Castleford Tigers Women
The Castleford Tigers Women are a female rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Women's Super League, the top-level Women's rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. Nicknamed the Tigresses, the club formed in 2016 and participated as one of 3 teams in the inaugural season of the 2017 Women's Super League season, which then grew to 7 teams in 2018.
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Castleford Tigers Rugby League Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | "Tigresses" |
| Short name | Castleford Tigers |
| Colours |  |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Website | castlefordtigers.com |
| Current details | |
| Chairman | Ian Fulton |
| Coach | Lindsay Anfield |
| Captain | Claire Garner |
| Competition | Women's Super League |
| 2019 season | 2nd |
 | |
| Records | |
| League Leaders Shield | 1 (2019,) |
History
Formation
The Women's Team was formed in 2016[1] following discussions between local teachers Jonny Payne and Danny Holmes, who had set-up girls teams for local amateur club Cutsyke Raiders[1], and Castleford Tigers Board Members Steve Gill and Richard Pell.
Debut season
In the debut season of the Women's Super League Castleford Tigers competed as one of 3 teams in the competition alongside Yorkshire rivals Bradford Bulls and Featherstone Rovers. The Tigers finished bottom of the inaugural competition winning only one of their six games.[2]
2018 Season
With a larger number of teams joining the competition, 2018 saw Castleford compete as one of 7 teams in the Women's Super League, alongside Bradford, Featherstone and newcomers York City Knights, Wigan Warriors, St. Helens and Leeds Rhinos. Widnes Vikings had harboured hopes of joining the competition but pulled out before the season started.
Castleford kicked off the season with a 62-0 thrashing over York and have gone on to win 4 of their 7 games, along with 2 draws and 1 loss[3]. On 4 August, they played Leeds Rhinos in the Women's Challenge Cup Final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington. Castleford led 14-6 at half-time but eventually succumbed to 20-14 defeat[4], finishing as runners-up.
2019 Season
The Tigresses kicked off the 2019 season with a 78-0 hammering against York City Knights before going on to win their first seven Super League games remaining as the only unbeaten side in the competition to date[5]. In terms of their Challenge Cup (Rugby League) exploits, the side beat local rivals Featherstone Rovers, Bradford Bulls and also a 100-0 destruction of local rivals Wakefield Trinity, a record in Women's rugby league, en route to a second successive Challenge Cup Final. The final will be played at the University of Bolton Stadium on 27 July, as part of a triple-header of games with the men's Challenge Cup Semi Finals[6]. The Tigresses also broke the record attendance for a Women's game with a crowd of 1,492 at their Quarter Final tie against Bradford[7]
Stadium
The Jungle
Castleford Tigers Women currently play their home games at Wheldon Road, home of Castleford Tigers
Playing Squad 2019
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Head coach
Assistant coach
Updated: January 2019 | |||||||||
Honours
References
- "Castleford Tigers launch Women's team". www.rugby-league.com.
- "Rugby-League.com". www.rugby-league.com.
- "Castleford Tigers RLFC".
- "Women's Challenge Cup: Leeds Rhinos women beat Castleford Tigers 20-14 to lift trophy". 4 August 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- Smith, Peter. "Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers' coaches heap praise on Women's Challenge Cup finalists". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- Falkingham, Katie. "Women's Challenge Cup final: Hollie Dodd to make Castleford Tigers debut aged 16". BBC Sport.
- Harber, Tony. "Record crowd sees Castleford Tigers Women storm into Challenge Cup semi-finals". Pontefract and Castleford Express. Retrieved 26 July 2019.