Sheffield Eagles (1984)
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| Club information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sheffield Eagles Rugby Football League Club | ||
| Nickname(s) | Sheff The Eagles |
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| Website | sheffieldeagles.com | ||
| Colours |  |
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| Founded | 1984 | ||
| Current details | |||
| Ground(s) | |||
| Coach | Mark Aston | ||
| Manager | Liam Claffey | ||
| Captain | Matt James | ||
| Competition | Championship | ||
| 2016 | 7th | ||
 Current season
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| Uniforms | |||
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| Records | |||
| Championship | 2 (2012, 2013) | ||
| Challenge Cup | 1 (1998) | ||
| Most capped | 389 - Mark Aston | ||
| Highest points scorer | 2142 - Mark Aston | ||
Sheffield Eagles R.L.F.C. are a professional rugby league club from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who currently play at Belle Vue in Wakefield. They play in the Kingstone Press Championship. The club was formed in 1984 and formerly competed in Super League and won the Challenge Cup in 1998.
In 1982, Huddersfield captain and Chairman of the Players' Union, Gary Hetherington missed out on a coaching job at York. He decided to form his own club in Sheffield. The original plan to enter the Second Division in 1983–84 fell apart when Sheffield United pulled back from their promise to let the new team play its home games at Bramall Lane.
The club eventually joined the Second Division in 1984 and played at the Owlerton Stadium. A competition was run in the Sheffield Star newspaper to find a name for the new club and "Sheffield Eagles" was the winner. The first Eagles league game was on 2 September 1984 when they beat Rochdale Hornets 29–10. The match took place the day after the club's sponsor went bust. Hetherington was both manager and player in the first season, building the team using experienced players from traditional areas. He also began signing up promising young players, one of whom was Mark Aston, later to be a critical part of the Eagles' survival as a club.
By November the club was close to folding because of financial problems. Sheffield beat Wakefield Trinity to set up a John Player Special Trophy first round tie against Leeds. This lucrative game generated enough cash to see out the season.
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