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Leigh Centurions




  Fullname ''Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club''
  Emblem Centurion
  Colours Red and white
  Founded 1878
  Sport Rugby League
  League National League One
  Ground Hilton Park
  Web wwwleighrlcouk


Leigh Centurions are a professional Rugby League club based in Leigh in Greater Manchester , United Kingdom . They were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 Season . They were originally simply known as '''Leigh Rugby League Club''', adopting the ''Centurions'' moniker for the 1995 - 96 season.


HISTORY


The club was founded in 1878 and initially played at Bucks Farm, Pennington.

As one of the founder members of the Northern Union in 1895 , the first season of the new game kicked off in September with Leigh recording a 6-3 loss against Leeds . Leigh finished 9th overall that season.

In 1906 Leigh become Northern Union champions following a superb season, boasting an 80% win rate. Their next major success came in 1921 when they won the Challenge Cup with a shock 13-0 victory over Halifax at The Cliff, Broughton .

In 1934 they played under floodlights for the first time, losing 8-25 at London Highfield.

In 1947 they moved to their new Kirkhall Lane headquarters and in 1953 floodlights were installed at Kirkhall Lane at a cost of £4,100. The ground saw a record home crowd of 31,326 attend a challenge cup tie with St Helens in the same year. Later, Kirkhall Lane was officially renamed Hilton Park after former chairman James Hilton.

In 1978 John Woods played and scored in every game as Leigh secured the Second Division . In 1982, Leigh were Champions for only the second time, as Alex Murphy guided them to a tense 13-4 victory at Whitehaven , after Leigh trailed 4-1 at half time.

Whitehaven were again the opponents when Leigh won the National League One Grand Final 32-16 (after extra time, 16-16 at full-time) in 2004, thus securing promotion to Super League . They were relegated the following season, returning to National League One.

Their current coach is New Zealander Tony Benson, who was appointed in succession to Darren Abram in 2005.


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