136-880: The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield , West Yorkshire , England . Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League , the top tier of British rugby league . Huddersfield Giants have won the League Championship seven times and Challenge Cup six times. The clubs home colours are claret and thin gold hooped shirt, claret shorts and claret and gold hooped socks. They have or have had rivalries with Warrington , Leeds , Bradford , Keighley Cougars , Halifax , Oldham , Rochdale , Wakefield Trinity Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams . The earliest record of
272-526: A football match being played in the Huddersfield area is in 1848, when a team of men from Hepworth took on a team of men from Holmfirth near Whinney Bank in Holmfirth. Hepworth won a closely fought game which "exhibited the usual amount of confusions, bloody noses, etc" and took the prize of £5 which had been jointly donated by each side. There appears to have been no formal structure to sport in
408-743: A world record for a centre. In the 1914–15 season they became only the second team to win " all four cups " when they lifted the Championship, the Challenge Cup , the Yorkshire County Cup , and the Yorkshire League . Huddersfield's dominance prior to the First World War was such that they went unbeaten in 38 consecutive matches before the suspension of the league in 1915. Huddersfield did not take part in
544-595: A 78-point embarrassment by Bradford . This low point became a pivotal day for the club, however. The club won 6 and drew one of the remaining 14 games, only finishing bottom of the table after Wakefield Trinity's appeal against a 4-point salary cap deduction was successful. Widnes won the NFP competition that year and the club was seen to be fit to play in Super League. Huddersfield were finally relegated after their best season in Super League. In 2002 Huddersfield remained
680-608: A Huddersfield game was 32,912 against Wigan on 4 March 1950. More success followed in the 1950 season as Huddersfield retained the Yorkshire League title and reached another Championship final at Maine Road . However, on this occasion Wigan proved too strong, winning 20 points to 12. Huddersfield did, however, win the Yorkshire cup with a 16–3 victory over Castleford at Headingley. On Saturday 17 November 1951, in an ordinary league game, Australian Lionel Cooper scored
816-546: A Northern Union. Two days later, on Thursday 29 August 1895, representatives of 21 clubs met in the George Hotel , Huddersfield to form the "Northern Rugby Football Union" (usually termed Northern Union or NU). Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Football Union , but Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to
952-617: A breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU). Both organisations played the game under the same rules at first, although the Northern Union began to modify rules almost immediately, thus creating a new simpler game that was intended to be a faster-paced form of rugby football. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves "rugby football league s" and introducing Northern Union rules. In 1922,
1088-510: A club record ten tries, as Huddersfield defeated Keighley 48–3 at Fartown. By the end of the 1950s, Huddersfield had won 3 Yorkshire cup finals, in 1950–51, 1952–53 and 1957–58, and the Challenge Cup final, in 1952–53. Huddersfield beat St. Helens 15 – 10 in the 1953 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley . Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 16–10 in the 1960 Yorkshire County Cup Final at Headingley , Leeds on 29 October 1960. In
1224-459: A decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged led to twenty-two clubs (including Stockport, who negotiated by telephone) meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield , on 29 August 1895 and forming the "Northern Rugby Football Union". Within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby league. In 1897,
1360-405: A four-yearly cycle in the 2010s; as of 2023 , the holders are Australia . A short-sided version of the sport, rugby league nines , using modified rugby league rules also exists, and is comparable to rugby sevens . Wheelchair rugby league is a mixed-gender sport using heavily modified rugby league rules for disabled and able-bodied players. Unlike wheelchair rugby which adopted its name after
1496-541: A full-time professional team despite playing in the Northern Ford Premiership . The club went unbeaten for the entire league season, drawing only one match and winning a record equalling 29 games. Along the way the team accumulated 1,156 points to equal the record for points in a league season achieved in 8 more games by Leigh in 1986. The team won the Buddies Cup , as it was then known, and also
SECTION 10
#17327725176321632-651: A high-profile individual for 1–2 years with the aim of promoting the game. Source: The Rugby Football League began in 1895 as a rival governing body for rugby in England (rugby league and rugby union had not yet formally diverged at this time) and operated in Northern England only. By 1907, rugby league had begun in Wales with Welsh clubs being incorporated into the Northern English league and saw
1768-408: A lesser extent, France . Traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the shirt usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons. These colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of
1904-437: A mix of the two sports' rules. Much more so than rugby union, rugby league shares significant similarities with North American gridiron codes. Although described as evolving from both rugby and association football , the basic structures of American and Canadian football are remarkably similar to rugby league through a process of parallel evolution: a try-and-goal based scoring system, a set number of plays before handover of
2040-553: A more organised athletics association. In an advertisement headed "Huddersfield Athletic Club" they invited "gentlemen desirous of becoming members" to a public meeting at 8 o'clock on the evening of 16 November 1864 at the Queen Hotel. The meeting went ahead, a hundred names were registered and a committee was formed. Within a month a new gymnasium was in service in a basement on Back John William Street. The club's 1864 foundation (a few months before that of Hull F.C. ) means that it
2176-633: A professional level. 45 national teams are ranked by the RLIF and a further 32 are officially recognized and unranked. The strongest rugby league nations are Australia , England , New Zealand , Samoa and Tonga . The Rugby League World Cup is the highest form of representative rugby league. Countries that have contested are Australia , Cook Islands , England , Fiji , France , Ireland , Italy , Jamaica , Lebanon , New Zealand , Papua New Guinea , Russia , Samoa , Scotland , South Africa , Tonga , US and Wales . The 2021 Rugby League World Cup, which
2312-572: A record which stands to this day. On 28 February 1914, the club defeated Swinton Park by a record 119–2 (Rosenfeld contributing 7 tries) in a Challenge Cup tie at Fartown. The record would stand until 26 November 1994 when the Huddersfield club broke their own World Record by defeating Blackpool Gladiators 142–4 in a Challenge Cup tie at the McAlpine Stadium – centre Greg Austin scoring 9 tries on his way to 52 tries that season,
2448-453: A result play stops much less frequently in rugby league, with the ball typically in play for 50 out of the 80 minutes compared to around 35 minutes for professional rugby union. Other differences include that there are fewer players in rugby league (13 compared to 15) and different rules for tackling . Rugby union has more detailed rules than rugby league and has changed less since the 1895 schism. Since rugby union turned professional in
2584-586: A revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team , who also represented Wales , Scotland and Ireland . The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. As of 2023, the team now participates in all World Cups and Test matches. The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan . Since then, and right up until
2720-581: A separate Huddersfield team in the Northern Ford Premiership . They played two home games in Sheffield at Bramall Lane with the others in Huddersfield, the away strip was in the Sheffield Eagles colours. In the 2000 season Huddersfield-Sheffield won only four games, three of them against rivals Wakefield Trinity Wildcats . This arrangement lasted only a season before the Huddersfield name was reverted to, due to rejection from both sets of fans. In
2856-614: A separate short lived Wales only league being ran by the RFL. 1909 saw the sport's introduced in Scotland, but did not see the same response as Wales. Despite this, the RFL established itself as the governing body for rugby league in Great Britain . This was the norm until 1994 and the founding of Scotland Rugby League and Wales Rugby League a year later. These bodies became the official governing body for Scotland and Wales leaving
SECTION 20
#17327725176322992-452: A shadow of its former self; the old Fartown ground had fallen into disrepair and the club frequently finished in the lower reaches of the league. Local businessman, John Bailey, took a controlling interest in the stadium, the club and the pavilion. In 1984, in an attempt to revive the club, Huddersfield adopted the name 'Barracudas' and Fartown was renamed Arena 84 . As the crowds continued to stay away, it became clear that Bailey could not stem
3128-415: A team's creative unit or 'playmakers'. During the interactions between a team's 'key' players (five-eighth, half-back, fullback, lock forward, and hooker), the five-eighth and half-back will usually be involved in most passing moves. These two positions are commonly called the "halves". The forwards' two responsibilities can be broken into "normal play" and "scrum play". For information on a forward's role in
3264-401: A value of 2 points when kicked from beyond the 40 metre line. Field position is crucial in rugby league, achieved by running with or kicking the ball. Passing in rugby league may only be in a backward or sideways direction. Teammates, therefore, have to remain on-side by not moving ahead of the player with the ball. The ball may be kicked ahead, but if teammates are in front of the kicker when
3400-486: A winter to a summer season. As the sport in Britain entered a new era it would be two years before Huddersfield rose again to the top level of the game. Ken Davy took over as chairman of Huddersfield and "Giants" was added to the team name. Steve Ferres took over as coach. Garry Schofield joined Huddersfield for a six-figure sum. Ken Davy's first trophy came in 1997 at Old Trafford, where Huddersfield beat Hull 18–0 in
3536-426: Is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H-shaped posts at both ends. It is one of the two major codes of rugby football , the other being rugby union . It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield , Yorkshire , England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over
3672-474: Is conducted under the direction of the Federation of International Touch (FIT). Though it shares similarities and history with rugby league , it is recognised as a sport in its own right due to its differences which have been developed over the sport's lifetime. Touch is a variation of rugby league with the tackling of opposing players replaced by a touch. As touches must be made with minimal force, touch
3808-540: Is planned that the Great Britain team will come together in future only for occasional tours, similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union . The RFL board consists of the following: The RFL launched the Young People's Advisory Panel in 2010, a group consisting of young people aged 16–25 from across England. The national panel meet at least three times a year at the RFL's headquarters to discuss and debate
3944-698: Is regarded as possibly their best performance of modern times, Stuart Donlan and Chris Nero with 2 tries apiece and Michael De Vere with a try and five goals steering them to a 30–12 victory. Huddersfield lost the 2006 Challenge Cup Final to eventual Super League champions St. Helens 42–12, but the performance heralded the best Huddersfield achievement since 1970. The start of the 2007 season saw Huddersfield make some exciting signings, including Wests Tigers trio, Jamahl Lolesi , John Skandalis and Shane Elford , as well as Ryan Hudson . The season started horrendously for Huddersfield in terms of results. After seven consecutive losses they found themselves marooned at
4080-585: Is the current captain. The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed the "Great Britain Lions", or simply "The Lions". For most of the 20th century the Great Britain team was assembled to go on tours overseas, and to play against foreign touring teams, as well as competing in Rugby League World Cup tournaments. They were one of
4216-432: Is the dominant winter sport in the eastern Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland . The game is also among the predominant sports of Tonga and is played in other Pacific nations such as Samoa and Fiji . Researchers have found that rugby league has been able to help with improving development in the islands. In Australia, and indeed the rest of the region, the annual State of Origin series ranks among
Huddersfield Giants - Misplaced Pages Continue
4352-628: Is the oldest Rugby League club, both in terms of foundation date and continuous history; it celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014. On 27 January 1866, twenty members of the Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to play a football match against twenty of the Huddersfield Rifle Corps at Rifle Field in Trinity Street. Although the result was a scoreless draw, a large crowd was attracted. In light of this,
4488-555: Is therefore considered a limited-contact sport. The original basic rules of touch were established in the 1960s by members of the South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club in Sydney, Australia . OzTag is a non-contact form of rugby league, and can be seen as a variation of British tag rugby. Cronulla Sharks and St George Dragons halfback Perry Haddock introduced the sport in Australia while coaching
4624-413: Is worth. One of the main differences is the rules of possession. When the ball goes into touch , possession in rugby union is contested through a line-out , while in rugby league a scrum restarts play. The lesser focus on contesting possession means that play focuses more on powerful running, hard tackling, forward progression and the contest for field position (commonly compared to an "arm wrestle"); as
4760-602: The 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay at Odsal Stadium , Bradford , England, setting a new record for attendance at a rugby football match of either code. Also in 1954, the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on
4896-425: The 1999 NRL season . Figure shown is the total attendance which is officially counted for both games. ** The official attendance of the 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay was 102,569. Unofficial estimates put the attendance as high as 150,000, Bradford Police confirming 120,000. Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League ( RFL ) is the governing body for rugby league in England . Founded in 1895 as
5032-454: The ARL and NZRL . Since rugby league was introduced to Australia in 1908, it has become the largest television sport and 3rd most attended sport in Australia. Neighbouring Papua New Guinea is one of two countries to have rugby league as its national sport (with Cook Islands ). Australia's elite club competition also features a team from Auckland , New Zealand's biggest city. Rugby league
5168-569: The Baskerville Shield , as well the Tri-Nations series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also played in series and tours against other nations such as France , Papua New Guinea and Fiji . In 2006, the RFL announced that after the 2007 All Golds Tour the Great Britain team would no longer compete on a regular basis, and that players would be able to represent England , Wales and Scotland at Test level. It
5304-549: The Eastern Division Championship on Saturday 10 November 1962. Reigning Champions Huddersfield were favourites to lift the Eastern Division title, especially as Rovers were missing five first choice players with injuries. The Robins, however, set the early pace and were 10–0 up after 30 minutes. Despite a rally by Huddersfield, Rovers hung on to win 13–10. By the 1970s, the club had become
5440-685: The England national team The Rugby Football League has been a member of the International Rugby League (IRL) since 1948 and European Rugby League (ERL) since its foundation in 2003. On Tuesday 27 August 1895, as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester , prominent Lancashire rugby clubs Broughton Rangers, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan declared that they would support their Yorkshire colleagues in their proposal to form
5576-565: The Huddersfield area until the opening of the Apollo Gymnasium on 3 August 1850. At this time the gymnasium was the only venue in the town where young men could take part in physical activities, it offered the opportunity to participate in fencing , swimming , bowling , cricket and many other sports. In 1864 the Apollo Gymnasium was turned into the Gymnasium Theatre. The athletes of the gymnasium responded by forming
Huddersfield Giants - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-555: The International Rugby League . Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands and is a popular sport in countries such as England , Australia , New Zealand , France , Tonga , Fiji , Samoa , Lebanon , Jamaica , and Malta . The first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the first World Cup of either rugby code, and has been held sporadically ever since, settling into
5848-649: The New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Bateman's Hotel in George Street. Unlike in England, where both codes maintained their own geographic areas of dominance, in Australia rugby league went on to displace rugby union entirely as the primary football code in New South Wales and Queensland , while Australian rules football dominated the rest of Australia. On 5 May 1954, 102,569 spectators watched
5984-687: 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 . Based at Sportcity in Manchester , it is responsible for organising professional competitions and, in association with the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA), the community game. It also provides match officials for every level as well as administering
6120-749: The Ottawa Aces were scheduled to join the English league pyramid, becoming the only Canadian team in the system after the Wolfpack were denied re-entry. The club subsequently relocated to Penryn, Cornwall , and are now known as Cornwall R.L.F.C. In 2021, the North American Rugby League announced an attempt to be North America's professional championship, with Canadian club Toronto Wolfpack joining several USA Rugby League clubs, New York Freedom and Cleveland Rugby League to form
6256-598: The Rugby League European Federation and Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation expanding the game to new areas such as Chile , Canada , Ghana , Philippines , Czech Republic , Germany , The Netherlands , Sweden , Norway , Spain , Sri Lanka , Hungary , Turkey , Thailand and Brazil to name a few. The two most prominent full-time professional leagues are the Australian National Rugby League and
6392-453: The line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced. In 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after tackles with the play-the-ball . By this point, rule changes meant the game organised by the RFL was distinct as a sport from its union cousin. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney , Australia. There, on 8 August 1907
6528-738: The "final" in Barcelona . The lead changed hands three times before Huddersfield held on for a 23–22 victory. Huddersfield were promoted as 3rd Division Champions in April 1993 but the receiver was called in, in May 1994. Huddersfield took a share in the new McAlpine Stadium (now known as John Smith's Stadium ) in 1994. In March 1994, Huddersfield went into administration and the receivers sacked Murphy as coach. In November 1994, Huddersfield set world records for score and winning margin when they beat Blackpool Gladiators 142–4, although Barrow Raiders equalled
6664-494: The 1918–19 season. In the 1919–20 season, the first five games were won for a 43 match unbeaten run over six years which still stands as a record today. The unbeaten run consisted of 28 league matches, 8 Yorkshire Cup-ties, 5 Challenge Cup-ties and 2 League Championship play-offs. In addition, Huddersfield were drawing 8–8 in a Yorkshire Cup-tie that was abandoned because of fog and replayed. The Yorkshire Cup and Yorkshire League trophies were already won when Huddersfield met Wigan in
6800-496: The 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France and Wales became the only regular opponents. Even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup
6936-487: The 1950s. For the kick off of the 2006 season the club unveiled a host of new signings to strengthen the squad, including the iconic New Zealand international scrum-half Robbie Paul . After a convincing victory over Salford in the quarter final, the Giants faced Leeds (ironically coached by Tony Smith) in the Challenge Cup semi-final at Odsal , Bradford. Against all the odds, massive underdogs Huddersfield pulled out what
SECTION 50
#17327725176327072-468: The 1961–62 season Huddersfield were beaten by Wakefield Trinity in the Challenge Cup final but then the following week fortunes were reversed and Huddersfield won the Championship play off final at Odsal . This is the last major trophy the club collected. In 1962, the league was split into East and West of the Pennines; Huddersfield and Hull Kingston Rovers met at Headingley, Leeds in the first final of
7208-466: The 1990s, when News Corporation paid for worldwide broadcasting rights. The media giant's "Super League" movement created changes for the traditional administrators of the game. In Europe, it resulted in a move from Rugby League being a winter sport to a summer one, as the new Super League competition tried to expand its market. In Australasia, the Super League war resulted in long and costly legal battles and changing loyalties, causing significant damage to
7344-518: The 1992 St George Jersey Flegg side. Together with Chris Parkes, the two took the sport to fields across Australia. Today, it is played by over 200,000 players in organised leagues across the country. League Tag replaces tackling with the removal of one of two tags carried on an opponent's hips, attached directly to specific League Tag shorts with Velcro patches, but otherwise retains almost all other rules of traditional rugby league (such as kicking). A number of additional rules are also added relating to
7480-454: The 2017 Kingstone Press League 1 in their inaugural season and earned promotion to the 2018 Rugby League Championship. In 2019 The Wolfpack won promotion to the Super League, lasting only a few months before having to withdraw due to the ongoing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic . New ownership is currently trying to revive the club with matches against amateur clubs in the US and Canada. Beginning in 2022,
7616-674: The British Super League (with teams from New Zealand and France respectively). Other professional and semi professional leagues include Australia's Queensland Cup (which includes a team from Papua New Guinea ) and NSW Cup , the British RFL Championship and RFL League 1 , the French Super XIII and Elite 2 . The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League operates as a semi-professional competition and enjoys nationwide media coverage, being
7752-528: The Challenge Cup final moved to the national stadium . In 1933, an Ashes match was held in France. The following year, with the help of the RFL, the French Rugby League Federation was formed and rugby league reached its fourth country. In 1954, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France and was won by Great Britain. In 1971, the RFL introduced the 6 tackle rule. The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA)
7888-411: The Challenge Cup final which resulted in a 21–10 victory. Widnes were defeated in the Championship semi-final and Hull F.C. waited at Headingley as Huddersfield strove for a clean sweep of silverware. Huddersfield were missing five players who were touring Australasia with Great Britain and Hull won 3–2. Albert Rosenfeld's last game for the club was on 2 April 1921, a cup-tie against Leeds. In
8024-476: The Divisional Championship at Old Trafford. In 1998, due to the collapse of Paris Saint-Germain the club was promoted to Super League despite only finishing second in the second division. After helping the Giants into Super League, Schofield took over the coaching reins replacing Steve Ferres with Huddersfield saying that they needed a full-time coaching staff. However, dark days continued,
8160-493: The Hall of Fame, more than any other club. The particular fame of "The Team of All Talents" sprung from their extraordinary three quarter play. In 1911–12, Rosenfeld became the first player to score more than 50 tries in a season – a feat previously thought to be impossible. That season he scored 78. His wing partner, Stan Moorhouse scored 52. In 1912–13, Rosenfeld scored 56, and then in 1913–14 he broke his own record with 80 tries,
8296-472: The Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to start a football section which was to start at the beginning of December 1866. Initially the Huddersfield Athletic Club made no contribution to the support of the football club and each paying member was forced to pay a subscription of 2s/6d (half a crown/ 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 p). As the football club grew, it became a useful recruiting tool for the Huddersfield Athletic Club. In 1869 six matches were played and by 1870 three of
SECTION 60
#17327725176328432-584: The NFP Grand Final against Leigh in October 2002, which secured promotion back to the Super League for the 2003 season. In 2003 under Smith, Huddersfield established themselves as a Super League club, finishing 10th, above Wakefield Trinity and Halifax . After guiding Huddersfield back to Super League, Smith and assistant coach Brian McDermott moved onto Headingley to take control of Leeds . St Helens assistant coach and former Hull forward Jon Sharp
8568-534: The National Rugby League, this was reduced to ten prior to the 2008 season and further reduced to eight prior to the 2016 season. If a team has to interchange a player due to the blood bin rule or due to injury, and this was the result of misconduct from the opposing team, the compromised team does not have to use one of its allocated interchanges to take the player in question off the field. The backs are generally smaller, faster and more agile than
8704-475: The Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as "rugby league" football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The success of working class northern teams led to some compensating players who otherwise would be on their job and earning income on Saturdays. This led to
8840-462: The Northern Union reduced the sport from 15-a-side to 13-a-side. In 1907, the Northern Union's brand of rugby was introduced to New Zealand and saw the first ever rugby league tours of New Zealand to Great Britain . For this tour the Wales national rugby league team was formed with the match between Wales and New Zealand being the first recognised international test match by the International Rugby League . On this tour New Zealand played England, and
8976-549: The RFL as the official governing body for rugby league in England only. Despite this, Scotland Rugby League is partnered with the RFL in attempt to aid the sport's development in Scotland, and Wales Rugby League shares governance with the RFL over the domestic competition but has full control of the national team. The RFL never attempted to govern rugby league in Ireland but does assist the sport's development with Rugby League Ireland who were formed in 1988. Internationally,
9112-634: The RFL created the World Club Challenge , seeing the British champions play the champions of Australia, the only other major rugby league. 1991 saw the introduced of a formalised youth leagues. Maurice Lindsay became the Chief Executive of the RFL in 1992, proposing the Super League , which replaced Championship as the sport's premier league competition from 1996 onwards. Lindsay returned to Wigan in 1999 for his second stint at
9248-404: The RFL established the England national rugby league team in 1904, and Wales and Great Britain in 1907. English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish players were selected for Great Britain. National teams of Scotland and Ireland were never established under the RFL. The Wales national team has been run by Wales Rugby League since 1995. The RFL operates a five-tier system and is responsible for running
9384-411: The RFU reacting to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing "broken time payments" to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams typically had more working class players (coal miners, mill workers etc.) who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. In 1895,
9520-544: The Second Division had been achieved, and there was pride once again in the famous claret and gold jersey. The expense of this achievement cost the club dearly and a new financial crisis arrived. However, along came a bright new consortium who began to shape the future of the club once again. The club left Fartown and moved to Huddersfield Town's home ground at Leeds Road in 1992. In 1993 six teams were invited to take part in an inaugural European Clubs Championship,
9656-774: The Super League, nine games including two wins in the Challenge Cup including a 36–12 victory over Bradford in front of the Sky Television cameras on 18 May, Huddersfield's first victory over Bradford since joining the top flight. In addition, John Sharp was named consecutively as Coach of the Month for April and May Rugby league Rugby league football , commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby XIII in non- Anglophone Europe and South America, and referred to colloquially as football , footy , rugby , or league in its heartlands,
9792-447: The ball comes into contact with the ground. An attacking team gets a maximum of six tackles to progress up the field before possession is changed over. Once the tackle is completed, the ball-carrier must be allowed to get to his feet to ' play-the-ball '. Ball control is also important in rugby league, as a fumble of the ball on the ground forces a handover, unless the ball is fumbled backwards. The ball can also be turned over by going over
9928-421: The ball is kicked, they are deemed off-side. Tackling is a key component of rugby league play. Only the player holding the ball may be tackled. A tackle is complete, for example, when the player is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball, or when the player is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding
10064-587: The best forwards of the Kangaroos. Rosenfeld played his first game against Broughton Rangers on 11 September 1909. The club's golden period came around the time of the First World War . The club was able to assemble a team of players from across the British Empire who swept all before them. Known as "The Team of All Talents", they were led by Harold Wagstaff and are still regarded as one of
10200-538: The club after Sir Rodney Walker , then chairman of the RFL, sacked him from the RFL after a campaign to unseat him failed. In 1995, the RFL appointed its first Development Officer for Ireland with the aim of assisting Rugby League Ireland in the sports development across the Irish Sea . 1995 also saw the Great Britain side reserved to tours with England and Wales competing separately in the World Cup . 1996 saw
10336-522: The club's home for 114 years and would provide the club's famous "Fartown" nickname. After the 1890–91 season, Huddersfield along with other Yorkshire Senior clubs Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Liversedge, Manningham and Wakefield decided that they wanted their own county league starting in 1891 along the lines of a similar competition that had been played in Lancashire. The clubs wanted full control of
10472-489: The club's players had been selected to represent Yorkshire . By 1872 there were so many players that a second team was formed. The growth in popularity of the club and the need for better facilities led to the Huddersfield Athletic Club approaching St John's Cricket Club with a proposal to merge the two clubs. St John's Cricket Club had been formed in 1866 at Hillhouse and had moved to Fartown ground . By 1875, when amalgamation talks began, over £800 had been spent on developing
10608-469: The code in an extremely competitive sporting market. In 1997 two competitions were run alongside each other in Australia, after which a peace deal in the form of the National Rugby League was formed. The NRL has since become recognised as the sport's flagship competition and since that time has set record TV ratings and crowd figures. The objective in rugby league is to score more points through tries , goals and field goals (also known as drop goals) than
10744-452: The decline. Huddersfield Rugby League Club was on the point of collapse. A new board of directors took over in 1989 and injected some much needed financial resources into the club. The 'Barracudas' and 'Arena 84' names were dropped for the 1988–89 season. Nigel Stephenson was appointed as coach and Huddersfield were helped by several clubs, in particular Featherstone Rovers , to put a reasonable squad together. As well as beginning to improve
10880-558: The end of 2001, shortly before a major restructuring of the governing body and the appointment of Richard Lewis as executive chairman in May 2002. Within a year of joining the RFL, he oversaw reunification with BARLA after nearly 30 years of division. Lewis left in 2012 to become Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club . The RFL net value has been positive every year since 2004, being £1.7 million in 2011. In 2002, London Skolars became
11016-583: The finest football teams ever to have played. In the five years leading up to the First World War they won 13 trophies. Two members of the team, centre Harold Wagstaff and wing Albert Rosenfeld were honoured by inclusion in the original Rugby League Hall of Fame . They were later joined by the Cumberland second row Douglas Clark . Of just seventeen players to be elected to the Hall of Fame, no fewer than three were teammates in that famous Huddersfield side. In total, Huddersfield boast five representatives in
11152-519: The first UK sporting organisation to make the top 100 employers in the Stonewall Index that measures attitudes towards lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex served as patron until February 2021. He was replaced by his sister in law The Princess of Wales . Lindsay Hoyle the speaker of the House of Commons is the current president a role which is usually filled by
11288-408: The first amateur club to join the professional system, being the first club to do so in 80 years, and marked the start of a period where a number of clubs moved up, each with various levels of success and failure. In 2006, Catalans Dragons joined the British game, marking the second French team to do so. Unlike PSG, Catalans would go on to be a success in the British game. In 2011 a major change to
11424-529: The first full season after the war, a new record transfer fee of £1,650 was set when Dewsbury bought fullback Bill Davies from Huddersfield. Huddersfield won the League Championship in 1949, beating Warrington 13–12 in the final at Maine Road , Manchester in front of what was at the time a world record crowd of 75,194. This capitalised on a season which also brought home the Yorkshire League title. The highest attendance at Fartown to watch
11560-681: The five years prior to the Second World War , the sport's popularity increased as Frenchmen became disenchanted with the state of French rugby union in the 1930s. However, after the Allied Forces were defeated by Germany in June 1940, the Vichy regime in the south seized assets belonging to rugby league authorities and clubs and banned the sport for its association with the left-wing Popular Front government that had governed France before
11696-404: The following: Two nominated members will also sit on the youth & junior forum, a key device used to advance youth rugby league. The first logo used by the RFL was an oval shape, representing the ball with XIII and 13 over it and The Rugby Football League around it. The logo was also seen on the sleeve of teams shirts. In the late 1990s the logo was changed to a more simplistic design to
11832-427: The foot of the table, 5 points adrift, but ironically with the second best defence in the league. Large sections of the fans began to question the coach's ability and as a result crowds began to dwindle and morale was beginning to suffer. By the end of May, the picture was totally different. Huddersfield had a Challenge Cup quarter-final to look forward to and had been on their longest ever winning streak since joining
11968-547: The football, each play restarting from a set piece position and ended by a tackle. Although the Canadian Football League in particular maintained the word 'rugby' in its name for many years, alluding to that shared past, the introduction of the forward pass and unlimited substitution in North American games created a fundamentally different species of game from either original rugby code. Although
12104-407: The forwards. They are often the most creative and evasive players on the field, relying on running, kicking and handling skills, as well as tactics and set plays, to break the defensive line, instead of brute force. Generally forwards play a more collision oriented game, making ground by pure strength, and tackling near the play-the-ball. Usually, the stand-off/five-eighth and scrum-half/half-back are
12240-401: The four seasons between 1998 and 2001, they lost 81 times in 99 matches, avoiding relegation for a variety of reasons. John Kear was sacked as coach and Veivers had a second spell as interim coach. Australian Tony Smith was appointed as coach for the 2001 season after a rigorous process. This did not seem to have any effect as the club lost the first 14 matches of the season, culminating in
12376-406: The fourth tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover. 1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played. The first sponsors, Joshua Tetley and John Player , entered the game for the 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season . Television had an enormous impact on the sport of rugby league in
12512-510: The game was agreed, changing from a winter to a summer game, starting in 2012 with a playing season from March to November, aligning with the Super League , which has played this way since 1996. The regional leagues may include winter competitions in addition. In 2012, the Rugby Football League were awarded the Stonewall Sport Award in recognition of their work in embracing inclusivity and tackling homophobia. They also became
12648-610: The game, with only Wigan as rivals in terms of trophies won. Harold Wagstaff was only fifteen years and one hundred and seventy-five days old when he played his first match for Huddersfield, against Bramley in November 1906. At the time, he was the youngest first-team player the game had seen, he had signed on for a £5 signing-on fee. Huddersfield beat the touring 1908–09 Kangaroos 5–3. They were impressed enough with stand-off Albert Rosenfeld to sign him up that evening along with Australian Dual Code International Pat Walsh one of
12784-585: The ground, with the ball usually set in a kicking tee , and the opposing team not allowed to directly challenge the kicker. The Super League in Europe and the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australasia are the world's premier club competitions. Globally, rugby league is played internationally , predominantly by European , Australasian , and Pacific Island countries, and is governed by
12920-411: The historic link between the codes continues to be acknowledged, neither Canadian or American football is commonly considered a rugby code today except in the broadest sense, and are more commonly referred to collectively as gridiron codes, or simply as 'football' within their respective countries. Players on the pitch are divided into forwards and backs , although the game's rules apply to all players
13056-440: The invention of the sport previously called murderball and is not directly linked to rugby union, wheelchair rugby league has grown out of the parent sport, and retains key aspects of that sport such as an egg shaped ball, the forward-pass rule and conversions. While not a Paralympic sport, the sport has its own Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup . A further variation for ambulatory disabled players, physical disability rugby league ,
13192-412: The issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing a faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended. In rugby league, points are scored by carrying an oval ball and touching it to the ground beyond
13328-491: The league but the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union would not sanction the competition as it meant giving up control of rugby football to the senior clubs. In 1895 the club were founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union , (later the Rugby Football League ). The club has seen many ups and downs in its long history, but for the first 60 years of rugby league it was one of the powerhouses of
13464-511: The league's inaugural season. Several brand new clubs from Western USA were scheduled to join in 2022 but never played. The new competition is sanctioned by Canada Rugby League , but not yet by the United States governing body. Unfortunately, while some exhibition matches were played in 2021 and 2022, NARL was defunct by 2023 The early 21st century has seen other countries take up the game and compete in international rugby league with
13600-453: The mid-1990s, it has increasingly borrowed techniques, tactics and even laws from rugby league, while high-profile players and coaches from the league game have increasingly gone on to success in the union code in those countries where both codes are popular (e.g. Andy Farrell , Jason Robinson and Henry Paul ). The inherent similarities between rugby league and rugby union have at times led to experimental hybrid games being played that use
13736-537: The most popular sporting events. The Rugby League European Federation are responsible for developing rugby league in Europe . In England, rugby league has traditionally been associated with the historic northern counties of Yorkshire , Lancashire , and Cumberland , where the game originated, especially in towns and cities along the M62 corridor . Its popularity has also increased elsewhere. As of 2024 , only two of
13872-413: The national sport of the country. Five main variant sports of rugby league exist worldwide; Touch , OzTag , League tag , Nines , and Sevens . Touch, OzTag, and League Tag are all non-contact versions of the sport, where as Nines and Sevens are both reduced form (shorter match times and smaller teams) of the sport. Touch (also known as touch football or touch rugby) is a variant of rugby league that
14008-561: The new Super League, although the club was dissolved in 1997. In 2006, the Super League admitted the Catalans Dragons, a team from Perpignan in the southern Languedoc-Roussillon region. They have subsequently reached the 2007 Challenge Cup Final and made the playoffs of the 2008 Super League XIII season. The success of the Dragons in Super League has initiated a renaissance in French rugby league, with new-found enthusiasm for
14144-583: The new ground. At a meeting on 27 November 1875, at the Thornhill Arms Inn the two clubs agreed to merge to form the Huddersfield Cricket and Athletics Club. The motion was passed by 55 votes to 37. Initially the football section stayed at Rifle Field, but alterations made in the summer of 1878 meant that rugby could begin at the start of the 1878–79 season with the visit of Manchester Rangers on 2 November. The new ground would become
14280-559: The new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting. The 22 clubs were: Upon its founding, the Northern Union created in league competition with the first season being the 1895–96 season . The Challenge Cup came two years later in 1896–97 . 1904 saw the creation of the England national rugby league team who played the Other Nationalities rugby league team in rugby league's first international matches. In 1906,
14416-461: The newly formed Great Britain national rugby league team combining the best players of England and Wales. The Northern Union would go on to favour the use of a Great Britain side over separate England and Wales sides. A year later, the sport was introduced to Australia and saw a similar tour carried out the Australians. In 1922, Northern Rugby Union became known as "Rugby League". In 1929,
14552-405: The north of England there have been complaints about its lack of profile in the British media. On the eve of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final where England would face Australia, English amateur rugby league coach Ben Dawson stated, "we're in the final of a World Cup. First time in more than 30 years and there's no coverage anywhere". France first played rugby league as late as 1934, where in
14688-458: The old one. It had a rugby ball shape with three small lines, representing 13 players, and two long lines, representing goalposts, arranged on a rugby ball so as to suggest a hand carrying or passing it. The Rugby Football League was abbreviated to RFL . In 2017 the RFL had its most radical rebrand since the formation of Super League . The new logo was a rectangular background meant to represent The George Hotel in Huddersfield, where rugby league
14824-404: The opposing team's goal line; this is called a try , and is the primary method of scoring, worth four points. The opposing team attempts to stop the attacking side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball and denying forward progress. On occasion, where a clear try scoring opportunity has been thwarted by foul play, a penalty try may be awarded without the ball being grounded over
14960-475: The opposition within the 80 minutes of play. If after two-halves of play, each consisting of forty minutes, the two teams are drawing , a draw may be declared, or the game may enter extra time under the golden point rule, depending on the relevant competition's format. The try is the most common form of scoring, and a team will usually attempt to score one by running and kicking the ball further upfield or passing from player-to-player in order to manoeuvre around
15096-400: The opposition's defence. A try involves touching the ball to the ground on or beyond the defending team's goal-line and is worth four points. A goal is worth two points and may be gained from a conversion or a penalty . A field goal, or drop goal, is only worth one point and is gained by dropping and then kicking the ball on the half volley between the uprights in open play. A field goal has
15232-614: The pace in their early Super League years. Mal Reilly then took over with Veivers back as assistant coach. Huddersfield finished bottom of Super League and Reilly was sacked at the end of the season. In late 1999, the club merged with Sheffield Eagles almost purely for financial reasons. Sheffield coach John Kear took over as head coach of the merged side. They were officially known as the Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants, but more popularly as 'Shuddersfield'. The Association of Premiership Clubs blocked proposals for
15368-487: The playing staff, the new owners also carried out a considerable amount of work on the Fartown stadium and by the end of the 1989–90 season significant progress was being made. Average crowds topped 1,500 for the first time since the 1970s. Shortly after the 1991–92 season had begun, Alex Murphy took over as coach in 1991. Huddersfield were the first-ever champions of the newly formed third division in 1991–92. Promotion to
15504-542: The position they play, similarly to association football . Substitutes (generally referred to as "the bench") are allowed in the sport, and are typically used when a player gets tired or injured , although they can also be used tactically. Each team is currently allowed four substitutes, and in Australia and New Zealand, these players occupy shirt numbers 14 to 22. There are no limitations on which players must occupy these interchangeable slots. Generally, twelve interchanges are allowed in any game from each team, although in
15640-501: The same way. Each position has a designated number to identify himself from other players. These numbers help to identify which position a person is playing. The system of numbering players is different depending on which country the match is played in. In Australia and New Zealand, each player is usually given a number corresponding to their playing position on the field. However, since 1996 European teams have been able to grant players specific squad numbers, which they keep without regard to
15776-496: The scrum see rugby league scrummage . Forward positions are traditionally named after the player's position in the scrum yet are equal with respect to "normal play" with the exception of the hooker. Forward positions are traditionally assigned as follows: Rugby league is played in over 70 nations throughout the world. Papua New Guinea is the only country to have rugby league as its national sport . Four countries – Australia, England, France, and New Zealand – have teams that play at
15912-421: The shirt, shorts and socks were white too with red strips. Also in 2008 the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a much simpler shield and cross design, nevertheless the team will still be known as "The Lions". As of September 2024 the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia and New Zealand . Shaun Wane is head coach and George Williams
16048-524: The sideline. Rugby league and rugby union are distinct sports with many similarities and a shared origin. Both have the same fundamental rules, are played for 80 minutes and feature an oval-shaped ball and H-shaped goalposts. Both have rules that the ball cannot be passed forward, and dropping it forwards leads to a scrum. Both use tries as the central scoring method and conversion kicks , penalty goals and drop goals as additional scoring methods. However, there are differences in how many points each method
16184-482: The six teams consisted of two from the USSR; Tiraspol and Moscow Magicians, two from France; AS Carcassonne and XIII Catalan and Batley and Huddersfield. Only weeks before departure the plans collapsed as both Soviet clubs pulled out due to financial difficulties, closely followed by Batley , Carcassonne who had just five players available due to a players’ strike. This left just Huddersfield and XIII Catalan to meet in
16320-526: The specific issues associated with a tag based game. Rugby League played with nine players per team with nine minutes per half, in addition to slight rule modifications to aid the game. Rugby League played with seven players per team with seven minutes per half, in addition to slight rule modifications to aid the game. The top five attendances for rugby league test matches (International) are: The top five attendances for domestic based rugby league matches are: * NRL double header played to open Round 1 of
16456-663: The sport in the south of the country where most of the Super XIII teams are based. In other parts of Europe, the game is played at semi-professional and amateur level. As of 2023, there is no professional rugby league in North America. From 2017 to 2020, the Toronto Wolfpack were North America 's only active professional Rugby League team, competing in the English Rugby League system. They won
16592-471: The strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to Australia . They won the Rugby League World Cup on three occasions: 1954 , 1960 and 1972 . Since 1995 the RFL have sent the home nations as separate teams for World Cup purposes. Great Britain continued to compete as a test playing nation both home and away. They competed against Australia for the Ashes , and New Zealand for
16728-422: The switch to summer rugby and the creation of the Super League . The competition aimed to be a European competition outside of the British rugby league system , however this never materialised. Despite this, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. formed a rugby league team who competed in the first two seasons, marking the first foreign team to complete in the British game. The RFL accumulated losses of £1.9 million at
16864-414: The team struggled to compete, winning only a handful of games. Garry Schofield was removed as Huddersfield Giants' coach after 13 games, having picked up two wins. Schofield was replaced by his assistant Phil Veivers as caretaker coach. Schofield later successfully sued the club for unfair dismissal. It took Huddersfield's next three coaches more than 13 games to register two wins, with the club so far off
17000-512: The top three professional divisions as well as the National Conference League and various regional leagues below that. The RFL also runs two cup competitions for professional clubs and is involved with the organisation of the World Club Challenge alongside Australia's National Rugby League . The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen
17136-482: The try line. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals. Drop goals (or field goals) can be attempted from the hand at any time for a single point. Following a successful try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion worth a further two points. Penalty kicks at goal, known simply as penalties, may also be awarded for general foul play, and are also worth two points. Unlike drop goals, penalty kicks and conversions are taken from
17272-517: The twelve Super League teams are based outside of these traditional counties: Catalans Dragons and London Broncos . One other team from outside the United Kingdom, Toulouse Olympique , competes in the British rugby league system , although not at the highest tier Super League level, but rather in the second tier Championship . Super League average attendances are in the 8,000 to 9,500 range. The average Super League match attendance in 2014
17408-580: The war. The sport was unbanned after the Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the collapse of the Vichy regime, although it was still actively marginalised by the French authorities until the 1990s. Despite this, the national side appeared in the finals of the 1954 and 1968 World Cups, and the country hosted the 1954 event. In 1996, a French team, Paris Saint-Germain was one of eleven teams which formed
17544-406: The winning margin a day later by beating Nottingham City 138–0. These records stood for almost 24 years until York City Knights beat West Wales Raiders by 144–0 in April 2018 In 1995 the first team reached the final of the Second Division premiership competition at Old Trafford . In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from
17680-472: Was 8,365. In 2018 average Super League match attendance was 8,547. Ranked the eighth most popular sport in the UK overall, rugby league is the 27th most popular participation sport in England according to figures released by Sport England ; the total number of rugby league participants in England aged 16 and over was 44,900 in 2017. This is a 39% drop from 10 years ago. While the sport is largely concentrated in
17816-433: Was appointed head coach for 2004 and the team improved again, finishing 7th in the league and making their first appearance in the Challenge Cup semi-finals since 1971. The beginning of the 2005 Super League season saw the club make its highest-profile signing in fifty years when Australian centre Michael De Vere signed from Brisbane Broncos , becoming the club's first Australian international player since Pat Devery in
17952-497: Was created and had its first world cup in 2022 to coincide with the rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup competitions. Rugby league football takes its name from the bodies that split to create a new form of rugby, distinct from that run by the Rugby Football Unions, in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand between 1895 and 1908. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union , was established in 1895 as
18088-443: Was created in 1973 in Huddersfield by a group of enthusiasts concerned about the dramatic disappearance of many amateur leagues and clubs. Fewer than 150 amateur teams remained with a mere 30 youth rugby league teams. The 'breakaway' from the RFL was acrimonious and was strongly contested, with a vote 29–1 against recognising BARLA. Thanks to Tom Mitchell, this changed to a unanimous vote of approval for BARLA within 12 months. In 1976,
18224-574: Was founded and 1895 the year it was founded. Thirteen stripes inside it represent thirteen players. The oval on top represents the ball and the appreciation RFL has been replaced with Rugby Football League . The RFLs current headquarters are at Sportcity Eithad Campus in East Manchester. The RFL first moved into permanent headquarters in 1922 at 180 Chapeltown Road, Leeds , where it stayed for 73 years before leaving in 1995 to Red Hall in Leeds,
18360-479: Was hosted by England during October and November 2022, staged the Men's , Women's and Wheelchair competitions together for the first time. The competition formerly featured 16 teams, but has been cut down to 10 for the upcoming 2026 Rugby League World Cup . The Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation 's purpose is to spread the sport of rugby league throughout their region along with other governing bodies such as
18496-633: Was in 1975, and since then they have been runners-up in 1975 , 1995 (as hosts) and 2017 . In 2022 England hosted the delayed 2021 World Cup . For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, an England 'A' team, competed for the Federation Shield . In the past England's main rivals have been Wales and France , with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, England's main rivals would now be Australia , New Zealand and, to
#631368