Welcome to the North Devon Rugby League Website 

WE'RE OFF! The North Devon Raiders are officially up and running. Now the countdown begins to game one in the co-operative Rugby League Conference on Sunday May 9th 2010. If you want to join us contact us HERE to find out more or join our mailing list to get the first up news on the NORTH DEVON RAIDERS

The North Devon Raiders are North Devon's Rugby League Club which has been formed to compete in the Rugby Football League's co-operative Rugby League Conference beginning in May 2010.  Training begins in the New Year, if you are interested in playing for the Raiders then register your interest here 

Rugby League is traditionally seen as a "Northern" sport but the thirteen-a-side game has a history in Devon going back to 1910 when England and Wales played an international at Plymouth's South Devon Place ground and a number of Devon Rugby Union clubs dabbled with the game in 1912/13 when a dispute over players being paid to switch clubs almost resulted in a Western League being formed before the clubs were re-instated by the RFU.
Amateur Rugby League has been played in Devon with varying degrees of success since 1985 when the Plymouth club joined the Midlands and South West Amateur Rugby League Association (MASWARLA) and Exeter University have competed in the Student League but the game has really kicked on since 2004 when Plymouth were admitted to the Rugby League Conference.
The switch of the game to Summer has seen the number of clubs in the South West increase from one to eight, with new clubs at North Devon and Yeovil joining the South Dorset Giants from Weymouth, Exeter Centurions, Devon Sharks (based in Torquay), East Devon Eagles (Exmouth), Somerset Vikings (North Petherton) and the Plymouth Titans. 

Rugby League in the South West is a summer sport with games beginning in May and ending in August - conveniently dovetailing into the Rugby Union off season
With East, West and South Devon having their own Rugby League Clubs the only remaining area of the county without a Club was North Devon - an area with a fine Rugby tradition, but in the Union code.
Now that has changed with the launch of the North Devon Raiders.
North Devon Raiders Rugby League Football Club is NOT be aiming to "take over" from Rugby Union but work alongside it to give an alternative for those who would like to try Rugby League and for players wanting to continue playing through the Rugby Union off season either as a way of maintaining fitness or to test their skills in a diifferent environment.