The Birmingham Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. They were founded in 2021 having took over the professional license owned by Coventry Bears. They currently play in the RFL Championship, the second tier of the British rugby league system.
History
1998–2021: Coventry Bears 1998–2015: Formation and Amateur years
Coventry Bears was formed in 1998 by a group of university students led by Alan Robinson. They made an approach to Keith Fairbrother, the Coventry rugby union club's Chairman and one time rugby league player at Leigh, with a plan to form a team to play from Coundon Road Stadium.
The club played a season of friendly games in 1999 and were then admitted into the Rugby League Conference for the 2000 season and were unbeaten by any club within their division. They then won their quarter-final against Manchester Knights before being narrowly defeated by only one point by Rotherham Giants in the semi-finals at Super League club Warrington Wolves’ Wilderspool Stadium. Further success followed in 2001 with the Bears reaching the Grand Final at Webb Ellis Road, Rugby, only to lose out by 2pts 10–12 in a match against Teesside Steelers.
The following season Coventry won the Rugby League Conference Grand Final in September 2002 when they beat Hemel Stags at Cheltenham 21–14. Following on from this success the club applied for, and won, elevation to the newly formed National League Three.
The Bears reached the National League Three Grand Final in 2004, winning comfortably versus Warrington Woolston Rovers 48–24. This score being the highest margin in a final in this Competition. The following season Coventry Bears RLFC experienced difficulties and chose to resign from the National League to take time to rebuild and regroup and set up a community junior section. 2006 saw the return of the Bears as a Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier side, and the club finished the season in second place. They went on to beat Leicester Phoenix in the qualifying semi-final to set up a Midlands Grand Final with Nottingham Outlaws, which ended in defeat
Coventry defeated Nottingham Outlaws in 2007 to win the Midlands Premier and also won the Kilkenny 9s, The Bears went on to finish as runners-up to St Albans Centurions losing 28–20 in the final of the Harry Jepson Trophy. In 2008, the Bears finished as runners up in the Midlands Premier to Nottingham. In 2010, Coventry linked up with Super League side Wigan Warriors.
2015–2021: Professionalism in League 1 In July 2014, Coventry were accepted into the semi-professional ranks of League 1 for the 2015 season, and entered their newly formed reserve side into the Conference League South in the same season. They finished their first semi-professional season in 12th place. Coventry finished their final season as the Bears in the 2021 League 1 season in 8th place.
2022–2026: Midlands Hurricanes On 3 November 2021 the club announced a major rebranding in an effort to attract a wider support base from the English midlands region. The club was to be known as Midlands Hurricanes for the 2022 RFL League 1 season. As part of the re-branding the club relocated from Butts Park Arena in Coventry to Portway Stadium in Birmingham for the 2022 season.
Alan Robinson who founded the new Hurricanes club and business resigned from Midlands Hurricanes during the 2022 season selling his stake in the club. Coventry Bears and Bears in the Community CIC Rugby League Foundation moved back to Coventry to continue to develop the club's history and legacy there.
In May 2022, coach Richard Squires, was banned from the sport for three months (with one month suspended) by the Rugby Football League (RFL) for breaching RFL rules on betting. In his absence, assistant coach, Dave Scott took charge of the team.
The new Midlands Hurricanes club moved to Alexander Stadium in the Perry Barr district of Birmingham for the 2023 season and as a new company under new ownership.
The 2024 season was a breakthrough: the team finished fifth and reached the League One play‑offs for the first time in their history — a significant milestone.
Former Super League player Eorl Crabtree became managing director of Midlands Hurricanes in January 2025. In 2025, they continued their progress with one of their strongest seasons yet, achieving their highest points total. Following the RFL's decision to merge League One into the Championship at the end of the 2025 season, Hurricanes joined the newly merged Championship.
The club announced that they had taken a 20-year lease to play at Avery Fields in Bearwood in Sandwell, which is also home to rugby union side Bournville RFC, leaving Alexander Stadium which had been their home since 2023.
2026–: Birmingham Hurricanes Following the conclusion of the 2026 season, having established a long term base in Birmingham, the club changed their name to Birmingham Hurricanes.
2027 squad
2027 transfers
Gains
Player Club Contract Date
Losses
Player Club Contract Date Danny Barcoe 28 September 2026 Kieran Moran Zeus Silk Liam Sutcliffe Toby Warren
Retired
Player Date Callum McLelland 28 September 2026 Mikey Wood
Seasons
Season(As Coventry Bears)LeagueChallenge CupOther competitions Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offscolspan="2"2000 2001 2002 2003 2004? ? ? 8th 1st 2005 2006 2007 2008 20097th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st2010 2011 2012 2013 20147th 3rd 3rd ? ? rowspan="6" rowspan="6" rowspan="13" colspan="2" colspan="2"colspan="2"colspan="2"colspan="2"colspan="2"2015Championship 12251704307551012thR32016League 114419289460911thThird in ShieldR32017League 1152013287615414thSixth in ShieldR32018League 126701940610581411thR52019League 120401636582989thR32020League 1colspan="9"R42021League 1176011405532128thSeason(As Midlands Hurricanes)LeagueChallenge CupOther competitions Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offs2022League 1206014546696128thR2 2023League 1185013408647108thR4 2024League One209011566424185thLost in elimination semi-finalR3 2025League One18918432333195thR3 2026Championship2413110652650278thLost in Elimination FinalR31895 Cup SF
Honours League National League Three: Winners (1): 2004 RFL Midlands Division One: Winners (1): 2013 RLC Midlands Premier: Winners (3): 2007, 2009, 2010 RLC Midlands Division: Winners (2): 2001, 2002 RLC Western Division: Winners (1): 2000
Cups Harry Jepson Trophy: Winners (1): 2002 Grand Finalists (4): 2001, 2007, 2009, 2010
Nines Midlands 9s: Winners (1): 2007, 2009, 2013 Kilkenny 9s Winners (1): 2007
Women RLC Women's Plate: Winners (1): 2010 RLC Women's South Division: Winners (1): 2011
Women's team The Coventry Bears women's team competed in the Women's Rugby League Conference reaching the Championship final in the first two seasons (2008 and 2009) and winning the Plate final in 2010. Following a restructuring of the league they competed in the Premier Division of the RFL Women's Rugby League until 2013.
In 2024, Midlands Hurricanes introduced a women's team, coached by Jamie-Lee Jones and captained by Kelly Gell, who debuted on 27 April 2024 at the Rugby League Outsiders Midlands 9s tournament in Coventry. The freshly-formed team battled to the final of the tournament, enjoying wins against Loughborough University (26–4) and Leamington Royals (12–4). The final game ended in narrow defeat by the Royal Air Force (12–10), admitting the team to 2nd place in their first 9s tournament.
The team's second appearance saw them travel away to Cheltenham, where they claimed a 40–18 win over Cheltenham Phoenixes in their first 13s match of the season. Their next three 13s games ended in defeat with losses to Bristol Golden Ferns (40–0), West Warriors (24–18), and the Royal Navy (26–20).
The final two games of their inaugural season saw the Hurricanes Women victorious at home with wins against Leamington Royals (12–8) and Telford Raiders (10–4), leaving them in a strong position to head into the 2025 season.
In 2025, the club joined the 2025 Midlands Championship, which was played as using a festival format and also included a Coventry Bears team.
Notes
See also
Rugby Football League expansion
References
External links Official website