Rainy City Roller Derby

The first league in North West England,[4] Rainy City played its first home bout in November 2009, against the Leeds Roller Dolls.[5] In September 2011, it opened the "Thunderdome",[6] its own training and bouting venue, in a former snooker hall in Oldham which they renovated and made into the 'Bouting venue of the North'.[4][7] In March 2012, it joined the UK Roller Derby Association.[8] As well as bouting, the team also runs skating and officiating clinics and bootcamps throughout the year.[9]

Former Rainy City logo

In July 2012, Rainy City was accepted as a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Apprentice Programme,[10] and it became a full WFTDA member in September 2013.[11]

In April 2013, a third team (The Bet Lynch Mob) was formed for new skaters at starter level to gain experience.[12]

In 2016, Rainy City re-branded as Rainy City Roller Derby, a move linked with success the organization has achieved on the flat track.[13][14]

The Rainy City All Stars are the league's A team.[15] The original Rainy City team, members have included 2011-12 Team England squad skaters Missy Rascal[16] and Dee-Mise.

The Tender Hooligans are Rainy City's B team.[17] formed in 2010. The C team, Rainy City Revolution, was formed in 2013. [18] In 2018 a new D team was introduced for new skaters- Rainy City Rising.

Rainy City's officiating crew; headed by Head Ref "Errington" & Head NSO "Pretty Miffed" (a WFTDA-certified Level 2 NSO[19]) includes "Matt the Knife" (a WFTDA-certified Level 3 Referee[20]), "Pancake", "Clint Roll Alt Delete", "Spark", "Karl Lagerfilled", "Pip", "Katie-astrophe", "X-Ray Ted", "Maimed'oiselle", "Robert", "Wolf, "Emily of the State", and "Yvel Saint Laurent" (the last two also certified level 2 NSOs[19]).[21]

Rainy City played their first WFTDA-sanctioned game in October 2013 against Glasgow Roller Derby.[22] At the WFTDA European Tournament (WET) in Malmö, Sweden, in November 2014, Rainy City went 2-1 with victories over Copenhagen Roller Derby and Oslo Roller Derby, and a narrow loss to Bear City Roller Derby.[22]

In 2016, Rainy City qualified for WFTDA Playoffs for the first time, making the Division 1 tournament at Columbia, South Carolina as the seventh seed.[23] During the weekend Rainy City went 2-2, with victories over Steel City Roller Derby (Pittsburgh) and Santa Cruz Derby Girls,[24][25] and losses to Jacksonville RollerGirls and Crime City Rollers (Malmö),[26][27] to finish the weekend in 6th place.[23] At the 2017 Division 1 Playoff in Malmö, Rainy City won their opening game against Calgary Roller Derby Association 324-81,[28] but then narrowly lost their quarterfinal to London Rollergirls, 124-199, to miss Championships.[29] Rainy City ended their weekend with a 258-78 consolation bracket win against Charm City Roller Girls.[30] In 2018, Rainy City qualified for WFTDA Playoffs in A Coruña, Spain where they finished in fourth place with a 174-146 loss to Angel City Derby.[31]

In 2013, Rainy City captured the win at the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association's "Sur5al" event, an unusual contest with modified rules and regulations.[39]

In 2018, Rainy City won the first EuroCup competition, hosted by Rainy City in Trafford, Greater Manchester, against 5 other WFTDA D1 European opponents. In 2019 Rainy City again hosted the event, this time in Bury, Greater Manchester, this time placing second behind Malmö's Crime City Rollers.

Two league members, Missy Rascal and Dee-Mise, were selected to play for Team England at the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto.[44] Missy Rascal returned to Team England's roster for the 2014 World Cup in Dallas, joined by teammate Fay Roberts.[45]

In December 2016, it was announced that Rainy City would host the 2018 Roller Derby World Cup, at the EventCity facility in Manchester.[46][3] Eight members of Rainy City were named to the training roster for Team England in October 2016: Alex Valentine, Alex Wilde, Fay Roberts, Fayetal Blonde, Fisher, Menace, Missy Rascal and Philly.[47] Rainy City was additionally represented by Mattie and Perra Peligro with Spain, and Dana Scurry skating for Ireland.