Rugby league is played across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but its heartland in parts of Northern England is where the sport is most popular, and is where the majority of professional clubs are based. The sport was first established in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, where 22 clubs split from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Rugby Football Union.
Rugby league was born in the British Isles, specifically at the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895 when the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from the Rugby Football Union out of a desire to professionalise the game. This year gave birth to the first rugby league season where Manningham were crowned first ever Champions. However following this a national league would not be played until 1901 in favour of county's leagues. In 1897, the Challenge Cup was formed which saw Batley win the first ever cup title. 1902 saw the county's leagues split into two tiers which were now being played in addition to the national league.
In 1904, the first ever international game was played in Wigan in front of 6,000 fans which saw England lose to Other Nationalities 9–3. In 1906, rugby league became a 13-a-side sport.
The 1949–50 Northern Rugby Football League season set the record for the highest total match day attendance in a season of 69.8 million - a record that still holds today. In 1954, at the 1954 Challenge Cup Final Replay, the record for the highest attended rugby league fixture was set at the Odsal Stadium with an official crowd of 102,569 watching Warrington claim an 8–4 victory over Halifax.
In 1965, David Attenborough created the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy in order to promote the televising of rugby league. Four years later substitutes were permitted in matches, with the six-tackle rule being introduced in 1971. In 1972, Great Britain won their third, and most recent, world cup.
In 1981, Fulham R.L.F.C. formed from Fulham F.C. as part of its sporting family. They are currently the most successful team outside the heartlands. In 1983, yellow cards were introduced to the sport. Players receiving this card are subject to a 10-minute in game suspension. In 1991, the academy league was created in Great Britain.
1996 saw the beginning of the Super League era where rugby league moved from a winter to summer sport. In 1998, the Super League Grand Final was created, reverting to a play-off system to decide the league champions. This marked the end of the longest period of time where the league leaders were crowned champions which had been in place since 1973. In 2003, the League Leaders' Shield was first awarded as a physical trophy, with the league leaders from 1998 to 2002 also being recognised for their achievement.
In 2002, London Skolars became the first community team in over 80 years to progress to the professional structure, with 2006 seeing Catalans Dragons join the league.
2019 saw the return of Great Britain in the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour. The aim of the tour was to initiate a return for Great Britain to play competitively again, unfortunately they lost all four of their tour matches which caused people to question the feasibility of the team going forward.
Unlike in most team sports in the United Kingdom, the UK has historically operated a unified national side, nicknamed the GB Lions, since 1908.[2] The team saw great success, winning the 1954, 1960, and 1972Rugby League World Cups in addition to achieving a runners up place on four separate occasions. However, the team did not enter the 1995 tournament in favour of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland competing separately. Despite this, the GB Lions still competed in other tournaments together such as test series and the Rugby League Tri-Nations, until 2007 where the team was disbanded altogether.[2]
In 2019, the GB Lions were reunited for a tour of the Pacific, playing against New Zealand (twice), Tonga, and Papua New Guinea.[3] The presence of the tour gave hope for the home nations to compete under a unified team again.[2][3][4] However the fact that Great Britain lost all four tour matches called people to question the feasibility of the team, with a major criticism being the imbalance in the number of English players to the other nationalities. This was defended with the justification of a lack of high level domestic league in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.[5][6][7]
Women's rugby league has also operated a full UK team nicknamed the GB Lionesses. Unlike the men's team, the women's team played in all competitions under the collective banner until the 2007 split in favour of the home nations competing individually. Before the split they competed in the inaugural 2000 Women's Rugby League World Cup, to which they were also hosts. The team came second, losing to New Zealand in the final. They also played the second world cup in 2003, which was their final major competition.
Due to the increased popularity of rugby league in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumbria compared to the rest of the country, the majority of the 36 professional teams to make up the top three tiers are from this area of the country. Of the 34 professional British teams, only six are not from the two historical counties (five English, and one Welsh). All of the professional clubs in the Super League are based in the North of England except from Catalans Dragons who are based in France. In the second tier Championship, London Broncos and Toulouse Olympique are the only clubs outside of Northern England. Newcastle Thunder despite being from the North of England, are not based in the rugby league heartlands. Finally, in the third tier League 1, Coventry Bears, London Skolars, and North Wales Crusaders are not from Northern England.
The increased popularity of Rugby League in its heartland of Yorkshire and Lancashire sees the National Conference League primarily operate in the heartlands and the Conference League South operate elsewhere. The National Conference League is split into four tiers to reflect its increased competitivity as teams in this league are primarily looking for promotion to the professional structure whereas teams in the Conference League South are usually looking for a greater standard of Rugby League than what exists in the regional league.[9]
Due to the popularity of Rugby League in the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the term "rugby" usually refers to rugby league in those regions whereas "rugby" usually refers to rugby union in the rest of the British Isles. Occasionally, in the heartlands, "football" also refers to rugby league however this is rare due to football being the most popular sport in the country.[10]
In terms of the general public, a 2005 report by MORI Sports Tracker reported that 15% of British over 15s had in interest in rugby league and 12% regularly viewed matches. These figures we're down from 20% and 15% respectively in their 1996 report.[11]
Locations of professional rugby league clubs in the United Kingdom, 2023
Average silver anniversary attendances
The following is a list of average home attendance for Super League clubs during the league's first 25 years. The list does not take into account games played behind closed doors do the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-British clubs are denoted in italics:[12]
The Challenge Cup is the national cup of Rugby League in the United Kingdom. The competition is administered by the RFL and was instituted in 1896.[8] The competition has also seen teams from Ireland, France, Canada, Russia and Serbia compete.
In 2012 the Women's Challenge Cup played its inaugural edition becoming the first major women's rugby league competition and is administered by the RFL. The RFL also administer the Women's Super League, the top tier of women's rugby league introduced in 2017 replacing the RFL Women's Rugby League which started in 2014.[8] In 2021, in an attempt to expand women's rugby league, the Women's Super League South as a new top-tier competition. While the Super League South is officially a top-tier competition, participants are not eligible for the Grand Final.
The 1895 Cup (2019–present) has also existed under different names at different points in history. Once as the Trans-Pennine Cup (1998–2001), as the Championship Cup (2002–2013), and again as the League 1 Cup (2015–2017).
The League Cup (1972–1996) and Charity Shield (1985–1996) have also existed for short periods of time and operated in the same way as the English football competitions of the same name. The League Cup being a cup for professional clubs only, and the Charity Shield a single game competition to mark the start of the season between the previous years league champions and challenge cup winners.
The county competitions in Lancashire and Yorkshire were historically a major part of rugby league in the British Isles. The RFL Lancashire League and RFL Yorkshire League are as old as the national league itself and the RFL Lancashire Cup and RFL Yorkshire Cup were founded only a decade after the Challenge Cup. The county league were abandoned in 1970 and the cups in 1996 in order to develop rugby league nationally. The Rugby League War of the Roses was the only county competition to survive into the Super League era, being abandoned in 2003. The competition was a single game event featuring one team from each county and was based on the roses rivalry that has existed between the two counties since the Wars of the Roses which ended in 1487. For most of its history the Roses Match was played as part of the County Championship.
BARLA are also responsible for selecting an international team consisting of amateur players, the BARLA Lions. This team tours many parts of the rugby league world, and have competed in the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament.
Women's rugby
The Women's Amateur Rugby League Association (WARLA) was the governing body of female rugby league in the British Isles from its established in 1985. It was recognised by the RFL in its first year. In 2013 WARLA became fully incorporated into the Rugby Football League which now runs the top tiers of the women's game.
Armed forces
Rugby league was recognised as a military sport in 1994. The Combined Services Rugby League[13] (CSRL) is the co-ordinating group for the British Army Rugby League, Royal Navy Rugby League and Royal Air Force Rugby League. Each constituent body organises its own competitions at unit and formation level. Players are fed into representative teams to represent each of the services, and the best players are selected to represent the Combined Services. Because of the difference in sovereignty between the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it is the only place where Northern Ireland competes in rugby league under a UK system rather than an all-Ireland one. Great Britain Police also have their own rugby league team which, along with those if the armed forces, regularly competes in the Challenge Cup.
There are a number of rivalries within professional rugby in the British Isles, with debate about which one is the biggest. The Hull derby between Hull F.C. and Hull KR is the only derby where both participants are from the same city. The Good Friday derby is also considered a major rivalry with the two teams, Wigan Warriors and St Helens, consistently performing well in the league and cup competitions.[14] Other major rivalries include the Calder derby, Cheshire derby, and West Yorkshire derby.[15]
Additionally, there is a four-way rivalry between the so-called Super League Big Four. These four team are usually contain the champion of every season, both in the Super League and Challenge Cup. The Big Four consists of Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos, and Warrington Wolves. Prior to 2010, Bradford Bulls was considered a Big Four member, before the rise of Warrington, the club has since dropped in performance level and now plays in the Championship.
County
Lancashire and Yorkshire have always shared a rivalry due to the War of the Roses. This rivalry has naturally seeped into rugby league to which they completed in a competition of the same name until 2003. The rivalry is also seen when clubs from both counties face each other in competitive and non-competitive matches.
International
England (previously Great Britain as a whole) is main rival is with Australia, with whom they compete in The Ashes.[16] This rivalry has also affected the domestic game with the Super League and National Rugby League becoming the two biggest club competitions on the planet with the two competition winners competing in the World Club Challenge. England (and Great Britain) also share a rivalry with New Zealand to whom they also have contested many tours.
Challenge Cup matches are shown on BBC Sport. The final and semi-finals are shown usually on BBC One. Matches prior to the sixth round are usually shown on BBC Red Button or as BBC iPlayer exclusives. BBC Two is also used in addition to BBC One to show the matches from the latter stages of competition.[21]
Historical summary
The BBC started airing the Challenge Cup Final regularly from 1958 and lower rounds from 1960. The final was also broadcast as a one-off in 1948 and 1952. Sky Sports began covering league matches from the 1990–91 season. For a dealied summary of summer era coverage from 1996 onwards, see the below table:[22]
7s and 9s: Rugby league played with 7 and 9 players per side respectively, more common among pub teams due to the greater ease of getting a full squad.
Touch rugby: A limited contact version of the sport where a tackle is made by placing two hands on the opponent.
↑ Historically has governed the whole of the UK, currently has limited presence in Scotland and Wales and Jointly administers the Great Britain national rugby league team.
The War of the Roses was the inter-county rugby league matches between Lancashire and Yorkshire, the areas where rugby league has traditionally been most popular in England. The series started in 1895 and was last played in 2003. For most of its history the game was played as part of the County Championship.
The Ireland men's national rugby league team, known as the Wolfhounds, is organised by Rugby League Ireland and represents the entire isle of Ireland in international rugby league. The representative team is composed largely of players of Irish descent who compete in the Super League as well as the Australasian National Rugby League. Ireland is also represented by an Ireland A side, which is made up of players from the Irish domestic competition.
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.
The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After Partition of Ireland in 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities. This is in contrast to the majority of other states that participate in international sports which field a single national team to represent the entire polity.
The Rugby League Conference, also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.
The National Conference League is an amateur rugby league competition in Great Britain. The competition is one of two fourth tier competitions in British rugby league and operates for amateur clubs based based in the sport's heartlands of Northern England.
Rugby league is played across England but is most popular in Northern England, especially Yorkshire and Lancashire where the game originated. These areas are the heartland of rugby league. The sport is also popular in Cumbria where the amateur game is particularly powerful.
Rugby league is a comparatively minor sport in Scotland, dwarfed by the popularity of association football and rugby union, and to a lesser extent curling, ice hockey and shinty.
Rugby league is a sport played in Wales. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League.
Wheelchair rugby league is a wheelchair-based version of rugby league football, one of two recognised disability versions of the sport. It was developed in France in 2000. Unlike other wheelchair sports, people without disabilities are allowed to compete in top-level competition. The sport is also unique in the fact that men and women of any age can play against each other in top-level competition.
The University and College Rugby League (UCRL), formerly known as the Student Rugby League, is the organisation which administrates university and college rugby league football in the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Rugby Football League and British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).
The Pennine Amateur Rugby League, or Pennine League is a rugby league competition for amateur open-age clubs that runs from September to April for clubs around the Pennines area. The competition is run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA).
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include association football, cricket, field hockey, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Association football is the most popular sport, followed by cricket, tennis and rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, tennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
Women's rugby league is the female-only version of rugby league.
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
Rugby League in Yorkshire refers to the sport of rugby league in relation to its participation and history within Yorkshire, England. The traditional county is the largest in the United Kingdom and as thus has many rugby clubs, professional and amateur.
The RFL Women's Championship is a rugby league competition for women's rugby league clubs in Great Britain. The competition is the second tier competition in the British rugby league system with competition winners having the possibility of promotion to the RFL Women's Super League.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League South was introduced as a top tier women's rugby league club competitions in Great Britain for teams Southern England and South Wales that ran parallel to the RFL Women's Super League.
Rugby league is an increasingly popular sport for women in Great Britain.
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