Leigh Miners Rangers

Leigh Miners Rangers
Club information
Full nameLeigh Miners Rangers
Amateur Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)Miners, Rangers
ColoursBlack and Yellow
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966)
Current details
Ground(s)
CompetitionNational Conference League

Leigh Miners Rangers are a community amateur rugby league football club from Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the National Conference League, the National Conference Premier Division. The club also operates an A team, Masters, an Under 18's team, and numerous junior teams. In 2022, Miners Rangers also fielded a Ladies side in the RFL Women's Super League Group 2.

The club was founded in 1966 as Leigh Miners Welfare.[1] The club later merged with the junior club Leigh Rangers, and changed its name to Leigh Miners Rangers.[2]

The club have defeated professional opposition twice in the Challenge Cup. They won 18–12 against Bramley in the third round of the 1999 Challenge Cup, and defeated Oxford 32–6 in the fourth round of the 2015 Challenge Cup.[3]

The club's junior section has produced lots of players who went on to play rugby league professionally, most notably former internationals Denis Betts, Darren Wright, Tommy Martyn, Scott Naylor, Steve Blakeley, Mickey Higham, Paul Rowley and Stuart Littler.[4]

  1. ^ "Senior : Our History". Leigh Miners Rangers. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  2. ^ Hadfield, Dave (16 April 2015). "Leigh united for the Cup". The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ^ "A brief history of Challenge Cup shocks". Rugby Football League. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Academy : Our History". Leigh Miners Rangers. Retrieved 29 August 2022.