March of Centurions Down South

SAM HOLLIS, a second year sports journalism student at the University of Huddersfield, travels from the sport's birthplace to check out the game's continuing progress down south, at St Albans Centurions.

On a brisk spring Saturday morning, it is may be wishful thinking to expect gleaming sunshine. However, on the few  occasions the clouds break, a stunning location for rugby league is revealed. This is not Yorkshire or Lancashire but deepest Hertfordshire. More specifically, the quaint village of Colney Heath, St Albans.

This is the home of St Albans Centurions, and a stunning home it is. In the summer months, the club host barbeques and family occasions, while the winter months allow Colney Heath football team, whose pitch is directly parallel to theirs, to enjoy the facilities. The Centurions were competing in National League Three (just two tiers below the elite in the Super League) until as recently as 2007, but now play in the Co-operative Rugby League Conference Southern Premier division, with two wins and three losses to their name so far this season.

The reason the club decided to downgrade divisions was so that they can focus on youth development. Club chairman Brian Parker said: "Since we teamed up with the football team the financial burden is a lot less and they have a home which gives us confidence."

However, the ground isn't the only reason that Parker is particularly upbeat. The Hertfordshire side have a bright future ahead of them and spirits are high. Last season the senior side lost only two games in cruising to the league title. As we speak, the final whistle goes in a junior game and the young players retire to the clubhouse for sandwiches and drinks, refreshments they fully deserve after a highly competitive game, with no less intent in the tackles than you would see with the senior players.

Youth development at the club is paramount. At the moment the senior side is made up of players who mostly travel from London, have a rugby union background or played rugby league elsewhere before moving to Hertfordshire. This is all very well for now. But in years to come, these players will not be available, so the club have to introduce the local community to the game, as junior development manager Tony Bottomley explained. "We have started to go into schools and coaching the kids there," he said.

As we speak, the club house slowly empties allowing the dads to enjoy the Saturday afternoon football action on the projector screen. "I've been down here since 1980, when I moved from Fulham rugby league club at Craven Cottage," Bottomley said.

"I played for Huddersfield in the 1960's and I've still got contacts up in the north. They picked up that we had an under 14's team and they rang us up. The junior teams are the main thing at the moment. We have set up a five year development plan. At the end we hope to have at least 75 per cent homegrown talent in the senior squad."

Bottomley, as a northerner himself, understands more than anyone how important it is to nurture young talent. "This year is a learning curve and just getting some fixtures in. By the time they are 14-15, they will be three times as strong as they are now," he said.

Not only does Bottomley hope to develop St Albans rugby league, he also knows that rugby league as whole needs to be assessed in the South as a sport primarily played in the North. "It's going to take time to do that. But it will eventually prosper for the first team because at the moment we do rely on the M25 players travelling down here every weekend." If all teams follow suit in the area, you cannot help but think the future will prosper for rugby league in the south as well. The more people who are introduced to the game will surely mean more publicity, money and success.

Leaving the club, you can see the future looks bright for the Centurions. "The local schools are now playing tag rugby", Bottomley informed me. Little steps like this will ensure the sport has a future alongside football and rugby union in this Hertfordshire community.

Comments

[Expansionist]

I think if rugby league is to reach the status it deserves as one of the top sports. it needs to focus on developing not just teams but fan bases in development areas like Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the south. It needs to educate people from a young age about the game so they can become future fans and players. Yes Stalbans are doing it the hard way but to build long term success is hard and they are doing it the right way to make the sport truely successful in the long term.... probably at detriment to their imediate success by using young local players rather than relying on imports, as other clubs have in the past.

[Southern Softy]

Great piece. St Albans is a good club run by great people... I know, I've been there a few times.
I live in Hertfordshire and can now boast a London Merit side, a Southern Premier side, a National Conference side and a National League 2 side all within a 40 minute drive of my house.
Today Hertfordshire - tomorrow the world???

[Th1rteen]

Yeh, definitely. Some clubs are made up of Union players and so they generally put Union first. Actually I would probably describe them more as teams and not clubs.

I think the RLC Premier divisions are good because they are at a decent standard and don't require a lot of travelling. Regional matches sometimes get called off and the teams are not as stable or competitive. There is a big leap from Premier to National though. One that I think certain clubs could make, but they would rather put money into junior development than "waste" it on travel expenses. I think that is the right way to go about it. When the club picks up enough support, there are enough players, teams and when the team is regularly winning, we'll see teams in the south join the RLC National just like Hemel Stags. I think this should take around 3-6 years if things run smoothly.

[LondonLouis]

It's good to see St Albans continuing to develop. Their story, though, does point to the problems clubs have in the South in going from a regional to a national force. For obvious reasons, travel is skewed towards the North of England, which is hard on Southern teams which rely too much on moonlighting Union players. Clearly, you have to go the way of the Centurions, by developing players who are primarily committed to League. It takes time.

[Th1rteen]

Fantastic piece. Some of the southern clubs like St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags and Nottingham Outlaws really are big clubs now with multiple junior teams and women teams too. The futures bright. Great work.

[Jon Smalldon]

Good piece. Hoping to see St Albans step back up to the national division in the future though - if only for the derby matches against Hemel.

[Steffy]

Excellent stuff, i went to see St Albans play a few times when I lived in London.

Let's hear more about the conference sides please.

[Smitty]

Nice piece Sam. Good to see something different on rugby league. Good luck to you.