Nottingham Outlaws travelled to Birmingham Bulldogs on Saturday to kick off their 2025 Midlands Premier League campaign against the team they beat in last years semi-final play-off. In a see-saw game the Outlaws saw a healthy first half lead disappear in a second half battle for survival but they hung on to record a hard-earned 26-22 victory. Continue reading “Birmingham Bulldogs 22 : Nottingham Outlaws 26”
Continue reading “Nottingham Outlaws 14 : Royal Artillery 46”
The men’s pre-season schedule has been confirmed ahead of the club’s 2025 Midlands Premier Division campaign. Continue reading “Men’s 2025 Pre-Season Schedule”
Nottingham Outlaws will once again be holding their popular Christmas Fayre at Lenton Lane on Sunday 8th December 12.00-3.00pm.
The Fayre will, as usual, feature a traditional range of exciting goodies on sale, including:
Outlaws stash
Christmas Cards
Novelty items
In addition there will be snacks and drinks available throughout to add to the festive flavour!
We very much want to encourage families to bring their children down on the day and there will be a range of activities available for children including games, cookie decorating and colouring.
2024 holds a new event – can we make a PAPER CHAIN that runs the full length of the pitch??
AND OF COURSE SANTA HAS ONCE AGAIN PROMISED THAT HE WILL TAKE TIME OUT FROM HIS BUSY SCHEDULE AND POP DOWN FROM THE NORTH POLE FOR A COUPLE OF VISITS TO SEE HIS OUTLAW FRIENDS!
Please make sure you come along and support our event
Christmas is fast approaching, so time to get organised and buy some Outlaws gifts for your nearest and dearest! This year’s gifts can be viewed and ordered via the link below:
Order now to get the Early Bird prices. Deadline for orders is Monday 11th November. Once you have submitted your order, the club will contact you directly to arrange payment. For your order to be processed, payment must be made prior to the deadline. Your items will be ready to collect from Lenton Lane on Sunday 8th December at the Outlaws Christmas Fayre.
Nottingham Outlaws attempt to win the Midlands Premiership title ended in disappointment when they fell to a narrow 28-24 defeat against rivals Telford Raiders in Birmingham on Saturday. In a hugely entertaining game, the Outlaws led for half the game and almost stole a victory on the last play of the match but they ultimately fell just short of the silverware. Continue reading “Telford Raiders 28 : Nottingham Outlaws 24”
Nottingham Outlaws are through to the Midlands Premiership Final after a hard fought semi-final victory over Birmingham Bulldogs at Lenton Lane on Saturday 3rd August. The win takes the Outlaws into their first final appearance since 2015!
Nottingham Outlaws are through to the Midlands Premiership Final after a hard fought semi-final victory over Birmingham Bulldogs at Lenton Lane on Saturday. The win takes the Outlaws into their first final appearance since 2015 and avenges a home defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs only three weeks ago.
Coach Shepherd made three changes to the side that lost at Sherwood a fortnight ago with Sam Andrews and Mike Bennett boosting the forward ranks and Josh Webb returning from injury with a place the bench.
It was an interesting clash in styles straight from the get-go, with the bigger Birmingham pack coming down the middle, looking to offload and the Outlaws using wider runners to find space. However early nerves from both sides saw the ball going to ground on a regular basis.
After 20 minutes of even play Birmingham opened the scoring after a penalty gave them good field position resulting in an overlap and they went in at the corner for a 0-4 lead.
Stung by this reversal the Outlaws fought back and 5 mins later a quick play the ball saw captain Coryn Ward barge through two defenders to score. Ashby added the extras to nudge the Outlaws ahead 6-4.
It was a lead the Outlaws were destined to keep for the rest of the game!
Not for the first time this season the Outlaws made a hash of the restart and off the back of it Birmingham looked like they would score only for Wigglesworth and Goodwin to force Birmingham into touch.
Buoyed by this the Outlaws hit back and at 35 mins a great Hopkins break took the Outlaws into the Birmingham red zone before the ball left to winger Jimmy Goodwin to power past opposite number to stretch the lead to 10-4.
However on the stroke of half time. Birmingham scored after a quick play of the ball and some weak tackling allowed them to run through and score and cut the Outlaws lead to 10-8 half time.
The Outlaws forwards started the second stanza on top, tackling well with Wigglesworth starting to turn the screw using his long kicking to relieve pressure and force a number of errors by the visitors, culminating in a Burgin cut out pass from dummy half to Hopkins who took it superbly to score in the right hand corner to stretch the lead out to 14-8.
The Outlaws smelt blood and three minutes later the ball moved to Strachan who opened up the Birmingham defence with an inside ball to Ashby who shot through a gap before beating the full back to score. Wigglesworth added the extras to cement the lead at 20-8.
Despite a few nervy moments the Outlaws managed to keep their line intact for the remainder of the match for a hard earned but ultimately well deserved 20-8 victory.
After the game there were more than a few names in the hat for the man of the match award but for the second match running it was Luke Wadding who took the bubbly with yet another fine performance,
With a final appearance in the bag the players enjoyed their post match celebrations with the final words coming from a satisfied coach Joe Shepherd who commented “It was great to see the lads bounce back from what was a demoralising defeat against Birmingham only three weeks ago. To nil them in the second half was very pleasing because they have some terrific ball runners. It was also great to see the team putting into practice the things we had been covering in training in the lead up to the game”
All roads lead to Birmingham next weekend as the Outlaws go in search of silverware with a tough looking Telford team standing in their way!
Nottingham Outlaws succumbed to a 19-6 defeat in their last round of regular league fixtures at local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt on Saturday. The defeat means that the Outlaws will finish in second place in the table, still guaranteed a home fixture when the end of season play-offs start on the 3rd August.
The Outlaws went into the game with pretty much the same side that lost out against Birmingham the week before although there was a welcome return for vice captain Gareth Whitfield, Jon Hemmingway and Joe Moran who was pulling on a first team shirt for the first time in three seasons.
The match started with neither side being able to make an impression in the face of some stout defending but it was the Outlaws that were making most of the territorial battle and after 16 minutes they opened their account when a fine break by Luke Wadding saw him release to Jacob Butler and the young centre strode over for the opening score. Ashby slotted over for the extras and the Outlaws led 6-0.
Disaster then struck when major play-maker Whitfield left the arena destined to take no further part in the game, seriously blunting the Outlaws attack for the rest of the game.
The Outlaws ascendency was suddenly halted and the enthusiastic home side opened their account when they lost the ball from a steep kick and Sherwood regathered to score out wide. Five minutes later they repeated the test and once again the Outlaws knocked on from the kick and once again the home side capitalised to nudge 10-6 in front as the half time hooter sounded.
The second stanza started in much the same way as the first with neither side able to break down some uncompromising defence and after sixteen minutes of second half play neither side could make an impression with the game deadlocked.
With defences on top Sherwood extended their lead to 12-6 with a penalty after the Outlaws made a hash of the high ball and five minutes later they went further ahead and once again it was a kick that did the damage as a high bomb was collected by the attacking side in a one-on-one contest and Sherwood strode over for a converted try that extended the home lead to two scores at 18-6.
In the remaining fifteen minutes the Outlaws tried their best to get over the whitewash but in all honesty they lacked the cutting edge to open up the Sherwood defence and it was the home side who closed out the scoring with a well taken drop goal to seal the game at 19-6.
Despite the defeat the Outlaws had put up a much-improved performance compared the previous weeks dismal showing against Birmingham. Indeed there were a number of stand-out performances from individual players, led by man of the match Luke Wadding who had a fine eighty minutes, his best of the season.
The Outlaws now have the luxury of a week off before they start their all-important play-off campaign. They will be guaranteed a home game but their opposition will not be decided until next week’s final round of fixtures.
Nottingham Outlaws suffered their first league defeat of the season when they succumbed to a hugely disappointing 24-28 defeat at the hands of play-of rivals Birmingham at Lenton Lane on Saturday. Their loss was made more painful by the fact that they led by 24-0 towards the end of the first half and seemed in full control but a second half defensive horror show put any thoughts of topping the league well and truly on ice.
With only a couple of regular first team players unavailable the Outlaws named a strong looking squad and they started well enough with Aiden Butler wriggling through a couple of Birmingham defenders to score from close range before Louis O’Connor went fully sixty metres to score a great solo effort to put the Outlaws 8-0 up in as many minutes!
The early scores probably did more harm than good as the home side became more sloppy in their approach and a series of errors saw them nearly concede but a couple of dropped balls saved their blushes.
A couple of changes from the bench seemed to do the trick when Harry Watts and Cal Foster entered the fray and within a ten minute period both players showed their pace, scorching through the Birmingham defence to double the Outlaws lead to 18-0 which became 24-0 when Watts added his second following some fine handling down the left wing channel.
As the half time hooter approached the Outlaws finally conceded a score in the corner as Birmingham opened their account with a good handling move that bagged a four-pointer to close the first stanza with the Outlaws well in control at 24-4.
The second half was very much an arm wrestle as neither side could break down some dogged defence and it was the Outlaws who came closest to scoring with Luke Wadding making two good breaks down the left wing only to lose the ball in the tackle when trying to get over the whitewash,
With twenty second half minutes to play Birmingham launched another attack on the back of a lost ball in the Outlaws twenty and this time they made no mistake as they cut the arrears to 24-8 which became 24-14 when they scored again within two minutes and the momentum in the game was clearly changing.
Try as they might the Outlaws couldn’t get hold of the ball on the back of a series of penalties and lost balls and a fully resurgent Birmingham side smelt blood and went for the kill.
With the Outlaws defence tiring badly and dropping off the tackle with alarming regularity the visitors cut loose and in a disastrous final ten minutes the Outlaws leaked back to back trys as Birmingham levelled at 24-24 before sneaking ahead at 24-28 on the last play of the game.
When the final whistle sounded there was stunned disbelief in the Outlaws camp that a game that was well and truly in the bag had slipped from their grasp. Despite the disappointment there were a few good performances in the ranks, with Jacob Butler standing out as the player of the match .T
The Outlaws now go into their last game of the season, at Sherwood on Saturday, knowing they will need to beat their local rivals if they are to finish at the top of the league ahead of the all-important play-offs.