# Northern Raiders

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{{short description|US defunct rugby league club, based in Congers, New York}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox rugby league club
  | clubname   = New York Raiders
  | image      = 105px
  | fullname   = New York Raiders<br/>Rugby League Football Club
  | nickname   = Raiders
  | shortname  = 
  | founded    = {{start date and years ago|2002}}
  | exited     = {{start date and years ago|2013}}
  | ground     = [Rockland Lake State Park](/source/Rockland_Lake_State_Park)<br/>[Congers, New York](/source/Congers%2C_New_York)
  | capacity   = 2,500
  | ceo        = Joel Venables
  | mgrtitle   = Coach
  | manager    = Justin Coffman
  | captain    = Joel Venables
  | league     = [American National Rugby League](/source/American_National_Rugby_League)
  | season     = 
  | position   =

}}
The '''New York Raiders''' were an American [rugby league](/source/rugby_league) football team based in [Congers, New York](/source/Congers%2C_New_York). The team played in the [American National Rugby League](/source/American_National_Rugby_League) (AMNRL) from 2002 to 2013, when the AMNRL folded its domestic competition.

The team originated as the '''Wilmington Vikings''' of [Wilmington, Delaware](/source/Wilmington%2C_Delaware), who joined the AMNRL as the league's first [expansion team](/source/expansion_team) in 2002. Afterward the club experienced a series of moves and name changes; they relocated to [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey) in 2003, becoming the '''New Jersey Vikings''', then moved again after the season to [upstate New York](/source/upstate_New_York), taking the name '''Northern Raiders'''. In 2010 they adopted their current name. They made their first national playoff appearance in 2011 with the help of Dan Fullerton, Matt Vautin, Lesili Alovili, Rob Ploth,  Phil Giuliano

==History==
The team joined the [American National Rugby League](/source/American_National_Rugby_League) in 2002 as the Wilmington Vikings, based in [Wilmington, Delaware](/source/Wilmington%2C_Delaware).<ref name=Wilmington>{{cite news|title= Wilmington Club Officially Launched|author= Steven Birchall|url= http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=9895|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130201143100/http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=9895|url-status= dead|archive-date= February 1, 2013|newspaper= rleague.com|date= February 6, 2002|access-date= February 16, 2011}}</ref> The AMNRL's first real [expansion team](/source/expansion_team), they brought the number of member franchises up to six. Like the other AMNRL teams, they started a team partnership with a club in [Australia](/source/Australia)'s [National Rugby League](/source/National_Rugby_League) (NRL), in this case the [Canberra Raiders](/source/Canberra_Raiders).<ref name=Wilmington/> They played in Wilmington for one season before relocating to [Gloucester County, New Jersey](/source/Gloucester_County%2C_New_Jersey) in December 2002, changing their name to the New Jersey Vikings. They hoped the move would help them draw talent from [Gloucester County College](/source/Gloucester_County_College) to overcome the recruitment problems they had faced in Delaware. Physician Merrick Wetzler took over as owner.<ref name=Jersey>{{cite news|title= Vikings Move to New Jersey|author= Steven Birchall|url= http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=14485|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130201081323/http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=14485|url-status= dead|archive-date= February 1, 2013|newspaper= rleague.com|date= December 14, 2002|access-date= February 16, 2011}}</ref>

The move did not end the team's recruitment troubles, and following the 2003 season they relocated once more to [upstate New York](/source/upstate_New_York).<ref>{{cite news|title= AMNRL 2003 Team Predictions|author= Steven Birchall|url= http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=16493|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120909202528/http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=16493|url-status= dead|archive-date= September 9, 2012|newspaper= rleague.com|date= May 21, 2003|access-date= February 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= "War at the Shore VII" Fixtures Named|author= Grant Nicholson|url= http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=20471|newspaper= rleague.com|date= May 27, 2004|access-date= February 16, 2011|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100211200854/http://rleague.com/db/article.php?id=20471|archive-date= February 11, 2010}}</ref> In keeping with their partnership with the Canberra Raiders, they changed their name to the Northern Raiders. For the 2006 season they attempted to turn their losing record around, taking on Australian [player-coach](/source/player-coach) Ben Kelly; however, they just failed to qualify for the AMNRL playoff series. For a period they were based in [Wallkill](/source/Wallkill%2C_Ulster_County%2C_New_York) in [Ulster County, New York](/source/Ulster_County%2C_New_York), and play their home games at the Wallkill Airport Rugby Fields.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.raidersrlfc.com/location.html|title= Location|date= June 5, 2008|work= raidersrlfc.com |access-date=February 16, 2011}}</ref> In 2011 they relocated to [Congers, New York](/source/Congers%2C_New_York) and play in [Rockland Lake State Park](/source/Rockland_Lake_State_Park).

==Uniform and colors==
For their inaugural [American National Rugby League](/source/American_National_Rugby_League) season the club adopted the colors of white, green and black but the uniforms they wear are predominantly white they have kept this uniform till this day. They are also part of an affiliate partnership with Australian NRL club the [Canberra Raiders](/source/Canberra_Raiders).<ref name=Wilmington/>

In 2010, the club, along with other AMNRL teams, adopted a new badge, replacing the one that had been modeled after that of the Canberra Raiders.

<gallery perrow="4" align=center caption="New York Raiders - logos">
File:Northern Raiders.png|Until 2010
File:Northern Raiders logo.jpg|Initially for 2010
File:New york raiders amnrl2010.jpg|2010–2013
</gallery>

==Honors==
*'''[AMNRL Championship titles](/source/American_National_Rugby_League): 0'''
::

==Official sponsors==
As announced in 2008 the main shirt sponsor for the then Northern Raiders RLFC became online accommodation specialists [Wotif.com](/source/Wotif.com).

==See also==
*[Rugby league in the United States](/source/Rugby_league_in_the_United_States)
*[List of defunct rugby league clubs in the United States](/source/List_of_defunct_rugby_league_clubs_in_the_United_States)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
;Official websites
* [http://www.raidersrlfc.com/ New York Raiders]''Official Site''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090129130056/http://raidersontheroad.com/ RaidersOnTheRoad.com]''Official Supporters Travel Site''
* [http://www.amnrl.com/teams/northern-raiders New York Northern Raiders @ AMNRL.com]

{{Rugby League in the USA}}
{{NewYorksports}}

Category:American National Rugby League teams
Category:Rugby clubs established in 2002
Category:Sports clubs and teams in New York City
Category:Rugby league teams in New York (state)
Category:Viking Age in popular culture
Category:Defunct rugby league teams in the United States

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Northern Raiders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Raiders) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Raiders?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.