WEST LEEDS OPEN AGE HISTORY

West Leeds Junior Rugby League Club was formed in 1997 by three friends. Sam Horner, Peter Nicholson and Mick Preston, continuing the success of the previous open age side which moved to merge with another club. Based at West Leeds Sports and Social Club on Redshaw Lane.
Since those early days, the club has gone from strength to strength. Having grown in size considerably the club now facilitates several teams, from U8's all the way to two Open Age teams operating in Mini mod, Yorkshire and Pennine Leagues.
In July 2006 twelve of the previous seasons under 18’s made the move and commitment to form an open age team. Founder member Sam Horner along with David Smith and Paul Thorpe moved from the Youth and Junior Section to take the reins of the new Open Age team. A new subcommittee of 18 people under the guidance of Chairman Mr Ian Manley began the process of turning twelve 18 year old young men into an open age team. After an intense recruitment campaign and being accepted into the Pennine league the new Open Age team was up and running. In our first season we were allocated our place in Pennine league division six.
It was to prove a memorable inaugural first season for the squad, we finished runners up in division six and were promoted to division five. The opening campaign also saw the team lift The Bartlett Trophy with a final victory over Woodhouse Warriors. We also reached the quarter finals of The Yorkshire Evening Post Floodlit Trophy before bowing out to Queens; we also reached the Semi Final of the Pennine Supplementary cup losing the Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks. In this our first year we were selected by the Leeds & District Society to play a charity match against The Royal Dragoon Guards, with all money raised going to Help for Heroes charity. On the back of the success of the match and the after match hospitality we forged strong links with The Dragoon Guards and were invited to Germany for a Pre-Season friendly and invited to the All Ranks Ball. These links are still in place today and active service permitting we try to play The Dragoon Guards twice a year for Help for Heroes charity.
Our second season saw us entering the National Cup for the first time, beating Bilton Sulleys in the preliminary round, before losing against Cumbrian Champions Seaton Rangers by 18 points to 12. This season also saw us lift the division Five Championship losing just one league game all season, we also retained the Bartlett Trophy and secured promotion to division three, a jump of two divisions.
Due to work commitments as the Leeds Rhinos Community Development Officer Sam Horner had to step down from his coaching commitments with the open age.
Our third season in division year was to be a season for regrouping and adapting to a higher level of play, we also took a giant leap and formed a second team to accommodate the under 18’s leaving the Youth and Junior Section. This was to prove too much for us too soon. With much regret we decided to concentrate on running one team until we were much more established. We remained in the third division and concentrated on regrouping for the following season 2009/2010.
This season we are now back onto firmer ground, with Paul Thorpe and David Smith coaching the side, Phil Briggs as Physio and input and help from Peter Nicholson (under 18’s coach). So far this season we remain unbeaten in the league (having played thirteen games out of twenty), we are in the Semi Finals of the Leeds and District Cup against Yorkshire Premier side Hunslet Warriors and we are in the Quarter Finals of the Andrew Bennett Memorial Trophy against Division Two Bank Top Harriers. (LAST UPDATED MARCH 2010)

WEST LEEDS ARLFC

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