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| Club information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Toronto Wolfpack Rugby League Football Club | |
| Nickname(s) | Wolfpack The Pack | |
| Colours |  White and black | |
| Founded | 2016 | |
| Website | https://www.torontowolfpack.com/ | |
| Current details | ||
| Ground |
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| Coach | Robin Legault[1] | |
| Uniforms | ||
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Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professionalrugby league club based inToronto,Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitational league for North American teams organised by Toronto Wolfpack.
The club originally competed in theBritish rugby league system but withdrew in the2020 Super League season due to "overwhelming financial challenges" caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The club is the first and only North American team to play in theRugby Football League system, making it the first transatlantic rugby league team.[3][4][5][6][note 1]
TheRugby Football League first received an application from a Canadian consortium based in Toronto, led by the chairman of the national governing bodyCanada Rugby League Eric Perez in 2014 to compete in theUnited Kingdom's third tier of professional rugby league.[13] Perez was denied permission to join the first-tierSuper League directly, and instead attempted to build the club up to the point where it could be promoted.[14][15] A press conference was held on 27 April 2016 at which details about the franchise, which began play in 2017, were revealed.[16][17] The team was the first professional rugby league team to be based in Canada.[17] A group of 10 businessmen, consisting of mostly Canadians and Australian mining millionaire David Argyle, owned the club,[18][19] having paid around $500,000 to be granted admission to the rugby league.[20] A condition for the team to join the British rugby league system was that they would be responsible for covering travel and accommodation expenses incurred for all visiting teams outside of the first divisionSuper League.[20]
It was suggested that Toronto was an attractive market as Canada has the most rugby league followers outside of Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.[21][22] The club planned to play in blocks of four home matches, four away matches, and cover all expenses for visiting teams throughout the season.[23]
The Wolfpack held tryouts in five cities acrossNorth America starting 24 September:Philadelphia,Tampa,Kingston (Jamaica),Vancouver, and Toronto itself. From these tryouts 18 athletes were selected to take part in a tour in England, culminating in a victorious game against an amateur club, theBrighouse Rangers. Three players won professional contracts with the Wolfpack Rugby League Team following the tour, with another round of tryouts to be held in Toronto in the following few months for the unsuccessful trialists.[24]
The Toronto Wolfpack Rugby League Team owned the rights to all broadcasts of their matches. In Canada, games were broadcast on CBC Live and onGame TV,[citation needed] in the USA games were broadcast on Eleven Sports, and in the UK and Ireland Premier Sports broadcast through the Sky Network.
On 22 January 2017, the Wolfpack played their first professional game, a pre-season friendly againstHull F.C. at theKCOM Stadium. The final score was 26–20 in favour of Hull.[25] The club played its first competitive match on February 25, 2017, resulting in a 14–6 victory in the third round of theChallenge Cup against the amateurNCL champions:Siddal.[26]
On 4 March, Toronto played its first League 1 match, away atLondon Skolars. They won the match 76–0.[27] Their first home match was played on May 6, where they defeatedOxford in front of 6,281 fans atLamport Stadium.[28]
The Wolfpack would go on to have a successful campaign, winning all fifteen of their regular season matches and five out of seven playoff games. The Wolfpack finished the season with 41 points from 22 games and points difference of +921.
Promotion to theChampionship, and the Kingston Press League 1 Title, was secured on 9 September 2017 with the Wolfpack defeatingBarrow Raiders 26–2 in front of 7,972 spectators. They closed with a win againstDoncaster in front of a record attendance of 8,456.
The following season saw continued success by the Wolfpack; winning the league leaders shield in the championship competition. Following a round 4 defeat toLondon Broncos they put together an 18-game winning streak from March 2018[29] which was eventually broken with a home defeat toFeatherstone Rovers in late July. They performed creditably in the Super 8s with five wins from seven games, defeating Super League sidesWidnes Vikings andLeeds Rhinos. However, they fell short of automatic promotion on points difference and London Broncos beat the Wolfpack 4–2 at Lamport Stadium in theMillion Pound Game, condemning the Wolfpack to another season in the Championship.
On October 5, 2019, the Wolfpack were promoted toSuper League for the first time in club history after their 24–6 victory overFeatherstone Rovers in the 2019Million Pound Game.
In November 2019, the Wolfpack made international headlines when they signed dual-code internationalSonny Bill Williams on a two-year deal. The signing came in the wake of Williams' third appearance in a Rugby World Cup and saw him return to Rugby League, the sport where his career began.
In July 2020, Toronto Wolfpack withdrew from the2020 Super League due to financial difficulties and new logistics needed for international travel caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[30]
The club was given a chance to resubmit a bid for a place in the 2021 Super League season but the bid for readmission was rejected on 2 November 2020 resulting in the team's removal from the league. Subsequently, the Wolfpack made an announcement that they would cease operations.[31][32][33] Following the vote, a consortium of potential new owners led by Carlo LiVolsi backed out of a deal to purchase the Wolfpack from financially struggling owner David Argyle. Consequently, it was announced in November 2020 that the team would cease operations.[34]
On 31 March 2021, it was announced that a private investor group had purchased the Wolfpack and that they would be resuming play in the newly formedNorth American Rugby League.[35] The team played their only game under the NARL, the Canada Cup, in September 2021, originally announced to be played against theOttawa Aces, the game was instead played againstDC Cavalry.[36]
On 20 June 2023, Wolfpack announced they would be withdrawing from the NARL to start their own competition, the self sponsoredCanada Cup, after no NARL seasons had actually occurred.[37]
As the only professional club in North America, the TWP Canada Cup, is fully organised and ran by Toronto Wolfpack, and is an invitational league.[38] Games originally scheduled againstSouthwest Florida Copperheads, Canada All Stars,Washington DC Cavalry andJacksonville Axemen were cancelled.[39]
Source:[40]
| Date | Club | Score v Toronto (A-F) |
|---|---|---|
| August 12 |  Whistler Wolves | 6–60 |
| August 19 |  Atlanta Rhinos | 4–88 |
| September 2 | Boston Thirteens[a] | 10–66 |
| September 16 | Brooklyn Kings | 26–30 |
| September 23 | Tampa Mayhem | 12–50 |
| October 7 |  Jamaica Hurricanes | 6–50 |
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The team's home stadium isLamport Stadium inToronto and known as The Den for Wolfpack matches. The stadium seats 9,600.[17] The stadium was opened in 1975 and has an artificial field. In addition to the two rugby codes, it has hosted soccer and lacrosse.[13] The team signed a three-year lease to play at the stadium.[41] The Toronto Wolfpack supporters group can be found in Section 35.
Lamport Stadium has been used by the team for nearly all their home games in Canada. However, during their 2018 season the Wolfpack relocated one of their home games toFletcher's Fields inMarkham, as Lamport Stadium was undergoing field resurfacing work.[42] The team explored options to improve the home stadium, including holding preliminary discussions about moving their home games toBMO Field, renovating Lamport Stadium or building a new stadium.[43]
In addition to home games played inGreater Toronto Area, the team played a "home game" atNew River Stadium inLondon for the 2018, and 2019 seasons. The Wolfpack played at these venues in an effort to boost the popularity of the team, and sport in London.[44][45] Additionally, in their debut Super League campaign in 2020 the Wolfpack hosted scheduled "home" games on the road at neutral venues, due to the weather conditions not being suitable in Eastern Canada for rugby league until April. Toronto played scheduled "home" games at:Headingley Stadium,Leeds as a double header withLeeds Rhinos; theHalliwell Jones Stadium,Warrington; andBootham Crescent,York as a double header withYork City Knights. The York game was originally scheduled to be at the newYork Community Stadium, as the grounds' inaugural game, however the stadium was not ready in time.
The team stays at theGeorge Brown College residence inWest Don Lands that is the former site of the2015 Pan American Games Athletes' Village and trains at Lamport Stadium. Away teams stay atYork University residence[46] and train on York University athletic facilities. Through a sponsorship deal withAir Transat, the team covers the travel and accommodation cost for all of the away teams.[47] Toronto Wolfpack continued to cover expenses for the visiting teams in the 2018 season.[48]
Toronto signed an agreement withBrighouse Rangers to share their training ground for pre-seasons and while the Wolfpack are in the UK for away fixtures for 2017.[49] At the end of the 2017 season the Wolfpack confirmed their intention to switch to a base in Manchester, UK, during the 2018 season, and in 2018 announced the deepening of their partnership withManchester Metropolitan University and its community.[50] Until 2020, Manchester served as the Wolfpack's home in the United Kingdom, with the club training atHopwood Hall College.
Toronto Wolfpack games were broadcast on Canadian specialty channelGameTV, with further digital rights extended toCBC Sports with games streamed on the CBC Sports website. Matches are also archived on the Toronto WolfpackYouTube Channel.
All Toronto Wolfpack games were broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports - Arena which reaches 11 million homes across the Sky Network. In the USA Eleven Sports send broadcasts into 50 million homes.
All 2023 Canada Games were available on Wolfpacks own channel Howl TV.
| Year | Kit Manufacturer | Main Shirt Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | Kappa | Air Transat |
| 2019 | ISC | |
| 2020 | BLK | Rugby Strength |
| 2023 | Macron Canada | TIXR |
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 3 March 2023 | ||||||||
York City Knights (1 July 2017)
Doncaster (9 April 2017)
Hemel Stags (15 July 2017)Atlanta Rhinos (Aug 19, 2023)Doncaster (April 9, 2017)
Warrington Wolves (May 13, 2018)
Featherstone Rovers (atLamport Stadium, 5 October 2019)| Season | League | Play-offs |  Challenge Cup | Name | Tries | Name | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Dif | Pts | Pos | Top try scorer | Top point scorer | |||||
| 2017 | League 1 | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1164 | 243 | +921 | 41 | 1st | None[b] | R5 | Liam Kay | 27 | Craig Hall | 436 |
| 2018 | Championship | 23 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 866 | 374 | +492 | 41 | 1st | Lost inFinal | R6 | Liam Kay | 26 | Ryan Brierley | 214 |
| 2019 | Championship | 27 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1010 | 356 | +654 | 52 | 1st | Won inFinal | Did not participate | Matty Russell | 27 | Gareth O'Brien | 278 |
| 2020 | Super League | Withdrew from competition; all results expunged.[c] | R6 | Three players[d] | 2 | Gareth O'Brien | 18 | |||||||||
| Season | League | Play-offs | Canada Cup | Name | Tries | Name | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Dif | Pts | Pos | Top try scorer | Top point scorer | |||||
| 2021 | Eastern Conference | League abandoned due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | W | Blake Mahovic | 2 | Nathan Roberts | 8 | |||||||||
| 2022 | Eastern Conference | Competition did not occur for unknown reasons | N/A | |||||||||||||
Toronto Wolfpack Canada Cup[51]| Season | Result | Name | Tries | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top try scorer | Top point scorer | ||||
| 2023 | W | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
RFL NARL TWP Canada Cup
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