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Leigh Miners Rangers
Club information
Full name	Leigh Miners Rangers; Amateur Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)	Miners, Rangers
Colours	Black and Yellow
Founded	1966; 59 years ago
Current details
Ground(s)	Twist Lane (A578),; Leigh, Greater Manchester.;
Competition	National 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]

Women's team

In 2016, the women's team reached the final of the Challenge Cup.^[5] In 2021, they won the Championship^[6] and were accepted into Group 2 of the Women's Super League in 2022.^[7] They finished fifth in their league. In October 2022 it was announced that the team would merge with Leigh Leopards and continue to compete in the Super League from 2023 under their rebranded name.^[8] The Leigh Miners Rangers community team, which played in League 2 in the 2022 season,^[9] continued to take part in the lower tiers of the league competition and competed in League 1 in the 2024 season.^[10]

Honours

National Conference League Premier Division Grand Final
- Winners (1): 2015
National Conference League Premier Division
- Winners (2): 2004–05, 2015
Conference Challenge Trophy
- Winners (3): 2012, 2013, 2015
BARLA National Cup
- Winners (2): 1973–74, 1982–83
BARLA Lancashire Cup
- Winners (4): 1975–76, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1987–88

References

^ "Senior : Our History". Leigh Miners Rangers. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Hadfield, Dave (16 April 2015). "Leigh united for the Cup". The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ "A brief history of Challenge Cup shocks". Rugby Football League. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ "Academy : Our History". Leigh Miners Rangers. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ "Thatto Heath double up!". Rugby-League.com. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "Leigh Miners win Women's Championship Grand Final". Rugby Football League. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "Betfred Women's Super League to expand again in 2022". Rugby Football League. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "Leigh Leopards merge with women's team Leigh Miners Rangers for next season". BBC Sport. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "Women's Rugby League Results". 4 The Love Of Sport. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
^ "Sewell Group Craven Park to host 2024 Women's Nines Finals Day". Rugby Football League. 16 July 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.