History

The club started with just 2 teams (Under 7s & Under 8s) playing in the North West Counties 8-12s League. Since then the club has grown year on year, with Club Members, Teams and Players increasing all the time.

Over the last few years, thanks to lots of hard work by all the volunteer members throughout the club, Atherton Dragons has gone from strength to strength.

The Club has been hailed as a 'fantastic success' by the Rugby Football League and is regarded by the RFL as an exemplar to anyone considering setting up a new amateur rugby league club.

Atherton Dragons ARLFC has been nominated for a number of awards over the last few years. Our Treasurer was awarded 'Volunteer of the Year' in 2009.

Also, considerable hard work by all the Committee led to the award of the prestigious Sport England -'Clubmark Gold' status.

Since the club formed, The Dragons' home has always been 'Kings Park', just off Leigh Road, Howe Bridge, Atherton. But in the early years, the club played it's matches at various other venues.

However, with great support from local community groups such as 'The Bridgers', sponsorships & help from many local businesses, full backing from local Councillors and our MP Andy Burnham, plus lots of hard work by our volunteer members, the club has been able to demonstrate it's committment, which in turn has resulted in Wigan Council recognising the tremendous job the club is doing in raising the community spirit within Atherton.

As a result, from 2010 Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust awarded the club the Long Term Lease on Kings Park & the Dragons have now taken the first steps to centre everything at Kings Park & greatly improve our long term home.

For the start of the 2010 season, the club has done work to improve the drainage & has created 3 new pitches on the site, including Full Size, Modified Rules & a Mini Pitch. There are also now temporary dressing facilities in place and planning applications are currently going through to generally improve the asthetics of the area, with a new car park & general landscaping of the rough areas.

Looking to the future, there is certainly plenty fire in the Dragons yet....

Working closely with many partners, in particular Wigan Council, the club now has detailed plans for further improvements to it's current training and playing facilities, including the upgrade of the all-weather pitch & hopefully the creation of a new modern clubhouse with all the amenities required by today's athletes.

Atherton Dragons ARLFC continues to provide:
Regular training sessions supervised by qualified Rugby League coaches.
Regular games through membership of the British Amateur Rugby League Association and North West Counties league.
The opportunity for local kids to develop an interest in sport in a safe environment, learn new skills and play Rugby League with an emphasis on FUN & ENJOYMENT.