51 Facts About Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.

Parramatta Eels sides are fielded in lower grades and junior competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby League.

Parramatta Eels saw very little success in their early years, despite narrowly missing out on finals qualification in 1949 under the guidance of former Western Suburbs and Leeds five-eighth Vic Hey.

Where other teams fielded test and representative players, Parramatta Eels fielded mainly amateur players or park footballers.

In 1962, Parramatta Eels made the finals for the first time; this achievement was repeated for the three following seasons under coach Ken Kearney.

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The Parramatta Eels made the finals in both 1978 and 1979, but missed the finals in 1980 for the first time since 1974.

Early 1980s was the most successful period for Parramatta Eels, who earned five Grand Final appearances and four premierships from 1981 to 1986.

In 1997, the Parramatta Eels remained in the ARL's competition and made the finals for the first time in 11 seasons by finishing third in the Australian Rugby League competition.

Parramatta Eels continued into the NRL era which began in 1998, surviving the reduction in teams at the end of the twentieth century.

The week leading up to the grand final itself is remembered for The infamous 2001 grand final breakfast where coach Brian Smith and the Parramatta Eels players attended wearing as Newcastle player Mark Hughes described "Miami Vice black suits".

Andrew Johns reportedly could tell how nervous the Parramatta Eels players were and knew they had a chance at making an upset.

In 2005, Parramatta Eels finished as minor premiers in the regular season and came up against North Queensland in the preliminary final.

In 2007, Parramatta Eels again made the preliminary final and once more the opponent was Melbourne.

In 2009, under new coach Daniel Anderson, the Parramatta Eels had an indifferent start to the season which saw the release of star halfback Brett Finch.

On 4 October 2009, Parramatta Eels played the deciding game of NRL, against the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium in front of a crowd of 82,538.

Such was the euphoria at the time with Parramatta Eels making an incredible run to the 2009 grand final that the then NSW Premier Nathan Rees pledged that if Parramatta Eels were to win the premiership he would rename two of the new trains due to be rolled out across The Sydney network the following year.

In 2010, the Parramatta Eels club were picked at the beginning of the year by many leading betting agencies to take out the premiership for 2010 following their surge of form which took them to the Grand Final in 2009.

Parramatta Eels club made several new player signings for the 2011 season.

Parramatta Eels pushed a record four games into Golden Point during the season, however were unable to win any, resulting in a draw against the St George Illawarra Dragons and one-point losses to the Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Parramatta Eels struggled all year, securing just their first win of the season in Round 5 against defending premiers Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles before ending a six-game losing streak against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

On 12 September 2013, it was announced Ricky Stuart would leave Parramatta Eels to take up the head coaching role at Canberra for the 2014 season.

Parramatta Eels recruited a new coach in Brad Arthur, formerly an Assistant Coach at the club, as Ricky Stuart reneged on the final two years of his contract.

In round 24 Parramatta Eels were sitting 8th on the ladder and looked destined to play in the finals for the first time since 2009 and only needed to win one of their last two remaining games against sides lower than them on the table which were Canberra and Newcastle.

Parramatta Eels lost both matches and missed out on the finals series by two competition points.

At the time of the 12-point deduction, Parramatta Eels were sitting 5th on the ladder but then found themselves at 14th position.

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The final home game played at Parramatta Eels Stadium was against The St George in front of 13,553 spectators.

The following week, Parramatta Eels played against North Queensland in the sudden death elimination final.

The loss against Melbourne was the sixth time Parramatta Eels had been defeated by Melbourne in a finals game since 1999.

At the start of the 2020 NRL season, Parramatta Eels won their first five matches in a row which put them at the top of the table.

The following week in the elimination final, Parramatta Eels played against South Sydney for the first time in a finals game since 1965.

Parramatta Eels started the 2021 NRL season with four consecutive victories before losing to St George Illawarra in round 5.

Parramatta Eels started the 2022 NRL season winning four of their opening five matches.

The only nickname Parramatta Eels had ever been known by was the "Fruitpickers", a reference to the orchards spread throughout the District and surrounding suburbs in the first half of the 20th century.

Parramatta Eels has used two separate crests based on Parramatta Eels City's crest.

In 2009, the Parramatta Eels announced they were returning to their original 1980s club emblem in the 2011 season with the numbers 1947 added, this being the year of conception of the Eels.

However, when the proposal for a Parramatta Eels club was next put to the NSWRL in 1946, the proposed colours for the new District side were blue and gold.

Original Parramatta Eels jersey used in 1947 was of a blue design with a single yellow hoop around the middle of the jersey, extending across the sleeves.

Later that year, after the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership trophy, Eels fans rallied at Cumberland Oval; during the celebrations, fans set fire to the ground's soon-to-be-demolished stand.

Largest crowd to watch a rugby league match at Cumberland Oval was 22,470 when the Parramatta Eels took on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 26 April 1971.

Parramatta Eels has a rivalry with Northern Beaches-based club Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

In 2009 on their fairy tale run to the grand final, Parramatta Eels faced off against Canterbury in the preliminary final in front of a record crowd of 74,549.

The relationship between local Penrith clubs and the Parramatta Eels District was often problematic; players and officials in the Penrith area considered themselves ignored and neglected by the Parramatta Eels club during the 1950s and 1960s.

Parramatta Eels were the only team in the 2022 NRL season to beat Penrith twice.

Parramatta Eels did have a rivalry with another Sydney-based team, the St George Illawarra Dragons.

The Parramatta Eels were the Dragons' first-ever opponents as a joint-venture and the match was the second ever held at Stadium Australia which would be the venue for the Olympic Games the following year.

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Parramatta Eels kept their heads and won the game by a comfortable margin in the end.

Parramatta Eels were the only team to defeat Minor Premiers, Melbourne twice during the 2021 NRL regular season.

In 2002 a team of the greatest Parramatta Eels players, known as the Parramatta Eels Legends, were selected based on a public vote of fans.

Parramatta Eels's largest victory was a 74 - 4 win over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on 23 August 2003 at Parramatta Eels Stadium.

Largest crowd Parramatta Eels has played before was 104,583 at Telstra Stadium in the Round 1 'doubleheader' in 1999.

The record crowd Parramatta Eels has played in front of at the new Western Sydney Stadium is 29,372.