| Rugby league in Spain | |
|---|---|
 The Custodians club of Madrid celebrate winning the 2016–17 season | |
| Country | Spain |
| Governing body | Spanish Rugby League Association |
| National team(s) | Men's |
| Nickname(s) | Rugby XIII Rugby Lliga (in Catalan) |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 31,555 – Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors at Camp Nou, Barcelona, 18 May 2019 |
Rugby league is a team sport that is played in several regions of Spain.
Rugby league in Spain effectively began in France (an established sport in France since in 1930s) with several attempts by French Catalan clubs to expand interest of the sport to Spanish Catalonia.
The first of these attempts occurred on 30 May 1993, when Perpignan-based XIII Catalan invited Huddersfield Giants to contested a friendly named "The Alex Angel Trophy" at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, with Huddersfield won 23–22. [1]
The first governing body of rugby league in Spain was formed in Catalonia in 2007 solely for Catalonia. The Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga was responsible for Catalan Rugby League Championship and the Catalonia national rugby league team and was granted observer status of the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) in 2008. [2] The body however was expelled from the RLEF in 2014 due to lack of activity since 2010. [3]
During this time Catalans Dragons, a French club playing in the British league formed from the merging of the aforementioned XIII Catalan and AS Saint-Estève, played a regular season game on 20 June 2009, at Barcelona's Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys against Warrington. Catalans led the match at halftime 10–6, but Warrington finished as the winners beating the Dragons 24–12. [4]
In 2013, the Spanish Rugby League Association was formed governing rugby league the whole county. The body were granted observer status with the RLEF upon formation [5] [6] and promoted to affiliate members in 2015. [7]
Spain attempted World Cup qualification for the first time in 2017, however lost both group games in Europe Pool B to Ireland and Russia.
In 2019 Catalan Dragons set a world record for the highest attended non-magic regular season Super League match attendance, electing to hold their home game against Wigan Warriors at the Camp Nou, attracting a crowd of 31,555. [8]
Spain attempted World Cup qualification again in 2021, but again lost both pool matches to Italy and again Ireland.
The governing body for the sport in Spain is the Spanish Rugby League Association, which was formed in 2013.
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga (National League Championship) began in March 2014 with four clubs. The first Copa de España de Rugby League (Spanish Rugby League Cup) took place later in the same season. [9] For the third season, which began in late 2015, the league had eight teams across two conferences. [10] In the 2017–18 season the league had been split into two divisions: Serie A, with six teams, and Serie B. [11] However, for 2018–19 only three teams were recorded as taking part in the Championship. [12]
| Year | League | Cup | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Irreductibles Edetans | Ciencias Valencia | [9] [13] |
| 2015 | Custodians Madrid | Valencian Warriors | [14] [15] |
| 2016 | Torrent Tigres | Custodians Madrid | [16] [17] |
| 2017 | Custodians Madrid | Torrent Tigres | [18] [11] |
| 2018 | Torrent Tigres | [19] | |
| 2019 | Torrent Tigres | [12] |
The Spain national rugby league team was formed in 2014 and defeated Belgium in their first match. By beating Latvia in a playoff and then Malta and Greece in an initial qualifying group in 2015, they advanced to the final qualifying stage for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were placed in a three team group (Pool B) alongside Russia and Ireland. Their first result was a 6-40 loss to Russia, at Fili Stadium, Moscow on 15 October 2016, [20] and their second a 46-6 defeat by Ireland, which resulted in their elimination.
The Spain national wheelchair rugby league team took part in the 2017 and 2021 World Cups. [21] [22]
Camp Nou is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club Barcelona since its opening in 1957.It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increased seating capacity of 105,000, it will be the stadium with the largest capacity in Spain and Europe, and the second largest football stadium in the world.
The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Football League.
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys is a stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Originally built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition in the city, it was renovated in 1989 to be the main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Paralympics. It is the home stadium of FC Barcelona since the 2023–24 season, due to the renovation of their regular ground, the Camp Nou.
Rugby league is a team sport that is relatively new to Greece.
The Catalans Dragons are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the club competes in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league
Sport has an important incidence in Catalan life since the beginning of the 20th century. The main sports in Catalonia are football, basketball, handball, rink hockey, tennis, and motorsport.
The Engage Super League XIV was the official name for the 2009 season of Super League. Fourteen teams competed over 27 rounds after which, the highest finishing teams entered the play-offs to compete for a place in the Grand Final and a chance to win the Super League Trophy. The previous Top six play-offs were extended to eight teams.
The Catalonia national rugby league team represents Catalonia in the sport of rugby league football, running under the auspices of the Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga.
Richard David Myler is a retired rugby league footballer, who is currently the director of rugby for Hull FC in the Super League. He is a member of the Ireland squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, having declared for Ireland in 2022. Previously he has represented England and the England Knights at international level.
Rhys Williams is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Swinton Lions in the RFL Championship and Wales at international level.
The Federazione Italiana Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Italy. The association was formed in 2008. They acquired full membership status of the RLEF in March 2017. and of the RLIF in November 2017.
The Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga (ACRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Catalonia. The Association was formed in 2007 and since then has organized and governed the Catalan competitions.
Rugby League in Catalonia was formalised in 2007 with the formation of Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga who ran rugby league activities until 2010.
Éloi Pélissier is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for Toulouse Olympique in the Betfred Championship and France at international level.
The Spain national rugby league team represents Spain in the sport of rugby league football, running under the auspices of the Asociación Española de Rugby League.
George King is an Ireland international rugby league footballer who plays as a loose forward and prop for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Betfred Super League.
Toby King is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Warrington Wolves. He has played for Ireland, England and the England Knights at international level. He made his England debut on 29 April 2023 in the 64-0 victory over France at the Halliwell Jones Stadium
The Belgian Rugby League Association is the governing body for rugby league in Belgium. It was formed in early 2009 as Belgium Rugby League and given Observer status by the RLIF. The first Belgian club was established in Wavre and on 11 July 2009 they faced Hammersmith Hills Hoists in the first match to be played in Belgium. Two weeks later, the Belgium XIII representative side defeated a Catalonia XIII in the Euro Med Challenge. In 2010, Belgium were scheduled to compete in the European Bowl, but withdrew from the tournament and development of the sport in Belgium was suspended.
The Estadi Municipal de Reus, also known as Estadi Camp Nou Municipal, is a multi-use stadium located in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. It is currently used for football matches and home games of the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football. It was the previous home stadium of CF Reus Deportiu until 2020 and currently home stadium of Reus FC Reddis.
The England national wheelchair rugby league team represents England in wheelchair rugby league. The team have played in all four World Cup tournaments, winning both the inaugural competition in 2008 and the 2021 edition on home soil, and being runners up in both 2013 and 2017. They also won the 2015 European Wheelchair Rugby League Championship.
