Rugby league outside the heartlands has struggled in recent years with a number of clubs, including West Wales, Cornwall and Oxford, all collapsing but one Championship club have flourished and they’ve now announced a rebrand for 2027.

Midlands Hurricanes placed fifth in League One in both 2024 and 2025 before placing eighth in an expanded Championship this season, winning one play-off game before falling to Oldham.

The club, which launched in 1998 as Coventry Bears and rebranded to Midlands Hurricanes in 2021, have now confirmed that it will play as Birmingham Hurricanes from 2027 onward.

Back in January, the club relocated to Avery Fields in Birmingham after agreeing a 20-year lease to play their home games there, and what’s followed now is a natural rebranding in the bid to create a ‘real identity’.

A club statement confirmed the news, announcing: “Midlands Hurricanes Rugby League Club will officially become Birmingham Hurricanes ahead of the 2027 season, marking a major new chapter in the club’s development and its long-term ambitions for professional rugby league in Birmingham and across the wider Midlands.

“Having established Avery Fields as its permanent home, the move to Birmingham Hurricanes is the next step in creating a club with genuine roots, a strong identity and a place that its players, supporters and partners can be proud to represent.”

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Midlands rebrand as Birmingham Hurricanes for 2027 rugby league season

The club have also argued that their new identity will help attract new supporters to rugby league by targetting audiences in Birmingham, which is the UK’s second-largest city.

They have clarified that it ‘does not change the Hurricanes’ commitment to supporting and developing rugby league across the Midlands’, adding: “Birmingham will provide the club with its home and identity, while the Hurricanes will continue to work with clubs, communities and participants across the region to help grow the game.”

Club owner and chairman Mike Lomas said: “This is about putting down permanent roots. We want to build something that has a long-term future in Birmingham and a club that the city can get behind and be proud of.”

Managing director Eorl Crabtree, who made 423 appearances for Huddersfield Giants as a player, added: “Moving to Birmingham Hurricanes is one of the biggest decisions we have made about the future of this club.

“We are taking the name of the second biggest city in the country, and I think that says a lot about our ambition. Birmingham is a magnificent city with a long and proud sporting identity, and we want rugby league and the Hurricanes to become a genuine part of that.”

He concluded: “Birmingham gives us a home and a clear identity, but our responsibility and desire to help grow the game across the Midlands remains.

“This is much bigger than changing a name or a logo. It is about establishing who we are, where we belong and what we want this club to become.”

A NEW ERA IS HERE!

As confirmed an hour ago, Midlands Hurricanes has now officially become Birmingham Hurricanes as we enter the next chapter of our journey to bring professional rugby league to the UK’s second city!

👇 Read our official press release: https://t.co/HOfAnkiFHG

— Birmingham Hurricanes RLFC (@HurricanesRLFC) October 2, 2026