Club information | |
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Full name | South London Storm Rugby League Club |
Website | www.stormrl.com |
Colours | Maroon and White |
Founded | 21 July 1997 |
Current details | |
Ground(s) |
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Competition | Rugby League Conference South Premier |
South London Storm is a rugby league club who play and train at Archbishop Lanfranc School in the London Borough of Croydon, they currently compete in the London and South East Merit League.
Founded in 1997, Storm have been voted Rugby League Conference "Club of the Year" three times, in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
In February 2015 South London Storm merged with their youth club Croydon Hurricanes under the Hurricanes banner, however they will continue to field a Masters team as South London Storm.
To mark Storm's 10th Anniversary the club announced their 1997–2007 Dream Team.
Up to and including 2 July 2011.
Up to and including 2 July 2011.
The South London area has a strong rugby league tradition, and many of London’s most successful amateur clubs have come from this part of the capital. For nearly three decades clubs such as Streatham Celtic, Peckham Pumas and South London Warriors dominated the London League, and between them they won the title over twenty times. The mid-1990s heralded the demise of these once dominant clubs leaving the league without a club south of the Thames.
To fill this void the current South London club was formed on 21 July 1997 by Jed Donnelly, Graeme Harker and Julian Critchley in a bar after London Broncos' World Club Championship victory against Canberra Raiders on 21 July 1997. Initially nicknamed 'the Saints', as one of the founder members was a supporter of St Helens, the fledgling club recruited many of its players from the recently defunct east London, Bexleyheath and Peckham outfits, and they approached the local rugby union club, Streatham-Croydon, about basing themselves at their Frant Road ground. Storm's original colours were red and black.
Saints were immediately accepted into the London League, and in their debut season they finished third in the Second Division behind Kingston and St Albans Centurions. That 1997/98 season culminated in an appearance in the Gordon Anderton Memorial Trophy Final against Reading Raiders at the New River Stadium. The 24–28 was a cruel blow for a team that were considered to have enjoyed the better of the game, but two controversial Raiders’ tries in the closing two minutes sealed Saints’ fate.