WALES’ only engage Super League club will be rebranded as Crusaders Rugby League to coincide with their move to Newport for the 2010 season.
Formed as Celtic Crusaders in 2005, the club also changed its logo to a new modern design that has the Prince of Wales feathers on a St David’s Cross background.
Crusaders’ chief executive Mike Turner said: “We’ve been working hard on building a club that represents Wales and not just one area.
“In the past, we’ve been associated a little too much with the old Celtic Warriors, adopting half of their name and even using an adaptation of their badge.
“It wasn’t surprising as we were playing out of their old ground, but now we want to emphasise that we are a team that represents this whole nation.
“The three feathers, as used by the Royal Welsh Regiment, lots of businesses and organisations across the country as well as being on Welsh currency, is synonymous with Wales, plus we don’t want to lose our St David’s Cross and black and gold colours.
“It was also essential to have the words ‘rugby league’ in the badge.
“As we have only been around for a handful of years, it doesn’t make sound business sense to not have the name of your core product on your logo.
“We are very much building for the future.”
The Crusaders recently announced a new coaching team headed by the legendary Brian Noble, with Jon Sharp and Iestyn Harris also coming into the club.
The trio move into new offices at Rodney Parade in Newport later this month, and the team will play most of their home Super League games at the ground.
“We are happy with how Wales is embracing the Crusaders and rugby league as a whole but we know we still have a lot of hard work to do,” added Turner.
“Following feedback from our supporters, we launched our 2010 season tickets in August, before any other Super League club, so fans could take advantage of the early-bird savings.
“We have had very positive feedback about this, especially regarding the family ticket where a combination of two adults and two children can save £225 on the whole season.
“We firmly believe that we have the best-value and most entertaining top-level professional sport that Wales has to offer. We are entering into an exciting new era now and we can’t wait for the 2010 season.”
Crusaders season tickets for 2010 are available from www.crusadersrfl.com, by calling 01633 674990 or in person at Rodney Parade.
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