The Harlequins (or to use their full moniker Harlequins
Rugby League) are the top
rugby league team in the London area and are members of the
Super League. The Harlequins is a relatively new name, up until the end of the 2005 season they were known as the London Broncos, and prior to this had been known as simply Fulham and the London Crusaders in the past. The Harlequins are based at the Twickenham Stoop, and the Harlequins rugby union club play there as well. The league clubs strip is similar in many ways to that of the union team, and the away shirt that Harlequins RL wore for the 2007 season was decided on after a competition that allowed fans to vote for the winning design.
In the 1930's rubgy league was not very well represented in London, with various teams appearing and dissapearing in short order. London Highfield and Acton & Willesden teams both only managed to complete one season, whilst Streatham & Mitcham were able to manage one and a half seasons. All of the teams were forced out of buisness due to financial difficulties,
rugby league was simply not as popular as it's union counterpart and football.
Rugby league was strictly a northern game right through until the 1980's when Fulham FC (the football club) announced that they would be forming a
rugby league team thats sole intention would be to generate income for the football team. The Rugby Football League were of course very keen to expand the sport to the south of England as well so they snapped up the Fulham
rugby league team. The new side managed to beat Wigan 24-5 in their first game and they went on to win the division two championship and were promoted to the next league. Unfortunately the clubs luck was not to last and by the end of the fourth season the club was disbanded by their overseeing soccer team. Fortunately thanks to some avid supporters the team was able to continue, spending periods of time at Crystal Palace (1984-1985 and 1990-1993) and Chiswick Polytechnic Sports Ground (1985-1990). The club struggled on and off the pitch, with financial worries being the foremost of their concerns. Fortunately plenty of one-off friendly games kept the clubs profile high and allowed them to continue.
In 1991 the club changed their name to the London Crusaders and this provided a much needed morale boost; in 1993 the club moved from Crystal Palace to Barnet Copthall and in 1994 they made an appearance in the Divisional Premiership Final. Later the same year the London Crusaders were purchased by the Brisbane Broncos (an Australian ARL team) and the name was changed once more to the London Broncos. In 1996 the London Broncos were selected by the
Rugby League to be a part of the new
Super League even though thye were not one of the top teams (it was felt that it was important to demonstrate equal representation across the country and particuarly important to represent the capital in the
Super League). The 1996 season was very busy for the team and Virgin and Richard Branson became the majority shareholders in the team, allowing the club to complete a good 1997 season and finish second in the
Super League. In 1998 the team continued to rise in stature and profile making their first appearance in the Challenge Cup semi-finals, loosing out to Wigan. This successful streak continued through the next few years with the London Broncos reaching the Challenge Cup final in 1999, and the club finished secure in the middle of the league tables in 2000. In their first season as Harlequins RL the team finished seventh place in the eleventh
Super League.
