Birmingham Bulldogs
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| Bulldog | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Birmingham Bulldogs Rugby League Club |
| Colours | Yellow, claret and white |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Website | www.pitchero.com/clubs/birminghambulldogsrlfc |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) | |
| Competition | Midlands Rugby League Premier Division |
Birmingham RLFC are a rugby league team based in Birmingham. They play in the Midlands Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.
Birmingham Bulldogs were founded in 1989. The club’s first season was in 1989–90 in the Midlands and South West Amateur Rugby League Association (MASWARLA) competition; a runners-up spot in the Heart of England Nines was followed by a programme of fixtures against local rivals such as Redditch Halcyon and West Midlands Police. The season culminated in a nail-biting encounter against Redditch in the MASWARLA Cup Final in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Birmingham were edged out 12-8 with a try in the dying minutes.
In the 1990 - 91 season the team was reinforced by a number of rugby union recruits. The club won their first silverware with the MASWARLA Challenge Plate in a final played at Worcester RUFC. The 1991-92 season saw Birmingham just fail to retain the Challenge Plate against the West Midlands Police RLFC, despite retaining the core of the successful team from the previous season.
The side began to flourish in 1994/5, winning the Heart of England Nines trophy in 1995 and notching up a notable cup win over established Doncaster side Bentley-Yarborough in 1996. The 1995 - 96 season brought more success as Birmingham captured the East Midlands League title, were runners up in the League’s Cup final, won the Brennan Trophy in most dramatic fashion, had their first ever win in the National Cup and then hosted the Yorkshire Cup holders Queens, from Leeds.
The Southern Conference was launched in 1997 and was aimed at areas relatively new to the game. Birmingham played in the very first fixture in this new competition away at Leicester Phoenix and scored the first ever points, a drop-goal from Tony Williams, and the first ever try, from James Brabin. The game eventually finished 36 –23 to Leicester but Birmingham went on to the play-offs after finishing second in the Central Division, behind Leicester. The semi-final saw Birmingham play the winners of the Eastern division, North London Skolars in London. Skolars took an 18-point lead before Birmingham came back and the game eventually finished with Skolars holding on to win the semi-final 18 – 16.
In 1998, Birmingham adopted the name Birmingham Bulls as they had a connection with the Super League side Bradford Bulls. They rebranded again in 2000 to become Birmingham Bulldogs to avoid a legal challenge by Birmingham Bulls American football team.
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