Leigh Centurions
Full name	Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club
Emblem	Centurion
Colours	Red and white
Founded	1878
Sport	Rugby league
League	National League One
Ground	Hilton Park Leigh Greater Manchester
Official website	www.leighrl.co.uk

Leigh Centurions are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Centurion redirects here This article is about the Roman soldier Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Media Some games are shown on Sky Sports, games involving Celtic Crusaders are shown on Welsh-language channel S4C. Hilton Park is a multi-use stadium in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2 History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland They were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season and now play in National League One. engage Super League X is the official name of 2005 's Super League season They were originally known as Leigh Rugby League Club. Leigh is also one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, making them one of the world's first rugby league teams. History See also History of rugby league On 27 August 1895 as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester prominent Lancashire clubs Broughton Rangers

The club adopted the Centurions moniker for the 1995–96 season. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) It was announced in January 2007 that the club would undergo a rebranding exercise that would ultimately lead to the Centurions name being dropped but the decision to rebrand was reversed after a fan backlash.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 Post war 1.3 Recent history 2 New stadium 3 2008 Squad 4 Honours 5 Coaching history 6 Records 6.1 Player records 6.2 Team records 7 References 8 External links

History

Early history

The club was founded in 1878 and initially played at Buck's Farm, Pennington.

Leigh played at several minor grounds before moving to Mather Lane in 1889.

As one of the founder members of the Northern Union in 1895, the first season of the new game kicked off in September with Leigh recording a 6-3 loss against Leeds. History See also History of rugby league On 27 August 1895 as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester prominent Lancashire clubs Broughton Rangers Leeds Rhinos, or informally Leeds or Rhinos, are an English professional Rugby league football club based in Leeds Leigh finished ninth overall that season.

In 1906, Leigh become Northern Union champions following a superb season, boasting an 80% win rate. Many clubs complained that Leigh had provided themselves with an easy fixture list, ducking the challenge of the stronger clubs, as a result play-offs were brought in.

Their next major success came in 1921 when they won the Challenge Cup with a shock 13-0 victory over Halifax at The Cliff, Broughton, Salford. The Challenge Cup (as of 2008 known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons is a knockout cup competition for Rugby league clubs across Europe Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic Rugby league clubs in the game formed over a century ago in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. In 1934, they played under floodlights for the first time, losing 8-25 at London Highfield.

During the Second World War, the club was forced to leave its ground as the adjacent cable factory extended onto the land. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The townsfolk of Leigh, acting on chairman James Hilton's inspiration, cleared some fields on the edge of the town, and built a new stadium, including moving and rebuilding the old grandstand from the original ground. James Hilton ( September 9, 1900 &ndash December 20, 1954) was an Oscar -winning English Novelist, and author Their players at this time included Albert Ashton, father of England national rugby union team coach Brian Ashton. The England national rugby union team represents England in Rugby union. William Brian Ashton MBE (born 3 September 1946 in Leigh, Lancashire) is a former Rugby union player and the former ^[1] In 1941-2, Leigh quit the wartime Lancashire league and would not return to the league until 1946-7 when they played at the Athletic ground, Holden Road.

Post war

In 1947, they moved to their new Kirkhall Lane headquarters and in 1953 floodlights were installed at a cost of £4,100. Hilton Park is a multi-use stadium in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The ground saw a record home crowd of 31,326 attend a Challenge Cup tie with St Helens in the same year. Later, Kirkhall Lane was officially renamed Hilton Park after James Hilton.

Leigh signed Jimmy Ledgard from Dewsbury in January 1948 for a then record fee of £2,650. Jimmy Ledgard was a full-back for Great Britain, Dewsbury and Leigh.

On Saturday 27 October 1951, 33,230 spectators saw Leigh lose 14-6 to Wigan in the final of the Lancashire Cup at Station Road, Swinton.

Leigh's record attendance was set in 1953 at 31,326 when St Helens visited for a third round Challenge Cup game.

Leigh and Bradford Northern were the first rugby league clubs to stage matches on a Sunday in December 1954, although there was opposition from the Sunday Observance lobby.

The 1955-56 season saw a tournament titled the BBC Floodlit Competition. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually running out 43 - 18 victors over Leigh at Loftus Road. Loftus Road is also a nickname of the Bulgarian FC Spartak Plovdiv ground the Todor Diev Stadium.

Alex Murphy joined Leigh as player-coach. This is a page on the real life rugby player You may be looking for the fictional police officer better known as RoboCop. In 1971, Leigh reached the Challenge Cup final and defeated Leeds, 24-7. The Challenge Cup (as of 2008 known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons is a knockout cup competition for Rugby league clubs across Europe Murphy left Leigh on May 20th 1971 to become player-coach at Warrington. Warrington is a professional Rugby league club in the town of Warrington, Cheshire in England.

In 1978, John Woods played and scored in every game as Leigh secured the Second Division. Within British Rugby league there have been periods when the Championship has been divided into two divisions with promotion and relegation between the two In 1982, Leigh were Champions for only the second time, as Alex Murphy guided them to a tense 13-4 victory at Whitehaven, after Leigh trailed 4-1 at half time. The Rugby League Championship was the major professional competition organised by the Rugby Football League in Great Britain. Whitehaven RLFC is a Rugby league team playing in Whitehaven in West Cumbria.

Leigh won the Second Division Championship in 1985-86, losing only one league match and again in the 1988-89 season.

In December 1994, Ian Lucas became head coach of Leigh, the youngest senior coach in the game.

Recent history

In 1995, the soccer team Horwich RMI made the decision to relocate from Horwich, near Bolton, to Hilton Park, changing their name to Leigh RMI in the process. As part of the deal a new company, Grundy Hill Estates, was formed to take over the ownership of the ground. Leigh added Centurions to their name for the 1995/6 season.

In April 1996, Eric Hughes was appointed head coach at Leigh replacing Ian Lucas who was sacked after Leigh had only won one of their first five games of the season. Eric Hughes (born in England) was a Rugby league player for the Widnes Vikings, Canterbury Bulldogs and for the Great Britain national Hughes was replaced by Keith Latham who was in charge until 1998. Norman Turley was also head coach in 1998.

In 1998 Ian Millward was appointed head coach. Ian Millward (born August 22 1960) is an Australian born Rugby league coach and is currently head coach for North Queensland Cowboys Leigh had come close to relegation to the game's third tier. Under Millward, they were turned into promotion contenders. Millward left in 2000 to coach St Helens after the sacking of Ellery Hanley. Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961 in Leeds) is an English former Rugby league player and is now the head coach

Australian Paul Terzis was coach of Leigh Centurions from 1999-2003. Australian Paul Terzis was coach of Leigh Centurions from 1999-2003 His reign was notable for a number of 'near misses' as Leigh attempted to win promotion to Super League. In 2001 Leigh recorded a shock Challenge Cup victory over Super League neighbours Salford City Reds, finished 9 points clear at the top of the Northern Ford Premiership and claimed the Trans-Pennine Cup. However, Leigh were defeated in the play-off semi-finals and Widnes went on to win the Grand Final and a place in Super League.

In 2002 and 2003, the relegated Super League sides, Huddersfield Giants and Salford City Reds remained fully professional teams. Thus, their full-time fitness and coaching led to defeat in successive grand finals for Leigh.

In October 2003, Darren Abram was appointed head coach, with a view to taking them into Super League. Darren Abram is a Rugby league coach and the current coach of National League One club Rochdale Hornets. When Halifax were relegated to play in the 2004 National League competition, their financial troubles meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled, paving the way for Leigh to go about achieving their dream. Whitehaven were the opponents when Leigh won the National League One Grand Final 32-16 (after extra time, 16-16 at full-time) in 2004, thus securing promotion to Super League. Media Some games are shown on Sky Sports, games involving Celtic Crusaders are shown on Welsh-language channel S4C.

Leigh's Super League season of 2005, however, proved a disaster and the club were relegated back to National League One after winning just two games. Abram resigned in August 2005 after a disagreement with the board, who felt unable to offer him the full-time contract he wanted for 2006 if the club were not in Super League.

New Zealander Tony Benson, was appointed head coach in September 2005. Tony Benson is a New Zealander and the current coach of the United Kingdom Rugby National League Two club London Skolars. Leigh's relegation from Super League had been all but confirmed at the time of his appointment.

In July 2006, Leigh won the Northern Rail Cup after defeating Hull KR 22-18 at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool. Hull Kingston Rovers or Hull KR is a British Rugby league club playing in Super League (Europe, having won promotion from National Bloomfield Road has been the home of English football club Blackpool Football Club since 1899 Blackpool (/ˈblækˌpul is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It was the second time the club had won that particular trophy having also triumphed in the 2004 final against the same opposition.

Following Leigh's 23-22 defeat to Batley Bulldogs in the 2006 NL1 play offs, the club's future was thrown into doubt. Batley Bulldogs are a British Rugby league club from Batley in West Yorkshire. The club's owners decided to part company with Tony Benson causing some of the back room staff and management to resign in support of their colleague. Tony Benson is a New Zealander and the current coach of the United Kingdom Rugby National League Two club London Skolars. The uncertainty also caused a number of the club's playing staff to leave.

Darren Shaw was appointed as coach of the club in October 2006 to replace Tony Benson. Darren Shaw is an Australian former Rugby league footballer and coach Tony Benson is a New Zealander and the current coach of the United Kingdom Rugby National League Two club London Skolars. However it was found that Darren Shaw did not have the necessary qualifications to coach at this level and he was moved to the position of Football Manager, while assistant coach Paul Rowley was appointed as First Team Coach. Darren Shaw is an Australian former Rugby league footballer and coach

In January 2007, the club announced that it would drop the Centurions name ahead of its move to a new stadium. The club also changed the name of its current stadium back to Hilton Park after re-naming it The Coliseum a number of years earlier. However, due to an influx of letters, e-mails and telephone calls from Leigh supporters asking the club to re-think its decision; this decision was reversed in May.

Darren Shaw's first full season in charge of Leigh Centurions ended with a 19-6 play off defeat away to Whitehaven. Leigh's 2007 season was one dogged by inconsistency. Convincing wins were often followed by heavy defeats as Shaw was forced to field a number of youngsters due to injury problems. The unsettled nature of the side in 2007 was reflected by the fact that Shaw gave debuts to over 20 players over the course of the season.

Despite the disappointing end to the 2007 season, Shaw was given a contract to coach Leigh for the 2008 season. After a promising start to the 2008 season, Shaw tendered his resignation following defeats to Salford, Widnes and Featherstone Rovers. ^[2]

New stadium

In the forthcoming years, Leigh Centurions will move into their new all-seater stadium, which will have a capacity of 10,000. The stadium will form part of the Leigh Sports Village complex and will be shared with the Leigh RMI soccer club. The move to the new stadium is expected to go ahead in 2008. Hilton Park will be demolished with the land sold for a housing development. The as yet unnamed stadium will be the cornerstone of Leigh's application for a Super League franchise in the coming years.

Hall Construction Services Ltd. of Durham won the £17. 5 million contract to construct the stadium in January 2007.

2008 Squad

As of April 10, 2008:

No	Nat	Player	Position	Previous Club
1		Anthony Stewart(C)	FB	Salford City Reds
2		Dave Alstead	W	Swinton Lions
3		Nathan McAvoy	C	Bradford Bulls
4		Toa Kohe-Love	C	Widnes Vikings
5		Steve Maden	W	Whitehaven RLFC
6		Dennis Moran	SO	Widnes Vikings
7		Ian Watson	SH	Halifax RLFC
8		Andy Hobson	P	Dewsbury Rams
9		Dave McConnell	H	Rochdale Hornets
10		Gareth Price	P	Widnes Vikings
11		Lee Doran	SR	Widnes Vikings
12		Mike Wainwright	SR	Warrington Wolves
13		Adam Thomas	LF	Leigh Centurions
14		John Hill	P	Rochdale Hornets
15		Lee Marsh	SO	Blackpool Panthers
16		Aaron Smith	H	Whitehaven RLFC
17		John Cookson	P	Leigh Centurions
18		Adam Rudd	C	Leigh Centurions
19		Chris Hill	SR	Leigh Centurions
20		Mike Morrison	P	Widnes Vikings
21		Danny Meekin	P	Leigh Centurions
22		Mark Roberts	C	Halifax RLFC
23		James Taylor	SR	Leigh East
24		Chris Giles	FB	Rochdale Hornets
25		Martin Keavney	HB	Widnes Vikings

Honours

• RL Champions: 1905-06, 1981-82 (twice)
• Challenge Cup winners : 1920-21, 1970-71 (twice)
• Lancashire Cup winners: 1952-53, 1955-56, 1970-71, 1981-82 (4 times)
• Second Division champions (including National League One): 1977-78, 1985-86, 1988-89, 2004 (4 times)
• Second Division runners-up : 2000, 2002, 2003
• Second Division Minor Premiers (League Leaders) : 2001
• BBC2 Floodlit Trophy: 1969-70, 1972-73 (twice)
• Trans-Pennine Cup: 2001
• National League Cup: 2004, 2006

Coaching history

1994-1996: Ian Lucas

1996: Eric Hughes

1996-1998: Keith Latham

1998: Norman Turley

1998-2000: Ian Millward

2000-2003: Paul Terzis

2003-2005: Darren Abram

2005-2006: Tony Benson

2006-2008: Darren Shaw

2008-Present: Neil Kelly

Records

Player records

• Highest attendance: 31,326 vs St Helens
• Biggest victory: 92-2 vs Keighley
• Heaviest defeat: 4-94 vs Workington Town

Team records

• Most tries in a game: 6 by Jack Wood vs York, 1947 & by Neil Turley vs Workington Town, 2001
• Most goals in a game: 15 by Mick Stacey vs Doncaster, 1976
• Most points in a game: 42 by Neil Turley vs Chorley Lynx, 2004
• Most tries in a season: 55 by Neil Turley, 2001
• Most goals in a season: 187 (inc 10 drop goals) by Neil Turley, 2004
• Most points in a season: 468 by Neil Turley, 2004
• Most career tries: 189 by Mick Martyn, 1954-67
• Most career goals: 1043 by Jim Ledgard, 1948-58
• Most career points: 2492 by John Woods, 1976-85, 1990-92
• Most career appearances: 503 by Albert Worrall, 1920-38

References

External links

• Official website
• Leigh Centurions forum on rlfans.com
• Leigh Centurions @ leythers.com
• National League website
• Leigh Centurions Fans Forums - RugbyLeague.org

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic