From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barrow Raiders
Club information
Full nameBarrow Rugby League Football Club Ltd
Colours Blue and White
Founded2021; 3 years ago (2021) [1]
Website barrowrlfc.com
Current details
Ground(s)
CoachAmanda Wilkinson
Competition RFL Women's Super League
20232nd (Group 2)
Current season

The Barrow Raiders Ladies are the women's rugby league team of Barrow Raiders from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. They compete in the Women's Super League, and play their home games at Craven Park. Before taking the Barrow Raiders name the team were called the Barrow Island Ladies.

History

In 2016, Barrow Ladies played in the Merit League and were based at Barrow Island ARLFC. They initially had difficulty in finding opponents as many of their games were cancelled. [2] Barrow had previously had a women's team that had included Great Britain internationals such as Lindsay Anfield, [3] Sally Milburn [4] and Allie and Liz Kitchin, [5] but by 2016 it had been more than ten years since Barrow had last played a competitive home fixture. [6] Barrow entered in the 2016/17 WRLA Winter League, but by the end of January they had withdrawn from the competition [7] and in March 2017 they joined the Women's Premier Division. [8] At the end of April they made their Challenge Cup debut in a 58–13 loss to the Oulton Raidettes. [9] In 2018, Barrow recorded their first win in the Challenge Cup defeating Brighouse Rangers 62–10 to reach the second round (quarter-finals). [10] In 2019, Barrow finished second in the Championship. On 15 September, for their final home game of the regular season, Barrow faced Oulton in the first women's game to be played at Craven Park. [11] Barrow reached the Championship Grand Final with a 14–12 semi-final victory over Stanningley, [12] but lost 40–4 to Warrington Wolves [13] who had also knocked Barrow out of the Challenge Cup earlier in the season. [14] In 2020, Barrow were to face Warrington in the second round of the Challenge Cup again. [15] However, a week before the match the RFL suspended all competitions. [16]

On 14 March 2021, it was announced that the Barrow Island Ladies team had been adopted by Barrow Raiders to form the Barrow Raiders Ladies team. [17] [18] In the 2021 season, Barrow reached the Grand Final of the Championship by defeating Widnes Vikings 16–6 in the play-offs. [19] They lost the final 10–6 to the league leaders, Leigh Miners Rangers, [20] but a top two finish in the league meant promotion along with Leigh to Group 2 of the Super League. [21] In November 2021, Amanda Wilkinson was appointed as Head Coach. [22] The 2022 season began for Barrow with the Challenge Cup. After defeats to St Helens and Warrington Wolves, a 36–0 win over the Army was not enough for Barrow to progress from the group stage. [23] Barrow made their Super League debut on 15 May with a 32–6 loss at home to Warrington. [24] [25] Barrow finished second in Group 2 before losing 12–10 to Featherstone Rovers in the play-off semi-final. [26] As with the 2022 season, Barrow began 2023 with two defeats in the Challenge Cup before ending their campaign with a win; 20–11 over Hull KR. [27] [28] A closely fought Super League competition saw the top three teams in Group 2 ( Leigh Leopards, Barrow and Featherstone) separated by only one point going into the final day of the regular season. In the last round of matches Barrow defeated Leigh but missed out on automatic promotion as they finished behind the league leaders, Featherstone, on points difference. [29] [30] However, a 14–8 victory over Leigh in the Group 2 Final secured their place in the restructured Super League in 2024. [31]

Seasons

Season League Play-offs Challenge Cup Ref.
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
2021 Championship 12 8 1 3 288 144 17 2nd Lost in Final Did not participate [32]
2022 Super League Group 2 12 9 0 3 386 168 18 2nd Lost in Semi-Final GS [32]
2023 Super League Group 2 10 8 0 2 336 88 16 2nd Won in Final GS [32]
2024 Super League GS [32]

References

  1. ^ "Barrow Ladies squad awarded heritage numbers". Barrow Raiders. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Barrow Ladies would just like to play!". 4 The Love of Sport. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Lindsay Anfield: York City Knights director of rugby spreading women's rugby league passion to Uganda and beyond". Sky Sports. 15 May 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Historic RL Hall of Fame recognition for Dobek, McIntosh and Milburn". Rugby-League.com. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Sporting Memories: When Great Britain's rugby league stars visited the Lakes". The Mail. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Barrow Ladies play 1st home game in more than 10 years". 4 The Love of Sport. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. ^ "WRLA Fixtures for Sunday 5 February". 4 The Love of Sport. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Women's Rugby League Premier Division round up". 4 The Love of Sport. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Bulls run riot in Women's Challenge Cup!". Rugby-League.com. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Barrow Island march on with big Challenge Cup win – PICTURE SPECIAL". The Mail. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Barrow Ladies defeat Oulton Raidettes in their first match at Craven Park". The Mail. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Another late Leeds show sets up Challenge Cup Final rematch". Rugby-League.com. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Warrington and Keighley triumph on Women's Finals Day". Rugby-League.com. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Warrington Wolves knock Barrow Ladies out of Women's Challenge Cup". The Mail. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Hull KR to host Hull FC in Coral Women's Challenge Cup second round". Rugby-League.com. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  16. ^ "RFL and Super League joint statement on season suspension". Rugby-League.com. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Raiders ready to welcome back fans this weekend". Barrow Raiders. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Barrow Raiders delighted to form Barrow Raiders Ladies". Barrow Raiders. 14 March 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Barrow Raiders Ladies into Championship Grand Final". The Mail. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Leigh Miners win Women's Championship Grand Final". Rugby-League.com. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League to expand again in 2022". Rugby-League.com. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Amanda Wilkinson appointed Barrow Raiders Women Head Coach". Rugby-League.com. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  23. ^ "Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Quarter-finalists confirmed". Rugby-League.com. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Another historic weekend for Women's Rugby League". Rugby-League.com. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  25. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League Round One Round-Up". Rugby-League.com. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  26. ^ "Women's Super League: Warrington Wolves to face Featherstone Rovers in Group 2 play-off final". TotalRL.com. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  27. ^ "Women's Challenge Cup Round-up | Sunday 7 May". Rugby-League.com. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Cerys Rice targeting more improvement after first win of 2023". The Mail. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  29. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League play-off and promotion hopes confirmed this weekend". Rugby-League.com. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Betfred Women's Super League Update – September 10". Rugby-League.com. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  31. ^ "York Valkyrie win first Betfred Women's Super League title in front of record Grand Final crowd". Rugby-League.com. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  32. ^ a b c d "Match Centre". Rugby-League.com. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

External links