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Whitehaven RLFC is a rugby league team playing in Whitehaven in West Cumbria. They play in National League one. Their stadium is called the Recreation ground (known locally as the Recre).
Their nicknames are 'haven' or the 'marras'. Marra is a local dialect word for 'mate'.
Their local rivals are Workington Town.
Whitehaven RL was formed in 1948, shortly afterwards the club was admitted into the Northern Rugby League by just 3 votes.
The early Whitehaven team were nicknamed the Colliers as the Recreation Ground was owned by the Miners Welfare organisation. Today this link poses a potential brake on any outside investment in the ground itself.
In their first game Haven beat Hull 5-0. There was a "disppointing" turnout of only 9,000 because of pouring rain and in those days the Supporters Club had 4,000 members.
In a Britain that still was still recovering from wartime rationing and austerity Whitehaven gradually picked itself up. In 1951 the first of a long line of players from Down Under joined Haven as Neville Emery became player-coach.
In 2004 they narrowly lost out on promotion to Super League after losing 32-16 in extra time to Leigh Centurions in the NL1 grand final.
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