North Wales Crusaders lifted the League One title for the second time in their short history with a 30-16 victory over Keighley Cougars at Stadiwm CSM.
On the back of a disappointing 2024 campaign which saw them narrowly miss out on a play-off spot, head coach Carl Forster worked to recruit a strong yet grounded squad with the notable additions of Lloyd Roby, Ollie Brookes, Sam Wilde and Jody Gibson joining players returning to the club such as Jack Houghton and Jamie Dallimore.
Despite pre-season predictions from rugby league media outlets having Crusaders sat 9th, the club surpassed expectation both on and off the field to lift silverware come the end of the season.
2025 Transfers:
In: Lloyd Roby, Ollie Brookes, Olly Davies, Jack Houghton, Jody Gibson, Jamie Dallimore, Sam Wilde, Paddy Jones, Ant Walker, Jake Spedding, Josh Eaves, Liam Cooper
Out: Lloyd Evans, Dan Coates, Paul Nash, Lewis Else, Rob Massam, Jake Bloxham, Reece Bushell, Jorge Cabral, Adam Carr, Levy Nzoungou
Season In Review:
With an array go new talent, Crusaders’ league campaign started back in February, with the first of four back-to-back away fixtures coming in the shape of a visit to Dewsbury.
What looked to be a potentially difficult encounter against a newly relegated Ram’s side was dealt with well by Forster’s side who opened their league campaign with a 20-10 victory.
A further three victories on the road followed, as Crusaders saw off Goole vikings, Workington Town and Midlands Hurricanes respectively, putting them top of the League One table and yet to taste defeat.
Their first game on home soil came at the end of April when they announced their title credentials with a comfortable 42-12 victory over Anthony Murray’s Whitehaven side.
A blip in the form book followed as Swinton inflicted a first league defeat of the season on North Wales, claiming a narrow 26-20 victory at Heywood Road.
Normal service quickly resumed for Crusaders however as a 74-0 crushing of Newcastle Thunder in Colwyn Bay was followed by a run of six further victories, including wins over fellow title challengers Midlands Hurricanes and Workington Town.
As Forster’s side looked to have one hand on the trophy, they were made to wait in their quest to lift the silverware, suffering their first back-to-back defeats of the season with narrow losses to Swinton and Rochdale respectively.
However, the good form returned when it mattered as home victories over Goole Vikings and Keighley Cougars proved to be enough to lift the Betfred League One title in front of a home crowd at Stadiwm CSM.
You can view more of the title celebrations via our gallery HERE.
Looking back at the season, head coach Carl Forster said: “What a year it’s been for us, nobody really had us in the conversations for the league title at the beginning of the year, but we’ve always liked that underdog feeling, and we’ve shown just what a great team we have here.
“Each player to a man has stood up for us this year and the end result is throughly deserved, we’ve worked hard for this and it’s a well earned reward for the supporters who follow us week in, week out.
“If you look back at the season, I think we started with four games away from home which was never going to be easy, but we set our standards early on.
“Each time we hit a little bit of a bump in the road we responded in style, and I think the run we went on after that first defeat away to Swinton is probably where this title was won for us.
“We’ll enjoy this for a couple of weeks now, as every member of staff and every supporter should, but then it’s time to plan for the Championship next year and the challenges which that will bring.”