List of London Broncos home grounds

Since their formation in 1980 as Fulham RLFC, London Broncos have played at 9 different grounds in Greater London.

Stadia

Craven Cottage: 1980-1984

Founded as Fulham RLFC in 1980, the team, then called "Fulham" played their home games at Craven Cottage. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground with 15,013, at a game against Wakefield Trinity on 15 February 1981.[1]

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre: 1984-1985/ 1990-1993

For the 1984-85 season the club moved to Crystal Palace. London returned to Crystal Palace for the second time which they had a three-year stint there.

Polytechnic Sports Ground: 1985-1990

The club found a permanent ground in Chiswick where they stayed for five years before returning to Crystal Palace

1993-1995: Barnet Copthall Stadium

The club moved again in 1993 to Barnet in north London, where they remained for another three-year stint before moving again.

The Stoop: 1995-1996/ 1997-1999/ 2007-2013

London ground shared with rugby union side Harlequins for the 1995-96 season before the inaugural Super League season. The Broncos returned to The Stoop for the second time for a three-year period in 1997 in which time they reached their first Challenge Cup Final. In 2007 the Broncos returned to the Stoop and became known as Harlequins RL, a sister club to Harlequins FC adopting their crest and colours. They stayed at the Stoop until the lease ran out in 2013. This 7-year stay was their longest to date.

The Valley: 1996-1997/ 2000-2001

For the first two seasons of Super League, the Broncos ground shared with Charlton Athletic at The Valley. The Broncos returned to the Valley for the second time in 2000 spending two seasons there.

Griffin Park: 2001-2006

In 2002, London Broncos rugby league team moved to Griffin Park. The club stayed at Griffin Park until the 2006 season. The Broncos had earlier played two Rugby League Championship matches at Griffin Park during the 1995–96 season.[2] The Broncos spent five seasons at Brentford F.C.'s Griffin Park, which was their longest stay at a ground since leaving Fulham in 1984.

The Hive: 2014-2015

In 2014 Harlequins changed their name back to London Broncos after leaving The Stoop and looked for a permanent stay elsewhere. They moved to Edgware where they ground shared with Barnet F.C. at their new stadium. They spent two seasons there, during which time they were relegated from Super League for the first time.

The record crowd for the Broncos in 2014 was against Wigan Warriors when 2,013 attended The Hive.[3]

The Broncos left The Hive at the end of the 2015 season.[4]

Trailfinders Sports Club: 2016-present

Prior to the start of the 2016 season, the club moved to the Trailfinders Sports Ground in Ealing in west London.[4] The venue has several 3G artificial pitches that can be used all year, including the main club pitch.

References

  1. "Harlequins RLFC". Napit. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  2. Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 65. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.
  3. "London Broncos: Super League side agree Barnet groundshare". BBC.
  4. "London Broncos to make Ealing home". londonbroncosrl.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.