New York Rugby League Football Club was a proposed rugby league football club in the North American Rugby League. The league and club folded in 2022.
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| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Short name | New York R.L.F.C. |
| Colours | Purple, orange and white |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
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History
editIt was first reported in October 2017 that a New York consortium were seeking to join the Rugby Football League's League 1 in 2019.[1] Earlier in 2017, Canadian side Toronto Wolfpack became the first transatlantic team to join the league.
On May 20, 2019, the Rugby Football League released a statement on the two prospective overseas clubs. Ottawa had been accepted in principle to join League 1 in 2020 while New York had a change in ownership structure and was encouraged to work toward entry in 2021 instead.[2][3]
In March 2020, it was confirmed that the Ottawa Aces would be accepted for entry to RFL League 1 for the 2021 season, it was decided that adding 2 North American teams to a semi professional league would add extra pressure to current teams. So New York City Rugby League was planned to enter into the Challenge Cup for the 2022 season.[4] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ottawa Aces inclusion into the RFL League 1 was delayed until 2022, it is now likely that a New York addition will be further postponed for the time being.[5]
In April 2021, the clubs social media accounts were handed over to New York Freedom, a new franchise that was to be a founder member of the North American Rugby League. However in November 2021, the Freedom announced on their website that they would not be taking part in the NARL.[6]
The original New York City Rugby League RFL bid team is now to join the NARL as a foundation club alongside Atlanta Rhinos, Cleveland, Toronto Wolfpack and Washington DC Cavalry.[7]
Players
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Bower, Aaron (October 16, 2017). "New York team aiming to emulate Toronto move into League 1 ranks". The Guardian.
- ^ "Overseas Clubs Update". Rugby Football League. May 20, 2019.
- ^ Davidson, Neil (July 29, 2019). "New Ottawa rugby league team now expected to take the field in 2021". Globalnews.ca.
- ^ "Ottawa Aces: Canadian club to join League One in 2021". www.bbc.com. BBC Sport. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ "Ottawa Aces: Canadian club postpone League One entry to 2022". www.skysports.com. Sky Sports. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ New York pull out of North American Rugby League
- ^ North American Rugby League competition “confident” of spring launch