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58-540: Wigan Warriors were crowned champions after beating Warrington Wolves 12-4 to win their 22nd league Championship. Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend . This season also saw the first Super League game played outside Europe, as Wigan Warriors faced Hull F.C. at WIN Stadium in Wollongong , Australia on Saturday 10 February 2018, which Wigan won, 24–10. St. Helens won

116-546: A HQ. The first match took place on 30 November when members played against each other in a practice match at Folly Field the match attracted around 2,000 spectators. After a series of trial and practice matches, they travelled to Warrington to play their first competitive match on 18 January 1873. The game ended in a draw. The club played six games in its first season finishing with a record of three wins and three draws. An inability to recruit enough regular and quality players led to many members of Upholland Football Club joining

174-477: A crowd of 36,895 at Central Park for an unofficial World Club Championship (though many who were at Central Park still claim the attendance was closer to 50,000). It was the first time an English club side had beaten a team of Australians at rugby league since the 1978 Kangaroo tour . After Lowe left in 1989, Australian John Monie , a former premiership winning coach with the Parramatta Eels , continued

232-788: A cup tie meant Wigan were huge favourites against the unfancied Sheffield Eagles . But on 2 May 1998 the Eagles would go down in rugby league history causing the biggest upset in the competition's history with a 17–8 win. Phil Clarke Philip Clarke (born 16 May 1971) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Great Britain and England international representative back-rower or stand-off , he played his club rugby league in England for Wigan (with whom he won five consecutive Challenge Cup Finals from 1991 to 1995), and in Australia for

290-682: A division, and potential financial ruin. In 1895 Wigan joined with other clubs from Yorkshire and Lancashire to found the Northern Union which led eventually to the sport of rugby league . This was a result of the breakaway from the Rugby Football Union . The County Championship was introduced in October 1895 with Cheshire entertaining Lancashire. The Red Rose side contained three players from Wigan: Winstanley (full back) and Unsworth and Brown (forwards). In 1896–97, due to

348-551: A highlights programme called the Super League Show , presented by Tanya Arnold. The BBC show two weekly broadcasts of the programme, the first to the BBC North West , Yorkshire , North East and Cumbria , and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions on Monday evenings at 11:35 p.m. on BBC One , while a repeat showing is shown nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons at 1.30 p.m. The Super League Show

406-487: A player, for Wigan was at Mount Pleasant , Batley , on 23 February 1946. He remained at Central Park for another six seasons as coach. In 1948 Wigan took part in the first televised rugby league match when their 8–3 Challenge Cup Final victory over Bradford Northern was broadcast to the Midlands. In another first this was the first rugby league match to be attended by the reigning monarch, King George VI , who presented

464-467: A record £280,000 profit but by 1993 this had become a loss of £300,000 on a turnover of £3 million, in no small way to the cost of the Whitbread Stand that had been built at the clubhouse end of Central Park in 1991–92 at an estimated cost of £1.3 million. By March 1994 Wigan's wage bill topped £2 million a year. John Dorahy became coach for the 1993 season. Despite supervising Wigan through to

522-541: A total of 290 appearances, scoring 131 tries and was involved in the club winning 8 trophies. Wigan, Leigh and Salford were suspended by the RFU for breaking the strict amateur code despite their argument that broken-time payments were necessary to avoid undue hardship for their working class players. The clubs were placed joint bottom of the Lancashire league. With automatic promotion and relegation, they faced dropping down

580-675: Is also available for one month after broadcast for streaming or download via the BBC iPlayer in the UK only. End of season play-offs are shown on BBC Two across the whole country in a weekly highlights package on Sunday afternoons. Internationally, Super League is shown live or delayed on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand), TV 2 Sport (Norway), Fox Soccer Plus (United States), Fox Sports (Australia) and Sportsnet World (Canada). BBC Coverage: Commercial Radio Coverage: All Super League commentaries on any station are available via

638-566: Is currently the most successful club in the history of world Rugby League having won 163 trophies in total (8 of these were won prior to the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union ). The club has played its home games at the Brick Community Stadium since 1999. Before this time, the club's home was Central Park and had been since 1902. The club first wore the cherry and white colours it

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696-403: Is now synonymous for in 1885 and adopted these colours on a permanent basis in late 1888. The club has won 24 league titles (17 first division and 7 Super League ) , 21 Challenge Cups and 5 World Club Challenges . Wigan's most successful period was during the 1980s and 1990s, with the club winning seven consecutive league titles, eight Challenge Cup finals in a row (1988–1995) and winning

754-415: The 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and won. On 12 May 1921, Wigan became a limited company. In June 1922 Jim Sullivan joined Wigan from Cardiff RFC when he was only 17. His cash value was put at £750, which was a staggering signing-on fee for an adolescent who had not yet played 13-a-side rugby (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £137,700 in 2015). His first game

812-614: The 1923–24 season when they beat Oldham 21–4 in Rochdale . In 1933 the Prince of Wales attended Central Park , becoming the first royal to watch a rugby league match. On 25 October 1938 Australian Harry Sunderland arrived in Wigan to take up the duties of Secretary-Manager at Central Park. On 28 September the following year, Sunderland's contract was terminated and he and the club parted company. The outbreak of World War II disrupted

870-624: The Challenge Cup and the Rugby Football League Championship , Dorahy was dismissed in May 1994, only days after the club's return from Wembley . In a statement by the club, Dorahy was said to have been sacked for "gross misconduct". Graeme West was appointed as coach, after fans petitioned for him to get the job. In his first month as coach, at the end of the 1993–94 Rugby Football League season West secured

928-821: The League Leaders Shield for a record 6th time. However, they failed to reach the Grand Final after losing their semi final 13-18 to Warrington Wolves . Widnes Vikings were relegated to the Championship , after only 3 wins in the regular season and one win in The Qualifiers , while London Broncos were promoted after winning the Million Pound Game by beating Toronto Wolfpack 4–2. Eleven teams in Super League are from

986-693: The Rugby Football League Championship but Wigan continued to play in the Lancashire War League and the Emergency War League. During the war years the club went through the 1940–41 season unbeaten although they lost the Championship final. They lost the 1944 Challenge Cup Final over two games to Bradford Northern 8–3 but made up for it beating Dewsbury in the Championship Final. Jim Sullivan's last game, as

1044-651: The Sydney City Roosters . Since his retirement he has continued to work in the sport as a manager, executive and commentator. Clarke was born on 16 May 1971 in Blackrod , Lancashire , England. For much of his early career he balanced playing rugby with studies at the University of Liverpool . He is the son of Colin Clarke , the Wigan and England hooker of the 1960s and 1970s, and Wigan coach of

1102-463: The Sydney City Roosters . He played in the 1995 World Cup Final at second-row but Australia won the match and retained the Cup. He moved to Sydney City Roosters in 1995 but his playing career was cut short when he suffered a serious neck injury in a match against North Queensland Cowboys in 1996. Although he made a full recovery, he was warned by doctors never to play rugby league again. Clarke

1160-566: The World Club Challenge on three occasions including the club's win against Brisbane Broncos at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre with victory in 1994 . On 21 November 1872, Wigan Football Club was founded by members of Wigan Cricket Club following a meeting at the Royal Hotel, Standishgate. The meeting saw around 50 members enroll into the club most of whom were members of the cricket club. The following committee

1218-530: The 'A' team. He later became one of the most successful and famous Wigan players of all time. Eric Ashton signed for Wigan for £150 in 1955. Wigan went to Wembley six times in the Boston / Ashton era and won three times. The visit of St. Helens on 27 March 1959 produced Central Park's all-time record attendance of 47,747 which is still a record for any rugby league game in Lancashire . Wigan went on to win

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1276-616: The 1905–06 season they won their first cup, in rugby league, the Lancashire County Cup . Between 1906 and 1923 Wigan won the Lancashire League another seven times and the Lancashire Cup another four times. Wigan were the first winners of the Lancashire cup. Wigan played New Zealand on 9 November 1907 and ran out winners by 12 points to 8 in front of a crowd of around 30,000. Great Britain, then known as

1334-542: The 1966 Lancashire Cup Final. Billy Boston played his last match in the cherry and white, against Wakefield Trinity at the end of April 1968. Wigan celebrated the centenary year of the club in November 1972, with a match against Australia at Central Park, on Saturday 17 November, the result finished as a 18–18 draw. Wigan pulled off a surprise victory 19–9 over Salford in the Lancashire Cup Final which

1392-463: The 1980s. Clarke was part of a Wigan side that dominated English rugby league in the late 1980s and 1990s, winning the Championship in six consecutive seasons and the Challenge Cup in seven consecutive seasons during Clarke's time at the club. Clarke played in five Challenge Cup final victories, from 1991 to 1995. He played in three World Club Challenges for Wigan - the 1991 victory against

1450-709: The First Division Premiership Trophy against Castleford, and then traveled with the team to Brisbane, guiding them in their 1994 World Club Challenge victory over Australian premiers, the Brisbane Broncos in front of a WCC record attendance of 54,220. At the end of his first full season, he and the team won the League Championship, Challenge Cup, Regal Trophy, and Premiership—the 'Grand Slam' of all 4 trophies. Even though Wigan dominated rugby league from 1985 to 1995, it

1508-559: The Great Britain set-up in 2001. He said his reasons for leaving were the "lack of leadership and direction" for the Great Britain team, and the lack of improvement in competitiveness against international opponents, adding that "despite what's been said by the RFL and certain parts of the media, we're no closer now than we were 15 years ago." He is a director of The Sports Office, a sports software company. In February 2019 Phil became

1566-511: The Lancashire Senior Competition. Wigan became sub-tenants of Springfield Park, which they shared with Wigan United AFC, playing their first game there on 14 September 1901. A crowd of 4,000 saw them beat Morecambe 12–0. During this season Wigan won the Lancashire Senior Competition. Wigan's record crowd at Springfield was 10,000 when they beat Widnes on 19 March 1902. The last game was on 28 April 1902 when Wigan beat

1624-572: The North of England. Five teams hail from the historic county of Lancashire , west of the Pennines : Warrington , St. Helens , Salford , Wigan , and Widnes . Six teams hail from the historic county of Yorkshire , east of the Pennines : Huddersfield , Wakefield Trinity , Leeds , Castleford , Hull KR and Hull FC . Catalans Dragons , located in Perpignan , France, are the only team outside

1682-520: The North of England. St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, and Leeds Rhinos are the only teams to have played in every season of Super League since 1996. Hull KR were promoted from the Championship after finishing in 2nd place in The Qualifiers for 2017 whilst Leigh were relegated to the Championship after losing the 2017 Million Pound Game to Catalans . Wigan finished 2nd in regular season and seven consecutive wins in

1740-546: The Northern Union, played their first-ever test against New Zealand on 25 January 1908. James "Jim" Leytham , Bert Jenkins and John "Johnny" Thomas of Wigan were in the home side and Leytham scored a try. Jenkins and Thomas had previously played in the first Welsh game against New Zealand on 1 January 1908. On Saturday 28 October 1911, Wigan played a match against the Australasian team which visited England on

1798-456: The Rest of Lancashire Senior Competition. Two meetings were held by Wigan members during the season to discuss the possibility of turning the club into a Limited Company but the idea did not take off. On 6 September 1902, Wigan played at Central Park for the first time in the opening match of the newly formed First Division. An estimated crowd of 9,000 spectators saw Wigan beat Batley 14–8. In

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1856-530: The Super 8's saw them secure 2nd place in the table. A 14–0 victory over Castleford Tigers in the semi-final earned Wigan a place in their 10th Grand Final. This is the first time that a team has won all 7 Super 8's games in a single season, and since this playoff format will be abandoned at the end of the 2018 season, will make this a unique historic feat achieved by Wigan. Warrington finished 4th to earn an away trip to League Leaders Shield winners St. Helens in

1914-522: The Upholland club which was re-formed following the Wigan club being disbanded. On 22 September 1879, the club was re-formed as Wigan Wasps Football Club by new members at a meeting in the Dicconson Arms. The main instigators of the re-formation of the club anew were W.L. Baldwin, J. Slevin , J. Underwood, Joe Wardle and others. Mr. Underwood was secretary and Mr. Alfred Hodgkinson was named as

1972-501: The Wigan Union Charity Cup again in 1885. The club played in cherry and white jerseys for the first time on 26 September 1885. In 1888 they hosted the touring New Zealand Maoris. During this era Wigan were represented by some iconic players. James 'Jim' Slevin , Ned Bullough , William 'Billy' Atkinson and John 'Jack' Anderton . Jim Slevin arguably being the most important player for Wigan during this era. He made

2030-490: The board accepted his decision "with reluctance". Vince Karalius then took over but was sacked in September 1979, he was replaced by Kel Coslett . In 1980, Wigan were relegated from the top flight for the first time in their history and Coslett was replaced by George Fairbairn as player-coach. During the second division season they recorded a record average attendance for the division of 8,198. Wigan won promotion back to

2088-534: The club in 1876. This was a significant boost to the playing ranks. The club changed its name on 20 October 1876 and became Wigan & District Football Club to represent the new influx of players which had joined from the outskirts of town. The Upholland club disbanded due to the large number of players who joined Wigan. The club moved and played its home games at the Wigan Cricket Club at Prescott Street just off Frog Lane. The first game at Prescott Street

2146-497: The club reverted to its original name of Wigan Football Club. It had been suggested that the club should do so but this was finally decided when Club Secretary William Marsden wrote to Wigan Cricket Club to see if they would be forming another football club in the near future as they had done when originally creating Wigan. The cricketers weren't involved with the club anymore but Mr Marsden felt it would be courtesy to ask what their intentions were in relation to football. The secretary of

2204-488: The club was renamed as the Wigan Warriors. Wigan's dominance came under threat with the new league now fully professional and the introduction of the salary cap and the 20/20 rule. After going out of the Challenge Cup to Salford in 1996 and St Helens in 1997, they returned to Wembley for the final time in 1998. Still undefeated in the league and the fact coach John Monie —in his second spell at Wigan—had never lost

2262-522: The cricket club wrote back saying it was completely justified for Wigan Wasps to become Wigan Football Club again as the cricketers had no intention of forming another football club with that name or being involved with football at all and as such the club remained the only rugby football club in town at that time. In 1883, Wigan won its first trophy, the Wigan Union Charity Cup. The club won the West Lancashire and Border Towns Union Cup in 1884 and

2320-420: The game 19–14 after holding off a Saints comeback. Mick Sullivan moved to Wigan for a then record £9,500 fee in 1957. Joe Egan returned to coach Wigan and during his time they won the Championship play-off final in 1960 defeating Wakefield Trinity 21–5, the Challenge Cup in 1958, 1959, 13–9 against Workington Town and 30–13 against Hull F.C. respectively before losing in 12–6 to St. Helens in 1961 which

2378-652: The increased number of Northern Union teams the Northern League was abandoned in favour of two County Senior leagues. The second half of the season saw the introduction of the Northern Union Cup (later known as the Rugby League Cup). Wigan reached the third round before being knocked out by St. Helens. In 1904, fourteen clubs resigned from the two county leagues to form a new Northern Rugby League for season 1901–02. Wigan, however, remained in

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2436-511: The league game 82–6 at Maine Road , but lost the return union game 44–19 at Twickenham . In July 1996 Andy Farrell was named the Wigan club's captain. Farrell enjoyed a fantastic 1996 and was rewarded with the Man of Steel Award . Eric Hughes became coach of Wigan Warriors, replacing Graeme West in February 1997 following an early exit from the Challenge Cup in 2 consecutive years. In 1997

2494-410: The league, this led to an upsurge in the fortunes of the club. Between February and October 1987, under new coach, former New Zealand coach Graham Lowe , Wigan won a record 29 games in a row as follows: 20 Division One matches, 3 Premiership Trophy matches, 4 Lancashire Cup matches, 1 Charity Shield final, 1 World Club Challenge Final. Wigan defeated Australian club Manly-Warringah 8–2 in front of

2552-580: The particular stations on-line streaming. Wigan Warriors Wigan Warriors are an English professional Rugby League club based in Wigan , Greater Manchester . The club competes in the Betfred Super League , the top tier of the British rugby league system . Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union following the schism in 1895. The club

2610-578: The semi-finals. Warrington won 18-13 with a late try by Tom Lineham . Warrington will be contesting their 4th Grand Final. This match was Shaun Wane's last game as Wigan coach before going to Scotland Rugby Union after 7 seasons as head coach of Wigan. • Updated to match(es) played on 28 September 2018 (Super 8s – Round 7 ) [REDACTED] Red Cards [REDACTED] Yellow Cards Average attendances Top 10 attendances Awards are presented for outstanding contributions and efforts to players and clubs in

2668-465: The success at Central Park. From 1988 to 1995 Wigan won the Challenge Cup 8 seasons in a row including their 27–0 win over St Helens in 1989, the first time any team had been held scoreless in a Cup Final at Wembley; this period was Wigan's most successful period to date. They also won the Championship seven times, League Cup four times, Premiership Trophy three times, Charity Shield twice and three World Club Championships. In February 1990, Wigan announced

2726-428: The top flight the following season but Fairbairn lasted no longer than May 1981 before moving to Hull Kingston Rovers . Maurice Bamford took over as coach of Wigan before being sacked in May 1982 and was replaced by Alex Murphy . Maurice Lindsay came to Wigan in the early 1980s to join directors Jack Robinson, Tom Rathbone and ex-player Jack Hilton. Wigan became one of the first teams to go full-time professional in

2784-595: The treasurer. Many of the new members involved in the re-establishment of the club had also been involved with the Hare & Hounds running club and were of a more working-class background than the cricketers who had originally founded the club. The club moved back to Folly Field and used the Dicconson Arms Hotel as a HQ again before using the Legs of Man Hotel in the town centre as a HQ a few years later. In 1881

2842-443: The trophy. On Saturday 27 October 1951, 33,230 spectators saw Wigan beat Leigh 14–6 in the final of the Lancashire Cup at Station Road , Swinton . In 1952 Wigan won their sixth consecutive Lancashire Cup. Wigan were also featured in the first league match to be broadcast, a clash with Wakefield Trinity at Central Park on 12 January 1952. In 1953 Wigan signed Billy Boston for £150. 8,000 fans saw Billy Boston début for Wigan in

2900-716: The visiting Penrith Panthers , the 1992 home defeat by the visiting Brisbane Broncos and the 1994 victory over the Broncos in Brisbane. Clarke was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand . He played in the back-row in Great Britain's win over Australia in Melbourne. He represented England at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup . He became the first player to win England caps whilst at

2958-627: The week leading up to the Super League Grand Final: 2018 is the second of a five-year contract with Sky Sports to televise 100 matches per season. Sky Sports coverage in the UK will see two live matches broadcast each week, usually at 8:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights. Regular commentators will be Eddie Hemmings with summarisers including Phil Clarke , Brian Carney , Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor . Sky will broadcast highlights on Sunday nights on Super League - Full Time at 10 p.m. BBC Sport will broadcast

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3016-400: Was Wigan's chief executive from 1997 to 1998, when they won the Grand Final of Super League III . He became a Sky Sports commentator in 1999 alongside Bill Arthur on Academy matches and moved on to work with Eddie Hemmings and Mike "Stevo" Stephenson on Super League broadcasts. In March 2006 he left the position of Great Britain team manager after five years, having become part of

3074-436: Was at home against Widnes on 27 August 1921, and he scored ten points in a 21–0 win. Almost inevitably, Jim Sullivan scored the first points in the first Challenge Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium , kicking a penalty after only three minutes of the inaugural Challenge Cup Final against Dewsbury in 1929 in which he led Wigan to a 13–2 victory. Sullivan became player-coach in 1932. Wigan won their first Challenge Cup in

3132-407: Was played against St. Helens on 25 November 1876 which Wigan won comfortably. The club did not fulfil all its fixtures in the 1877/78 season. The club played its last match that season against Liverpool Wanderers on 17 November 1877. There are no current records of the club after 23 November 1877 that year as the club disbanded. Many of the members who joined Wigan from Upholland eventually returned to

3190-470: Was played at Wilderspool , Warrington on Saturday 13 October 1973. Cup holders Salford had lost only one match prior to the final, against the touring Australians. Ted Toohey became coach of Wigan in May 1974 before being sacked in January 1975, this would set the pattern of coaches lasting one or two seasons before being replaced. Star coach, Joe Coan then took control until he resigned in September 1976,

3248-417: Was selected: T.R. Ellis, H.V. Kyrke, J. Sayers, E.R. Walker, J. Smith, J. Souter, H. Wall and R. Procter. The recently re-elected Mayor of Wigan Mr Nathan Eckersley was made club President. Many of the club's founding members were well-to-do; some owned businesses or were solicitors, magistrates and suchlike. Wigan F.C. played on Folly Field, near Upper Dicconson Street and used the nearby Dicconson Arms Hotel as

3306-494: Was the only season the club achieved this feat. This would be somewhat surpassed in 2024, with Wigan winning all 4 trophies available to them in the same season, the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, League Leaders Shield and Super League Grand Final. Wigan played in a special 2 match challenge series against Bath RFC in 1996, with one game played under league rules, and the other under union rules. Wigan won

3364-498: Was to be his last game in charge. Wigan continued to have regular success in both league and cup competitions until 1974 when Wigan went eight seasons without winning any leagues or cups. Eric Ashton coached Wigan from 1963 to 1973. In 1966, Wigan locked television cameras out of their ground in the belief that they affected attendances. They were fined £500 by the Rugby Football League . Wigan beat Oldham 16–13 in

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