Thereafter, the sport of rugby league in England remained exclusively a northern based game for over forty years until the formation in 1980 of a new club in London, Fulham.

One of the game's leading players, Reg Bowden, was recruited by Genders to act as player-coach and the club's first signing was Roy Lester, on a free transfer from Warrington.

[citation needed] The first match, on 14 September 1980, was a major success; nearly 10,000 Londoners attended the game at Craven Cottage to see the newly formed side convincingly beat highly regarded Wigan 24–5.

[citation needed] Fulham played two "home" games against Swinton and Huddersfield at Widnes in 1983 as the pitch at the Cottage had disintegrated in the wet winter following the collapse of the main drain to the River Thames under the Miller Stand.

Despite winning the Division Two Championship comfortably in 1982–83, a second immediate relegation in 1983–84, coupled with continuing financial losses, saw Clay, under pressure from the Fulham football club board, pull the plug at the end of their fourth season.

Most of the existing players moved on as free agents, and a new squad began life based at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for the 1984–85 season.

In August 1986, Fulham hit a serious cash crisis and were forced to withdraw temporarily from the RFL only 11 days before the start of the season, but were able to re-launch in September.

The team was in the bottom half of the second division and continually struggled for success, and Risman left after a couple of seasons and Bill Goodwin returned.

[2] Despite the club's financial problems, the team proved very competitive on the pitch under coach Tony Gordon and narrowly missed out on automatic promotion back to the First Division by a single point.

The climax of the Crusaders' era was a May 1994 appearance in the Divisional Premiership Final at Old Trafford; although they lost 22–30 to Workington Town, the club had gone into the game with the knowledge that an exciting take-over bid had just been announced.

The team performed far beyond initial expectations and eventually finished a highly creditable fourth, with Greg Barwick the top points scorer for the club.

Richard Branson's highly successful Virgin Group became the majority shareholders and primary sponsors of the club, and the immediate future looked very bright.

In 1998, as part of rugby league's "on the road" scheme, London Broncos played Bradford Bulls at Tynecastle in Edinburgh in front of over 7,000 fans.

Following a famous last-minute semi-final victory over Castleford, the Broncos reached the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium for the first time, but despite taking a shock early lead in the game and performing bravely, they were soundly defeated 52–16 by red-hot favourites Leeds.

The 2005 season was marked by significant activity off the pitch as the club welcomed new chairman and majority shareholder Ian Lenagan who had bought 65% of the shares.

Ian Lenagan became the majority shareholder in the London Broncos in July 2005 and within a week of his arrival, the team was formally renamed "Harlequins RL".

The sole integration programme appeared to be a combined fund raising lottery – which folded long before the Rugby League club permanently left the Twickenham Stoop – and two "double header" match days.

On 8 July 2006, Ian Lenagan removed Tony Rea as head coach, and moved him "upstairs" to a position on the club's board of directors.

At the end of the season, Ian Lenagan took over control of fellow Super League side Wigan Warriors and was given two years to sell his Harlequins shares.

It was a shock to Harlequins RL supporters to see McDermott's assistant take over but this bizarre decision seemed to be warranted as Rob Powell oversaw three wins from their first three matches, placing them at the top of the ladder.

[citation needed] On 28 March, London had to play a home game at Esher RFC's ground at Molesey Road due to a waterlogged pitch at the Stoop.

On 27 July, London Broncos' dream of reaching the Wembley final for the second time came emphatically to an end with a televised 0–70 defeat by Wigan, a record score in a Challenge Cup semi-final.

Soward quickly became a fans favourite with a man of the match performance on his debut v Salford (scoring a try and kicking five goals) and received a standing ovation from the crowd despite being defeated 30–44.

On 3 December 2013, London Broncos announced, "The club will be instructing lawyers to file a further notice of intention to appoint administrators at court, which shall be effective for 10 business days".

[12] In July, at a pre-match lunch hosted by former Broncos Martin Offiah and Shaun Edwards, the LBSA announced its Hall of Fame, with six inaugural inductees: Reg Bowden, Peter Gill, Mark Johnson, Hussain M’Barki, Rob Purdham, Steele Retchless and Scott Roskell.

Head Coach Joey Grima had issues with senior players like Foran, Cordoba, Mathers, Adamson and Lovegrove which meant that by about a third of the way into the season none were selectable.

However a surprise away win in the qualifiers at Dewsbury Rams saw the club make it to the Championship Shield Grand Final in Widnes but they were heavily beaten 36–4 by Featherstone Rovers.

The Broncos finished second in the regular season and commenced their Super 8s – Qualifiers campaign with a one-point win over the Widnes Vikings in which Jarrod Sammut kicked a vital 79th minute drop goal to secure the victory.

[20] The Broncos finished bottom of the table on the final day of the season, following a 0–54 defeat to Warrington Wolves, having entered the matchweek one point difference higher than Hull F.C.

[22] As of 14th October 2024, discussions and crowdfunding efforts are underway to save the club from closure and continue a professional rugby league presence in London.