the club, Irving was Tony Benson's number two in the 2008 season. He resigned in July 2009, citing personal reasons. Injured player Jermaine Coleman took over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The club appointed its first full-time Chief Executive Officer in 2009, Phillip Browne, who was replaced in 20010 by Howard Kramer. The Skolars finished the 2009 in 10th position of the Championship One table, taking the wooden spoon with just one win all season and five points. London Skolars announced that James Massara, a Hammersmith born thirty-two year old will take the reins as head coach at New River Stadium in 2010. In October 2010 the London Skolars appointed former Harlequins Rugby League player Joe Mbu as their head coach.

2012 Squad

London Skolars Current Squad^[2]

No	Nat	Player	Position
1		James Anthony	Full Back
2		Ade Adebisi	Wing
3		John Paxton	Centre
4		Joe Price	Centre
5		Lameck Juma	Wing
6		Andy Mclean	Stand Off
7		Dylan Skee	Half Back
8		Dave Williams	Prop
9		Neil Thorman	Hooker
10		Louis Robinson	Prop
11		Matt Thomas	Second Row
12		Alex Bate	Second Row
13		Olly Purslow	Loose Forward
14		Aaron Small	Wing
15		Michael Worrincy	Second row
16		Austen Aggrey	Second row
17		Chris McNamara	Centre
18		Smokie Junor	Centre
19		Oliver Bloom	Second row

Juniors

Skolars run under-12s, under-14s and under-16s teams who all compete in the London Junior League.

Club honours

• Harry Jepson Trophy: 1997
• RLC Eastern Division: 1997* (The tournament was known as the Southern Conference in 1997)
• RLC Southern Division: 2000
• RLC London & South Division: 2002
• Middlesex 9s: 2003
• RLC Challenge Cup: 2004
• London League: 2000, 2001, 2004

References

External links

• Official website
• London Skolars forum on rlfans.com
• National League website
• London Skolars Fans Forums - RugbyLeague.org