The AERL - Spanish Association of Rugby League – has announced the creation of a seventh club and the first in the capital, Griffons RL Madrid.

The side is the first to be run by the AERL delegation in the region, their plan being to form another two or three teams - including within the university sector - to rival the expanding Valencia-Alicante group in 2015.

Salome Sansano, AERL President, said: “Madrid has a great working group with people who love our sport and this is terrific news, they have been working hard in recent months to establish Griffons.”

Rodrigo Molina, AERL delegate in Madrid, added: “We have managed to advance one of our first goals. Now we aim to play the first game of rugby league in Madrid, to build a regional competition and get up the level of our players for selection to the Spanish national side.”