Catalans Dragons

The Catalans Dragons are a French professional rugby league club based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales. They currently play in the Super League, and are the only team in the competition from outside of the United Kingdom. Their feeder club Union Treiziste Catalane (UTC) competes in the Elite One Championship in the French Championship. The Dragons play their home games at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

The club was formed in 2000 by a merger of two Perpignan-based clubs, XIII Catalan and AS Saint Estève, adopting the name Union Treiziste Catalane. They won the 2005 French Championship and the 2004 and 2005 Lord Derby Cups. In 2006 they were granted a Super League license, taking the name Catalans Dragons.

History

The club was founded in 2000 following the merger of two successful teams based in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, in France's Països Catalans region: XIII Catalan and close neighbors AS Saint Estève. The merged venture took the name Union Treiziste Catalane, often abbreviated to UTC.

XIII Catalan were founded in 1935, and thus were founding members of the French Championship. During their run they won eleven French Championships as well as eleven Lord Derby Cups. AS Saint Estève were founded in 1965. They won six championships and four Lord Derby Cups. There were two other clubs in the twelve-team competition in the Pyrénées-Orientales area, Pia XIII and Saint-Cyprien. In 2002 Saint-Cyprien joined the merged UTC side. UTC proved successful, winning the 2005...
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