Nickname(s) The Pack Website torontowolfpack.com CEO Eric Perez Coach Paul Rowley Founded 2016 Competition League 1 | Colours Black and White Championships 0 | |
Profiles | ||
Hull fc vs toronto wolfpack 22 01 17 pre season friendly
Toronto Wolfpack R.L.F.C. is a Canadian professional rugby league club, based in Toronto, which will begin play in the 2017 League 1 season. They are notable as being the first Canadian team to play in the Rugby Football League system, the first fully professional rugby league team in Canada and the world's first trans-Atlantic rugby league team.
Contents
- Hull fc vs toronto wolfpack 22 01 17 pre season friendly
- Toronto wolfpack v whitehaven rlfc 1st half
- 20142016 Origins and foundation
- Stadium
- Media
- References
Toronto wolfpack v whitehaven rlfc 1st half
2014–2016: Origins and foundation
The Rugby Football League first received an application from a Canadian consortium based in Toronto, led by the Chairman of the national governing body Canada Rugby League Eric Perez, in 2014 to compete in the United Kingdom's third tier of professional rugby league. Perez was denied permission to join the first-tier Super League directly, and instead attempted to build the club up to the point where it can be promoted. A press conference was held on 27 April 2016 at which details on the franchise, which will begin play in 2017, were revealed. The team will be the first professional rugby league team to be based in Canada. A group of 10 businessmen, including Canadians and Australians, own the club.
It was suggested that it was an attractive market due to Canada having the largest following of rugby league outside of Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The club plans to play in blocks of four home matches, four away matches, and cover all expenses of visiting teams throughout the season. All away games are expected to be broadcast locally according to Perez. It was later confirmed that Game TV will broadcast all Toronto Wolfpack matches nationwide in Canada.
The Wolfpack held tryouts in five cities across North America starting on September 24; Philadelphia, Tampa, Kingston, Vancouver, and Toronto itself. From these tryouts 18 athletes were selected to take part in a tour of England culminating in a victorious game against amateur club, Brighouse Rangers. Three players won professional contracts with the Wolfpack following the tour with another trial in Toronto is set to be held in the following months for the unsuccessful trialists.
On 22 January 2017, The Wolfpack played their first professional game, a pre-season friendly against Hull F.C. at the KCOM Stadium. The final score was 26-20 in favour of Hull.
On 25 February, the club played its first competitive match, a 14−6 victory in the third round of the Challenge Cup against amateur NCL champions Siddal.
On 4 March, Toronto played its first league 1 match, away at the London Skolars. They won the match 76–0.
Stadium
The team's planned home stadium is Lamport Stadium in Toronto, which will be known as The Den for Toronto matches. The stadium seats 9,600. The stadium was opened in 1975 and has an artificial field. In addition to rugby, it has also hosted soccer and lacrosse. The stadium attracts average crowds of around 7,000 for international rugby league fixtures. The team signed a three-year lease.
In addition to this, Toronto have signed an agreement with Brighouse Rangers ARLFC to share their training ground for pre-seasons and while the Wolfpack are in the UK for away fixtures.
Media
Toronto Wolfpack games are carried by the Canadian specialty channel GameTV. On March 16, 2017, it was announced that CBC Sports had acquired digital rights to the team, with games streaming on the CBC Sports website.