Golden Eels

The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Western Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their home ground was Cumberland Oval. After the 1981 grand final win fans damaged Cumberland Oval which was later replaced by Parramatta stadium on the same site. As of 2019, Parramatta's home ground stadium has been rebuilt and they now play as the co-tenants at Western Sydney Stadium, which sits on the same site that was once Parramatta Stadium. It took thirty years for the club to make the grand final, which they did in 1976 and 1977, losing on both occasions. However, this period foreshadowed their most successful period in the early 1980s, when they won four premierships and qualified for five grand finals in six seasons. This was a golden era for the club and yielded their only premiership titles. In 2016, a salary cap breach saw them stripped of their 2016 Auckland Nines premiership. The club plays in the NRL, the premier rugby league football competition in Australia. Parramatta sides are also fielded in lower grades and junior competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby League.