Castleford Tigers
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| Castleford Tigers | |
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| Full name | Castleford Tigers Rugby League Club..AKA..Classy Cas |
| Emblem | Tiger |
| Colours | Black and Amber |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Sport | Rugby league |
| League | Co-Operative National League One |
| Ground | The Jungle |
| Official website | www.castigers.com |
Castleford Tigers are one of the most famous rugby league clubs in England. They are based in Castleford in West Yorkshire. They are sometimes known as 'Cas' 'Cas Tigers' or 'Classy Cas'. In the early days many of their supporters worked as glassblowers which is another of the club's nicknames.
The Tigers play their home games at 'The Jungle' named after their former sponsor 'Jungle.com. After the company was bought by 'Argos' they removed all affiliation with the Tigers but the club decided to keep the name for marketing purposes. The ground was previous named after the road it is situated, 'Wheldon Road', and despite its old fashioned style the ground is still believed to offer one of the best and most volatile atmospheres in the game.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
There was also a Castleford team which took part in the Yorkshire League from 1896-97 to 1905-06 inclusive.
Castleford Rugby League Football Club was founded in June 1926, after a successful era in the Yorkshire Senior Competition and were admitted to the sport's professional ranks in 1926. Cas played at the Sandy Desert ground from 1920 to 1927 before moving to Wheldon Road. The club was quick to achieve success, winning the Yorkshire League in 1932, followed by their first Challenge Cup title in 1935.
Castleford were beaten Championship finalists in 1938-39. Cas dropped out of the wartime Yorkshire league in 1942-3 and did not return to league competiton until 1944-5.
[edit] Post World War Two
Castleford were again beaten Championship finalists in 1968-69, when they suffered a late defeat to arch-rivals Leeds.
The legendary half-back pairing of Alan Hardisty and Keith Hepworth inspired the club to back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs in 1969 ( v Salford) and 1970 ( v Wigan).
From the introduction of two divisions in 1973 until the Super League era Castleford were one of a handful of clubs to have constantly remained in the top division of British rugby league.
In 1983/84 Castleford were beaten 18-10 by Hull Kingston Rovers in the Divisional Premiership final at Headingley;
They were the leading club in Yorkshire in the early 1990s, finishing in the top four of the Championship no less than four times during this period. The highlight of the early 1990s was in 1994 when Castleford defeated Wigan to claim the Regal Trophy at Headingley in a 33-2 victory. They were semi-finalists in the Challenge Cup and were also narrowly defeated in the Premiership final.
[edit] Super League
When Super League was suggested Castleford were supposed to merge with Wakefield Trinity and Featherstone Rovers to form 'Calder'. This was strongly resisted by all sets of supporters but enthusiasts for mergers point out that while Wakefield district is a hotbed of rugby league it does not have the population to sustain three sides. While there is some merit to this opinion, it ignores that Castleford had the largest attendances in National League One and attracted comparatively good levels of support in their times in the top flight since the advent of Super League averaging around seven thousand.
Castleford added 'Tigers' to their name for the 1995/6 season. Cas were founder members of Super League in 1996. Stuart Raper was offered the job of head coach.
At the start of the 1997 season Castleford were seen as a team making up the numbers and few held hopes for them avoiding relegation. Throughout the season they struggled and only just managed to avoid being relegated, eventually finishing tenth.
With a new season in 1998 many pundits predicted the Tigers would be relegated to National League One. Castleford, in fact stayed near the top of the table for the majority of the season and eventually finished sixth.
In the 1999 season the Tigers had bettered their previous position and finished fifth. They appeared in the semi finals of both the Challenge Cup and the Grand Final play-offs.
2000 was Raper's last season with the Tigers and their performance somewhat mirrored their previous season as they finished fifth and into the play-offs for a consecutive season.
They made the semi final of the Challenge Cup once again in 2002.
They were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2004 season, but were promoted back the following season, after winning the National League One Grand Final against Whitehaven.
Castleford currently play their traditional black and amber, however their previous colours were orange and black. A limited edition shirt in these traditional colours was released to commemorate participation in the 2005 final of the Northern Rail Cup, which Castleford lost 16-18 to Hull Kingston Rovers, in front of 9,400 people (a record attendance for the cup). The club experienced record sales of the new home shirt for 2007.
Even after a solid return season, they were once again relegated from the Super League on Saturday 16 September 2006 after losing 29-17 to rivals Wakefield Trinity at Belle Vue, Wakefield. The match dubbed "The Battle of Belle Vue" was the last game of the season and whoever lost the match would have been relegated. This caused uproar in the rugby league community. Castleford were relegated with the highest points total for a relegated side in Super League history with 19.
[edit] National League
In 2007 Castleford Tigers will participate in National League One, the second tier of British rugby league.
They were rewarded for a safe passage through to the Carnegie Challenge Cup 4th Round with an away tie at local rivals and 4 times Super League Champions Bradford Bulls, however the Tigers lost the tie narrowly going down 24-16.
[edit] Current squad
As of 18th March, 2007:
1st Team
- Dwayne Barker
- Ryan Boyle
- Danny Brough
- Chris Charles
- Ryan Clayton
- Kirk Dixon
- Stuart Donlan
- Tere Glassie
- Awen Guttenbeil
- Andrew Henderson Captain
- Liam Higgins
- Craig Huby
- Michael Knowles
- Mark Leafa
- Peter Lupton
- Ryan McGoldrick
- Richard Owen
- Jason Payne
- Tommy Saxton
- Michael Shenton
- Michael Wainwright
- Joe Westerman
Academy Star Pushing For The 1st Team
- Alex Shenton
- Adam Jones
- Eddie Croft
- Sean Johnson
- Matthew Duckworth
- Nathan Massey
- Liam Watts
- Craig Potter
[edit] Players of note
- Les Adams
- Arthur Atkinson
- Bob Beardmore
- Kevin Beardmore
- Bill Bryant
- St John Ellis
- Mike Ford
- Harold Haley
- Alan Hardisty
- Dennis Hartley
- Keith Hepworth
- John Joyner
- Bill Kirkbride
- Brian Lockwood
- Roger Millward
- Tawera Nikau
- Danny Nutley
- Danny Orr
- Malcolm Reilly
- Dean Sampson
- John Sheridan
- Peter Small
- Graham Steadman
- Adrian Vowles
- Johnny Ward
- Kevin Ward
- Denzil Webster
[edit] Honours
- Challenge Cup winners: 1934-35, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1985-86 (4 times)
- Yorkshire Cup winners: 1977-78, 1981-82, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1991-92 (5 times)
- Yorkshire League winners: 1932-33, 1938-39, 1964-65 (3 times)
- Regal Trophy winners: 1976-77, 1993-94 (2 times)
- BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners: 1965-66, 1966-67, 1967-68,1976/77, (4 times)
- National League One winners: 2005
[edit] Records
[edit] Super League Era
[edit] Player records
- Most tries in a game: 4 by Waine Pryce (vs Wakefield Trinity) 1 September 2002
- Most goals in a game: 9 by Frano Botica (vs Workington Town) 12 May 1996
- Most points in a game: 20 by Frano Botica (vs Paris Saint-Germain) 7 June 1996 & Danny Orr (vs Halifax) 5 September 1999
- Most tries in a season: 23 by Darren Rogers 1999
- Most goals in a season: 114 by Wayne Bartrim 2002
- Most points in a season: 244 by Danny Orr, 1999
[edit] Team records
- Biggest win: 88-10 vs Castleford Lock Lane, 11 March 2007
- Heaviest defeat: 4-72 vs St Helens, 13 August 2006
- Highest attendance: 11,731 vs Unknown, Unknown 2004
[edit] All Time
[edit] Player records
- Most tries in a game: 5 by John Joyner (vs Millom) 16 September 1973, Derek Foster (vs Hunslet) November 1972, Steve Fenton (vs Dewsbury) 27 January 1978, Ian French (vs Hunslet) 9 February 1986 & St John Ellis (vs Whitehaven) 10 December 1989
- Most goals in a game: 17 by Sammy Lloyd (vs Millom) 16 September 1973
- Most points in a game: 43 by Sammy Lloyd (vs Millom) 16 September 1973
- Most tries in a season: 40 by St John Ellis 1993-1994
- Most goals in a season: 158 by Sammy Lloyd 1976-1977
- Most points in a season: 334 by Bob Beardmore, 1983-1984
- Most career tries: 206 by Alan Hardisty 1958-1971
- Most career goals 875 by Albert Lunn 1951-1963
- Most career points: 1870 by Albert Lunn 1951-1963
[edit] Team records
- Biggest win: 94-12 vs Huddersfield, 18 September 1988
- Heaviest defeat: 6-64 vs Warrington, 21 April 2006
- Highest attendance: 25,449 vs Hunslet 9 March 1935
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Popular unofficial Forum
- Unofficial Castigers.net
- Aye Of The Tigers Fanzine
- Unofficial site
- Supporters Club Website
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