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St Helens R.F.C.

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St Helens
File:Saints.gif
[[File:S/H logo or Saints writing|frameless]]
Club information
Full nameSt. Helens Rugby League Football Club
ColoursWhite with red vee
Founded1873
Websitehttp://www.saintsrlfc.com/
Current details
Ground(s)
CompetitionSuper League (Europe)

St Helens Rugby League Football Club or simply Saints are a professional rugby league club from St Helens, England. They play in the Super League. Their home ground is known as Knowsley Road. Plans are currently in place for the club to move to a new 18,000 capacity stadium, although these plans have been hit by St Helens not being listed as one of the places the government are considering to allow one of the smaller casinos. St Helens' Head Coach is New Zealand's Daniel Anderson.

They have a strong rivalry with Wigan Warriors and the local derby between the two clubs (both situated in historic Lancashire towns) is traditionally one of the biggest in British rugby league. These derbies arouse fierce local passions in the two towns, and are always hard fought battles. During super league it is St Helens who has had the most success in terms of silverware but it is Wigan who have won more derby games in the summer era.

History

St Helens have been one of the sport's most successful teams throughout their history after the famous Wigan, who are their bitter rivals. They were founder members of the Northern Union which broke away from the Rugby Football Union in 1895.

Founded in 1873, the club moved in 1890, defeating Manchester Rangers in the first match played at Knowsley Road. In 1895 Saints were one of 22 clubs that resigned from the Rugby Football Union and established the Northern Union. The first match of the new code was an 8-3 win at home to Rochdale Hornets before 3,000 spectators, Bob Doherty scoring Saints’ first try. The Saints played in a vertically striped blue and white jersey- a stark contrast to the well known red vee which would become the kit for the club later. The club reverted back to this kit for one season during the rugby league centenary season in 1995.

The Challenge Cup was launched in 1897 and it was St. Helens who contested its first final with Batley, at Headingley. The "Gallant Youths" of Batley emerged victorious 10-3, with Dave "Red" Traynor scoring the lone St Helens’ try.

The recognisable ‘red vee’ strip first appeared in 1961, for the Challenge Cup Final against Wigan. Saints won this epic 12-6, and the kit has since become synonymous with the Saints.

Perhaps the golden era of the club came in the 1960's, as well as more lately in the recent Super League era. With a galaxy of stars including Tom Van Vollenhoven, Alex Murphy, Dick Huddart and Vince Karalius, the 1960's was a decade of great success for the Saints, with the League and Challenge Cup double achieved in 1966. Saints have also become the most successful side of the summer era. Since the inception of Super League they have won the competition on four occasions, and have added four Challenge Cups to their five previous successes. They also won the World Club Challenge in 2001.

The success of the Saints in super league began under the leadership of Shaun McRea in 1996. During his tenure. The club won one league title and two challenge cups. Ellery Hanley suceeded McRea in 1999 and led Saints to Grand Final success against Bradford in the October of that year. However, Hanley was considered by many to be a polarising figure. Whilst he harboured a strong desire to win, he could appear aloof and had several acrimonious disagreements with the St. Helens board of directors, which led to his sacking in 2000. Ian Millward was appointed as head coach.

Under Millward, St Helens quickly became the most exciting team in the competiton, playing expansive, attacking rugby. They retained their Super League title in 2000 and reclaimed it in 2002. They also won the Challenge Cup in 2001 and 2004 and the World Club Challenge in 2001. In 2004 they beat arch-rivals Wigan Warriors 32-16 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff in front of a capacity crowd of 73,734 people to win the Challenge Cup.

Millward's reign was not without controversy. In a match against Bradford over Easter 2004, he fielded a weaken team claiming a heavy fixture burden had taken its toll. St Helens were well beaten and it later emerged that two St Helens players, Sean Long and Martin Gleeson, had bet on their side to lose before the team was announced. Millward's St Helens career also ended controversially after he was suspended in May 2005. He was later sacked for gross misconduct a week later. Daniel Anderson became the coach after Millward was sacked.

Current squad

As of 20 June, 2006:

Number Player Position Previous Club
1 England Paul Wellens FB St Helens Academy
2 England Ade Gardner W Barrow Border Raiders
3 Australia Jamie Lyon C Parramatta Eels
4 New Zealand Willie Talau C Canterbury Bulldogs
5 New Zealand Francis Meli W New Zealand Warriors
6 England Leon Pryce SO Bradford Bulls
7 England Sean Long SH Widnes Vikings
8 England Nick Fozzard P Warrington Wolves
9 Wales Keiron Cunningham H Wiganconsecutive St.Judes
10 New Zealand Jason Cayless P Sydney Roosters
11 England Lee Gilmour SR Bradford Bulls
12 England Jon Wilkin SR Hull Kingston Rovers
13 England Paul Sculthorpe LF Warrington Wolves
14 England James Roby H St Helens Academy
15 England Mike Bennett SR St Helens Academy
16 Australia Jason Hooper SO St George Illawarra Dragons
17 England Paul Anderson P Bradford Bulls
18 New Zealand Vinnie Anderson SR Free Agent
19 England James Graham P St Helens Academy
20 England Ian Hardman W St Helens Academy
21 England Scott Moore SH St Helens Academy
23 Maurie Fa'asavalu P Samoan Rugby Union
24 England Paul Clough C St Helens Academy
25 England Matty Smith H St Helens Academy
26 England Miles Greenwood H St Helens Academy

Honours

Records

Player records

  • Most goals in a match: 16 by Paul Loughlin vs Carlisle, 14th September 1986
  • Most points in a match: 40 by Paul Loughlin vs Carlisle, 14th September 1986
  • Most tries in a match: 6 by all of the following:
    • Alf Ellaby v. Barrow, 5 Mar 1932.
    • Steve Llewellyn v. Castleford, 3 Mar 1956.
    • Steve Llewellyn v. Liverpool City, 20 Aug 1956.
    • Tom Van Vollenhoven v. Wakefield Trinity, 21 Dec 1957.
    • Tom Van Vollenhoven v. Blackpool Borough, 23 Apr 1962
    • Frank Myler v. Maryport, 1 Sept 1969.
    • Shane Cooper v. Hull, 17 Feb 1988.
  • Most tries in a season: 62 by Tom Van Vollenhoven, 1958-59
  • Most goals in a season: 214 by Kel Coslett, 1971-72
  • Most points in a season: 452 by Kel Coslett, 1971-72
  • Most career tries: 392 Tom Van Vollenhoven 1957-68 (third highest by any player)
  • Most career points: 3,413 Kel Coslett 1961-76
  • Most career goals 1,639 Kel Coslett 1961-76
  • Most career appearances Kel Coslett 519 plus 12 as substitute 1961-76

Team records

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