Whinmoor Warriors originally started life as Pendas Panthers in the 1980s playing out of two portacabins at the side of Fieldhead Carr School.

Now playing out of the adjacent Fieldhead Carr Community Centre, despite the fact that facilities were sparse, producing talent has never been a problem. The club have had a number of success stories with many players going on to play professional rugby league, including Leroy Rivett, Adam Hughes, former Leeds first team players Danny Williams and Jordan Tansey and more recently Thomas Minns and James Duckworth.

Whinmoor Warriors is the home to a number of current players who are part of academies at professional teams. Long may the trend of developing rugby league talent continue.

 

1996 was pivotal in the club’s history. It did prove to be a difficult year, as playing numbers were at an all-time low and the club was struggling to survive. A desperate plea went out to the local community to try and save this proud club and through perseverance, a wave of new volunteers and willing parents, the club rose like a phoenix out of the ashes. This saw a new committee formed with Tracey, Debbie and Jason starting the tireless work of a club rebuild.

 

First came a name change and Pendas Panthers became Whinmoor Warriors. The club still retained the playing colours of Pendas Panthers so all links were not broken and the legacy was not lost.

The transition was not easy and the maiden season was hard, with the Warriors only able to field two teams, one at U8s and one at U11s. The Club were fortunate that new blood came in to assist with the running of the teams in the shape of Fred and Simon taking on the U11s and Jason and Stephen running the U8s. It was a hard struggle with limited playing numbers and resources, but determination was key, and both teams completed all of their games for a successful first season.

 

Over the next few years the club grew in strength and playing numbers increased which saw us being able to field teams at more age groups; U9s, U10s, U12s, U13s, U15s and U16s.

Over the last few years the club has had changes at coaching and committee level with new volunteers coming forward and player numbers increasing further.

 

The club continues to soar and has become a renowned and respected part of the community.

The ambition is to continue to grow and develop and to go on serving the community, providing young people with an opportunity to play rugby league, as it has done for nearly 40 years.

 

Whinmoor Warriors are fortunate to have had an array of dedicated volunteers and players, throughout their existence; too many to name, that have kept Rugby League in Whinmoor alive for as long as it has.  

These people are to be acknowledged for their dedication and loyalty to Whinmoor Warriors ARLFC.