About:

The History of Scarborough Pirates

The club was founded in 2000 after several boys played at the Challenge Cup Final at Murrayfield. The boys were an amalgamated schools side led by Nigel Mainprize. Such was the standard, parents Sean Millward and Andy Payne started up the Pirates team with two age groups. Initially the teams played in the Hull league. A further side was added in 2001 and the teams moved to the Yorkshire Junior League the following season.
Several players caught the eye of the professional clubs; Sam Millward, Sam Hakings and Billy Parker by Hull F.C; Marc McNeill by Hull KR; Jason Payne, Dave Douthwaite, Dan Ljazouli, Jack Johnson and Craig Marsden by Castleford Tigers. The most recently players are Kristian Brining, Alex Paddock and Liam Braithwaite playing for York City Knights.
A senior side joined the Scarborough Pirates from Yorkshire Coast Tigers but unfortunately this team went on to disband in 2006.
By 2008 the junior players had come through the ranks and on to open age level, with several of the players listed above returning from Academy contracts. This was perfectly timed for the club to enter the RFL Summer Conference League. The Pirates had a fantastic mix of home-grown youth and quality, and as a result the club has gone from strength to strength, culminating in a very close defeat against East Leeds in the 2011 season Yorkshire Premier Final.
In 2012 the club fielded two Open Age sides, with the first team winning the Yorkshire Premier East League and second team finishing second in the Yorkshire Merit League. The first team then went on to continue their success in the 2013 season, winning Yorkshire League One.
In 2012 the club also entered a team in the Hull First Division Winter League for the first time. This team was made up predominantly of the previous years’ Under 17’s team and this was the ideal opportunity to introduce these young players to senior rugby. The team had a very successful first season, the highlight of which was reaching the Final of the Tom Beautiman Cup. We are currently sitting third in the same competition, with just a couple of weeks of competition left.
2014 has seen yet another growth in the Scarborough Pirates with the introduction of an Under 16’s team to the Club, with members of the coaching staff made up of Open Age players who were formally Pirates junior players themselves. Their maiden season as Pirates is already underway as their age group league started in March.

The Future

In 2014 we will again be fielding two Open Age teams in the Yorkshire Summer League, along with the Under 16’s team in the Yorkshire Junior League, and we will also be entering an Open Age team into the Hull Winter League.
In addition to fundraising campaigns for the club, we also do what we can to support Ellie’s Fund; Scarborough Pirates chosen charity.
Recent fundraising events included entering a team into 2013 Tough Mudder raising £1500. Due to its popularity and success, Scarborough Pirates will be entering more teams in to the 2014 event.
We also produced a Scarborough Pirates Players calendar, with 20% of all funds raised going directly to Ellie’s Fund, with the remaining funds going to support the clubs future and to directly benefit the players.
We will continue to play from our home at Eastway Sports and Social Club in Eastfield.