Villefranche XIII Aveyron

Infobox rugby league club
clubname = Villefranche XIII Aveyron


fullname = Union Villefranche XIII Aveyron
nickname =
shortname =
founded = 1950
ground = Stade Billeterie
capacity = 12,000
ceo = flagicon|France Guy Lebault
mgrtitle = Coach
manager = flagicon|France Olivier Dumeaux
league = French rugby league championship
season = 2006
position = 9th

Villefranche XIII Aveyron are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in southern France that represents the sous-préfecture area of Aveyron and also the Villefranche-de-Rouergue commune. They currently play in the French rugby league championship, but to date have never won any major trophies in France collecting neither a Championship or a Lord Derby Cup.

The club was founded in 1950 under the name Villefranche XIII and originally played in the amateur and french lower divisions until 1985 when it was finally promoted to the French Championship. The following years saw the club relegated back to the lower leagues until it was finally promoted again in 1999 and has remained in the Championship ever since.

History

The club was originally formed in the early part of the 20th century under the name Villefranche and originally played rugby union for several years until several disagreements occurred between the club and the governing bodies in France. On January 8, 1950 the club held a meeting of its leaders and at the resolution decided to create a new club that would play the rival code of rugby league and so applied to the French Federation Rugby XIII, under the name of Villefranche XIII, with André Rotambourg as its president. The club was accepted for the 1950 season and began at the lowest echelon of French rugby league.

On the field the club tasted immediate success and was promoted to the Federal division of France in 1952 though after this initial success it would be a long time before the club would taste any more; it would take until 1962 for the club to be promoted to the French second division where it would remain for nearly twenty years.

The club finished top of the table in the French second division after the completion of the 1984 season and was promoted to the French rugby league championship. After high expectations for the clubs first year in the top flight in 1985 they performed dismally on the field and were eventually relegated the following year.

Villefranche XIII would have to wait again until 1999 to be promoted from the French second division where once they gained promotion changed the name of the club to Villefranche XIII Aveyron and gave the club the nickname "the Wolves".

Crest

The Villefranche XIII Aveyron clubs crest of the wolf was most likely selected because of the Cévennes National Park a local tourist attraction in Aveyron where wolves are sometimes seen, although numbers have decreased greatly over the years. There is also a local folklore story about a "Beast of Gevaudan" that would reside in and around the local areas, with many tales describing the beast as a large wolf or wolf-like creature.

Current squad

Honours

*sport honours|French Championship|0|
*sport honours|Lord Derby Cup|0|

External links

* [http://www.villefranche13.com/ Official site]