Bramley Buffaloes
The Bramley Buffaloes are an amateur rugby league club based in West Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Their colours are amber and black, and they were formed in 2000 as a continuation of the original Bramley club after its financial troubles.
In the early years they tried to rejoin the higher leagues and hoped to play at Farsley Celtic Throstle Nest, but their bids were rejected. They finally joined National League Three for the 2004 season. Their first match, against Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks, drew more than 1,200 fans at Stanningley. Under coach Phil Hellewell, they reached the semi-finals that year.
2005 saw them finish second in the league and lose the Grand Final 28–26 to Bradford Dudley Hill. In 2006, Paul Cook became head coach, and Bramley were both League Leaders and Grand Final winners, beating Hemel Stags 30–8. 2007 and 2008 were also strong years, with Bramley finishing as League Leaders but losing the Grand Finals to different opponents. In November 2008, Cook left and was replaced by Mark Butterill as head coach, with Jon Nicholls as assistant.
Bramley again finished as League Leaders and champions in 2009. In 2010 they topped the table for a fifth year in a row but lost the Grand Final to Warrington Wizards. Butterill left at the end of the season; Peter Roe started 2011 as head coach but left in April after poor results, and Australian Chris Gardner took over to finish the year, which ended with Bramley at the bottom of the league.
In 2012 the sport moved from winter to summer, and the NCL reorganised into a fourth division. Bramley finished 5th in NCL Division 3 and then lost an elimination playoff. They tried to stay in the NCL but were rejected and joined the Yorkshire Men’s League for 2013. Steve Gill led the team, and Bramley won the YML Premier Division in 2013 by beating West Hull in the Grand Final. The same year the club merged with Rodley Rockets, keeping the Bramley name and colours, and playing at Rodley’s Canal Bank Ground while taking on Rodley juniors in the hope of rejoining the NCL.
The Rodley merger lasted only 12 months due to issues with the Canal Bank ground and low junior participation, so Bramley played at Stanningley Park. In 2015 a Bramley RL junior club started, but the Buffaloes pulled out of the YML in 2015 because they had no coach and few players. They returned in 2016, playing in Bramley for the first time since 1995 at Bramley Phoenix Rugby Union Club’s ground, in Division 5 with Steve Langton as coach.
In 2021, during the season, Bramley Buffaloes left Bramley Phoenix and began ground-sharing with West Leeds RUFC.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:41 (CET).