Carl Forster

Carl Forster (born 4 June 1992) is an English former professional rugby league footballer and former head coach for the North Wales Crusaders in League 1.

Carl Forster

Personal information
Full name	Carl Forster
Born	(1992-06-04) 4 June 1992 (age 33) St Helens, Merseyside, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Weight	17 st 5 lb (110 kg)[1]
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2011–14 St Helens 5 0 0 0 0 2012(loan) → Swinton Lions 12 0 0 0 0 2013(loan) → Rochdale Hornets 12 1 0 0 4 2013(loan) → Whitehaven 3 1 0 0 4 2014(loan) → London Broncos 5 0 0 0 0 2014(loan) → Whitehaven 19 3 0 0 12 2015–16 Salford Red Devils 16 1 0 0 4 2016(loan) → Swinton Lions 4 0 0 0 0 2017–18 Whitehaven 34 26 0 0 64 2019–20 Rochdale Hornets 8 3 0 0 0 2020–22 Barrow Raiders 39 2 0 0 8 2023–24 North Wales Crusaders 22 4 0 0 16 Total 179 41 0 0 112
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2017–18 Whitehaven 71 59 2 10 83 2019 Rochdale Hornets 7 2 0 5 29 2023–25 North Wales Crusaders 66 33 0 33 50 Total 144 94 2 48 65
Source: [2][3] As of 4 October 2025

He played for St Helens in the Super League, and on loan from Saints

He has previously coached Whitehaven in League 1 and the Rochdale Hornets in the Championship.

Background

Forster was born in St Helens, Merseyside, England.

Playing career

St Helens

He signed for Saints from local amateur club Pilkington Recs in 2009. 2011's Super League XVI was his first as a professional with St. Helens. He enjoyed Grand Final success with St. Helens Academy.^[4] In June 2012, Carl signed a 2-year contract with St. Helens.^[5]

Salford Red Devils

He played for Salford in the Super League until the end of 2015.

Swinton Lions

In the 2016 season, Forster played for Swinton.

Whitehaven RLFC

For the 2017 season, Forster played for Whitehaven while also serving as the team's head coach.

Rochdale Hornets

In 2019, Forster moved on to the Rochdale Hornets as player-coach before moving back to Whitehaven that season on loan after re-signing from Rochdale.

Barrow Raiders

On 23 September 2019, it was reported that he had signed for Barrow in the RFL League 1 on a Player-only one-year deal.^[6]

North Wales Crusaders

On 5 November 2022, it was reported that he had taken up the player-coach role at North Wales Crusaders in the RFL League 1 for the 2023 season.^[7]

On 4 October 2025, only days after winning the League One Coach of the Year award, it was reported that he had left the club to take up a full-time Super League coaching opportunity^[8]