Les Catalans
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Les Catalans are a French rugby league club based primarily in the town of Perpignan in the south of France. They began playing in Super League, the highest tier of professional rugby league in Europe, in the 2006 season. Under the name Union Treiziste Catalane they play in the French Championship, and will continue to so do whilst in Super League.
History
The club was formed in 2000 as Union Treiziste Catalane, from a merger of the famous XIII Catalan and St Estève clubs, and they continue to play in the French Championship under this name, which is often abbreivated to UTC.XIII Catalan were founded in 1935, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. AS Saint Estève were founded in 1965. Both teams were from Perpignan, in the Catalan region of France.
They were selected ahead of Toulouse and Villeneuve to enter Super League in 2006. It is hoped that they will form the backbone of the national team. The club has as its target that 75% of the players will be qualified to play for France.
This will not be the first time that a French side has played in Super League, though the first attempt, Paris Saint Germain, lasted only two seasons. Part of Paris' problem was that both codes of rugby have their stronghold in the south of France, whilst the north of France is more soccer friendly. Another problem was that their players were on loan from French league clubs and had to play for their own clubs as well.
To ensure that Les Catalans have the best French players available to them French rugby league has decided that they can sign players from other French clubs without paying a transfer fee. They have also been promised that they will not be relegated from Super League for three years even if they finish bottom.
Many believe that Les Catalans will be joined by other French clubs in the Super League though the whole idea of expanding into France is not without its critics among the supporters of . Due to the fact the team will rely on antipodean talent for their experience some critics have dubbed the team Les Pattersons after Australian comedian Barry Humphries' notorious character.
Les Catalans won their first ever European Super League match 38-30 against Wigan Warriors on Saturday 11th February 2006 at Stade Aimé Giral.
Honours
- French Championship: 2005
- Lord Derby Cup: 2003-04, 2004-05
Current squad
As of 11th February, 2006:
| Number |
| Player | Position | Previous Club
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renaud Guigue | FB | UTC
| |
| 2 | Justin Murphy | W | UTC
| |
| 3 | John Wilson | C | Wests Tigers
| |
| 4 | Mark Hughes | C | Newcastle Knights
| |
| 5 | Bruno Verges | W | UTC
| |
| 6 | Laurent Frayssinous | SO | UTC
| |
| 7 | Stacey Jones | SH | New Zealand Warriors
| |
| 8 | Chris Beattie | P | UTC
| |
| 9 | David Berthezène | H | UTC
| |
| 10 | Jérôme Guisset | P | Wigan Warriors
| |
| 11 | Pascal Jampy | SR | UTC
| |
| 12 | Ian Hindmarsh | SR | Canberra Raiders
| |
| 13 | Gregory Mounis | LF | UTC
| |
| 14 | Thomas Bosc | C | UTC
| |
| 15 | Aurélien Cologni | UTC
| ||
| 16 | Sean Rudder | C | UTC
| |
| 17 | Frédéric Zitter | W | Toulouse
| |
| 18 | Teddy Sadaoui | H | UTC
| |
| 19 | Alex Chan | P | Melbourne Storm
| |
| 20 | Adel Fellous | P | UTC
| |
| 21 | Julien Touxagas | SR | UTC
| |
| 22 | Jamal Fakir | SR | UTC
| |
| 23 | Sébastien Martins | P | UTC
| |
| 24 | Rémi Casty | P | Lézignan FC
| |
| 25 | Julien Rinaldi | SH | UTC As of Next Season
| |
| Adam Mogg | W | UTC |
As of next season
|- bgcolor=#D0E7FF |align=center| |align=center| |Adam Mogg |align=center|W |align=center|UTC |}
External links
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Competitions French Championship | Lord Derby Cup | Challenge Cup | Super League | |
|
National side France | |
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International Competitions Rugby League World Cup | Rugby League European Nations Cup | |
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