106-882: 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 . Based at Sportcity in Manchester , it is responsible for organising professional competitions and, in association with the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA),
212-475: 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
318-522: 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 was founded and 1895 the year it was founded. Thirteen stripes inside it represent thirteen players. The oval on top represents
424-629: A hat trick of tries in a World Club Challenge. In September 2014, it was announced that the World Club Challenge name would be changed to the World Club Series with six clubs participating – 3 from each league. The first iteration took place between 20 and 22 February 2015, and featured three matches, the first and second essentially being two exhibition games and the final game being for the Championship trophy between
530-461: A healthy crowd of 26,856 turned out for the match, indicating that it was indeed a viable initiative. Leading into the match, St. Helens opted to play two warm-up games against a Queensland and Auckland representative team respectively, and lost both. In order to prove their triumph was legitimate, and not a result of fatigue on behalf of St. Helens, Eastern Suburbs challenged both representative sides who had defeated St. Helens. While Queensland declined
636-595: 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
742-543: A major reorganisation. Super League and the Championship were both reduced from 14 clubs to 12, and League 1 was expanded from nine clubs to 14. The season structures of both Super League and the Championship were radically changed, and that of League 1 was more modestly changed. Wales became represented in the Championships starting in 2010 with the entry of South Wales Scorpions into League 1 and North Wales Crusaders in 2012. Toulouse Olympique of France played in
848-537: A much stronger showing and improved results. This also led to an increased movement to having the tournament staged in Australia. During this period, the matches were fixtured in late February, still before the commencement of the National Rugby League season but in the early stages of the new Super League season. In mid-2012, a working party was established to look into the feasibility of conducting
954-527: A national Championship with a Second Division and sometimes a Third Division as well or had separate county leagues for Yorkshire and Lancashire. There were also county cups for Yorkshire and Lancashire between 1905 and 1993. The Regal Trophy and BBC2 Floodlit Trophy were two other knock-out tournaments. A Trans-Pennine Cup was played for a short-time but it was replaced by the National League Cup . The Rugby League Charity Shield
1060-438: 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 the shirt, shorts and socks were white too with red strips. Also in 2008
1166-687: A rematch from the 1991 edition of the World Club Challenge. Penrith would fail in capturing an inaugural World Club Challenge win in 2024 as they were defeated 16-12 at the DW Stadium by Wigan, who equalled the Sydney Roosters' tally of five World Club Challenge wins. Ahead of the 2024 NRL Grand Final , reports began circulating that the 2025 World Club Challenge would be at risk of being cancelled as teams that could potentially qualify ( Penrith Panthers , Warrington Wolves , and Wigan Warriors ) would have difficulty arranging travel to either
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#17327654025011272-730: 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 the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it
1378-541: A semi-regular fixture, thought was paused in the 1990s due to the Super League war . The competition has been held every year since 2000 (excluding 2020–2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ). Sydney Roosters and Wigan Warriors have both won the competition 5 times, the joint highest in all formats since the competition began. Wigan Warriors are the current champions, defeating Penrith Panthers 13–12 in 2024 at
1484-565: 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
1590-538: A standalone nation. Unlike Great Britain, an England side has never won the World Cup, and non-World Cup matches involving England were not deemed to have Test status, which applied only to the full Great Britain side. Outside of the World Cup, England are one of three automatic qualifiers to the Rugby League Four Nations , alongside New Zealand and Australia , finishing as losing finalists at
1696-516: Is also popular in Cumbria where the amateur game is particularly powerful. Within its Northern heartlands, rugby league is often referred to as "rugby", a term that in the rest of England would normally refer to rugby union , and occasionally as "football", which even in the North of England normally refers to association football . Rugby has long been popular in the North of England and by
1802-704: Is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League , for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the competition 15 times with National Rugby League sides having 14 wins. The first such match was played in 1976 , although this was not an official competitive game. The first official World Club Challenge saw Widnes Vikings beat Canberra Raiders 30–18 at Old Trafford on 4 October 1989, after which it became
1908-683: Is the top league for the game in Europe; eleven of the twelve teams are based in England. It is the only full-time professional rugby league competition operating in the Northern Hemisphere . The French team Paris Saint-Germain competed in the first Super League season but folded in 1999. French presence was re-established in 2006 when Catalans Dragons were admitted to Super League. In 2009 , Super League added Celtic Crusaders from Wales , which renamed themselves Crusaders Rugby League after that season; that team effectively folded after
2014-758: The 2011 season . The winner of the league is awarded the League Leaders' Shield whilst the overall winner of Super League is determined by play-offs and a grand final. The winner of the Super League plays the winner of the Australian NRL competition in the World Club Challenge . Below Super League, there are the Championship and League 1 . The Championship currently has 14 clubs and League 1 has 11. The 2015 season marked
2120-600: The DW Stadium in front of a sell out crowd of 24,091. The competition began unofficially in 1976 as a match between Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and Premiership winners St. Helens . This inaugural clash was proposed as merely a 'one-off' game, and was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on June 29, in the midst of the 1976 NSWRFL season . While some considered it an unnecessary disruption to both teams' campaigns in their respective domestic competitions,
2226-490: The Rugby Football League in 1922. The 1930s saw a series of failed attempts to introduce rugby league football to London. During the Second World War professional rugby league was again discontinued, normal leagues were suspended, a War Emergency League was established, with clubs playing separate Yorkshire and Lancashire sections to reduce the need for travel. In 1948 the first televised rugby league match
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#17327654025012332-509: The Rugby Football Union would not countenance professional rugby. In August 1895, representatives of the northern clubs met at the George Hotel , Huddersfield to form the "Northern Rugby Football Union" (NRFU) . The NRFU was initially vehemently anti-professional, allowing only payments for time missed from other employment. A thriving amateur scene also soon developed, as local amateur clubs wished to maintain links with their "Northern Union" neighbours. The Northern Union made reforms to
2438-553: The Rugby League War of the Roses played between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The Championship Cup was a cup competition for the Championship and Championship 1 (now League 1). On 5 April 1904, England played their first game, losing 9–3 to Other Nationalities in a 12-a-side match at Wigan. With the exception of 1975 , England was represented by Great Britain in international tournaments, but since 1995 has competed as
2544-797: 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 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,
2650-606: The West Riding of Yorkshire proved receptive with teams being founded in Workington , Whitehaven and Doncaster . Nonetheless the game survived, and continued to maintain popularity in its home regions. The introduction of regular internationals as other countries took up the sport provided a fillip. Rugby league experienced a surge in interest following the end of the Second World War. Large crowds came to be
2756-491: The inaugural tournament in 2009. Regular tests against France have seen England go undefeated since 1981, with an International Origin series occasionally played against overseas players based in the Super League to provide stronger competition. Between 1935 and 2004 England competed in the European Nations Cup . In recent years they had come to dominate this tournament, and in 2005 they withdrew to level
2862-556: The 1880s the region's clubs had come to dominate. The game was popular amongst working class people, unlike the clubs in Southern England whose players belonged to the middle or upper class . Rugby competition at the time did not allow paying players any wages; the working class players felt they could not afford time off to train and play, nor could they afford to miss work through injury sustained whilst playing. The principle of amateurism , and issues of class ensured that
2968-646: The 1994 match logistical issues meant the concept was put on hiatus until it was revived in 1997. With the outbreak of Australia's Super League War in 1995, the World Club Challenge was not staged again until 1997 when the competition was restructured to include the twenty-two clubs from the Australasian Super League and the European Super League . The twelve Australian Rugby League affiliated clubs did not take part. With six rounds in two hemispheres and $ 1,000,000 prize money,
3074-476: The 2014 World Club Challenge would be the first held in Australia since 1994. In addition, commencing in 2015, the tournament would also be expanded to six teams. The World Club Challenge return to Australia in 2014 was a success with a solid crowd numbers of over 31,000, with the Sydney Roosters defeating the Wigan Warriors 36–14. During the game, Sydney's Michael Jennings became the first player to score
3180-506: The Ashes for the last time in 1970, with a 2–1 series win in Australia. The foundation of the Universities and Colleges Rugby League in 1969 and the British Amateur Rugby League Association in 1973 was a response to the need to develop the game below professional level. In 1980, Fulham F.C. formed a rugby league team, with the intention of creating another income stream for the association football club. The Rugby Football League
3286-503: The Brisbane Broncos at home in the second before memorably defeating the same opponent in their own city in the third). If only we could see a genuine contest between Wigan and Brisbane – a World Club final. Alas, it will never happen. Oh sure, a game might be arranged, but logistics dictate that one side would be out of season, rusty or tired, and away from home. The Sydney Morning Herald , September 1992 After
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3392-551: The COVID-19 pandemic, the clash between St Helens and Melbourne was completely cancelled. In October 2021, St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said that while he hoped the 2022 version of this fixture could go ahead against the Penrith Panthers, he acknowledged it would be “very difficult” to arrange. In November 2021 Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher said Penrith would only play if the game was played at BlueBet Stadium
3498-644: 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)
3604-677: The Championship in the past, and returned to the British league system in 2016, initially playing in League 1 and now in the Championship. The Toronto Wolfpack from Canada joined League 1 in 2017 and won the title in its inaugural season, thereby earning promotion to the Championship for 2018. All other clubs in both divisions are based in England, and of these, only London Broncos of the Championship and Newcastle Thunder , London Skolars , Gloucestershire All Golds , Hemel Stags , Coventry Bears and Oxford Rugby League of League 1 are based outside
3710-773: The Hull & District League. Teams from these regional leagues can apply for election to the National Conference League if they meet minimum criteria. The Rugby League Conference , which ran until 2011, was mostly composed of teams outside the heartlands. It has subsequently been replaced by a series of regional leagues across England, Scotland and Wales. Successor leagues in England include: Conference League South , Midlands Rugby League , North East Rugby League , South West Rugby League , East Men's League , South Premier , London & South East Men's League . At various times English clubs have either competed in
3816-656: The NRL and Penrith about playing the game during Magic Round (requiring the NRL to schedule one of Penrith's byes for this round), an idea proposed on social media by Penrith's Nathan Cleary two days prior. However this idea never came to fruition with Penrith facing Brisbane in Magic Round. 18 teams have competed in the World Club Challenge with 12 teams being successful and being crowned world champions. Sydney Roosters and Wigan Warriors have currently jointly won more finals than any other team with five wins, Wigan also being
3922-605: 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
4028-666: The Panthers home ground at the time because they didn't want to send their team to play against St Helens in England. St Helens coach Kristian Woolfe agreed on the condition that Penrith pay for the fares of the St Helens team. Penrith refused and the match was cancelled for this reason. The year's competition was ultimately also cancelled. On 9 November 2022, it was announced that the World Club Challenge would make its return and be staged in Australia at BlueBet Stadium . Back-to-back NRL champions Penrith Panthers would host St Helens,
4134-557: The RFL agreed a new partnership with the England Touch Association, the national governing body for touch rugby . The two bodies aim to work closely together in a formal relationship in 2022, when England will host the delayed European Touch Championships in Nottingham. The RFL is the governing body of Try Tag Rugby, which delivers mixed, men’s and women’s leagues for adults across the country. Super League
4240-453: 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 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
4346-545: 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,
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4452-508: 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
4558-458: 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
4664-400: The RFL had control over the whole United Kingdom. The RFL are affiliated with International Rugby League (IRL) and European Rugby League (ERL). The Community Board is made up of representatives of the RFL, BARLA, Combined Services, English Schools Rugby League and Student Rugby League . British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) are responsible for amateur rugby league chiefly in
4770-416: 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 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
4876-470: 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 the strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to Australia . They won
4982-486: 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 is the current captain. The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league football. Administered by
5088-506: The Super League Champions Wigan Warriors and Cronulla Sutherland Sharks , maintaining the overall Series concept. 2017 would be Super League's first victory since the series began, with Warrington winning 27–18 against Brisbane, and Wigan beating Cronulla 22–6. In October 2017, it was suggested that the 2018 Series could be scrapped completely based on the top Australian teams reluctance to travel to
5194-401: The Super League champions for four consecutive years. The match took place on Saturday February 18, with kick-off at 7am (GMT). For the first time in the history of the competition the match went to golden point extra time after a dramatic finale meant that the match was tied 12–12 at the full time hooter. St Helens scored the winning point with a Lewis Dodd drop goal , a shock win to become
5300-519: The UK for the 2017 series which resulted in the Series being scaled back to two games only. In particular the second game of the 2017 series only featured an invited team from the NRL. In addition, the 2017 Rugby League World Cup being played in Australia at the end of 2017, meant that the preseasons for Australian teams was going to be unusually short ahead of the 2018 season and therefore did not want to make
5406-632: The UK or Australia, then to the United States, with the usual date of the tournament being close to that of the 2025 Rugby League Las Vegas event. Following Penrith's victory in the Grand Final, thus qualification for the tournament, it was revealed that 15 or 16 February would be the latest they would play the tournament, leaving time for travel back to Australia then out to the United States, while also maximising their pre-season, citing player welfare as in issue. However, with this weekend being
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#17327654025015512-598: The World Club Challenge would return to a one-game format for the first time since 2014. The Storm defeated Leeds 38–4 to become World Club Champions for 2018 and also became the first club to hold the NRL Minor Premiership, NRL Premiership and World Club Challenge at the same time since the Sydney Roosters in 2014. On 22 February 2020, the Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back to back World Club Challenges, defeating St Helens 20–12 in
5618-557: The World Club Challenge. The club stated that it was open to working with the NRL for a solution to play the match, but would not as things stand currently. Following the conclusion of the 2024 Super League Grand Final , Wigan Warriors captain Liam Farrell confirmed the champions commitment to the 2025 World Club Challenge and state that the club would be working to ensure the game goes ahead. These words later confirmed by CEO Kris Radlinski . On 16 October, Radlinski contacted
5724-444: The armed services, since then rugby league has been the fastest growing army sport. The rival code rugby union went professional in 1995 and, as a result, other restrictions on rugby league were relaxed by the Rugby Football Union . This opened up the possibility of expanding the game into areas where it had never been played before as it allowed rugby league clubs to groundshare with rugby union clubs and for union players to try out
5830-598: 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, a Grade II listed brick building dating from 1642. The RFL left Red Hall and Leeds in May 2021 with
5936-534: The building becoming a private hospital. In 2015, some departments including Super League, moved to offices at Quay West in Trafford Wharf, Greater Manchester . Rugby league in 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
6042-536: 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
6148-590: The community game. It also provides match officials for every level as well as administering 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
6254-489: The competition was prohibitively expensive to stage and reportedly lost over $ 5,000,000. This, coupled with the poor ratings and attendances both in Australia and Europe, led to the competition being postponed for two seasons. Returning to a one-off match between the League champions in 1998, a World Club Challenge as a show-piece fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was mooted. However this did not eventuate. When it
6360-455: The competition, citing the British refusal to play the game outside of the UK, the effects of jet lag on an Australian team who arrived in England only a couple of days before the game, and wintry conditions as reasons for Australian team's poor performance. In addition, the games were being played at the beginning of the new season instead of at the end of the previous season, so the rosters of both sides had normally changed considerably, therefore
6466-585: The current champions (Roosters first title was prior to the club's name change from Eastern Suburbs). The Treble, in Australian rugby league, involves winning the World Club Challenge, Grand Final, and Minor Premiership within the same season. NB: In British rugby league, " the treble " refers to winning the Super League Grand Final , League Leaders Shield , and Challenge Cup , however British teams are still listed here who qualify by
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#17327654025016572-420: 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 a lesser extent, France . Traditionally
6678-410: The early 1960s; rugby league now had to compete against television and other new forms of entertainment and attendances began to fall. David Attenborough , then controller of BBC2, made the decision to screen games from a new competition the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy in 1965. It proved a success, and rugby league has featured on television ever since. Attendances fell even further in the 1970s. Britain won
6784-479: 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
6890-479: The first Super League side to win the Challenge in Australia since 1994. This was also the worst attended game in 23 years, falling nearly 10,000 short of the capacity of the BlueBet Stadium , the previous low attendance also involved St Helens which was held at the DW Stadium in Wigan, with only the 1997 game having a lower attendance. Penrith would win a third consecutive NRL title while St Helens' monopoly ended as Wigan Warriors won Super League in 2023 to set up
6996-401: 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
7102-408: 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
7208-403: 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 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
7314-498: The game at WIN Stadium on Saturday, 10 February. In addition and as part of this trip to Australia, Wigan and Hull would also play two exhibition games against South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons respectively. These were separately arranged fixtures and not considered part of the World Club Series. On 14 November 2017, it was confirmed that Leeds Rhinos would travel to Australia to play Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne on 16 February 2018, and that
7420-436: 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
7526-438: The game, saying that Manly treated the fixture as an opportunity to travel to England for a holiday, where they would continue their grand final celebrations. The first officially recognised World Club Challenge was between Widnes and Canberra in 1989. Three more World Club Challenge games were played in the 1990s – 1991, 1992 and 1994 – with Wigan appearing in all three (winning the first at Anfield , Liverpool , losing to
7632-486: The ground at fulltime in celebration of the home side's 8–2 victory. Manly forward Ron Gibbs became the first player to be sent off in a World Club Challenge game during the match, as he was given his marching orders following an illegal elbow to Wigan centre Joe Lydon as he attempted a drop-goal. Sea Eagles captain Paul Vautin would later claim that his side's loss came down to the team's lackadaisical attitude toward
7738-474: The heartlands. The Rugby League Challenge Cup remains as a knock-out competition, though entry has now been expanded to make it a pan-European tournament bringing in teams from France, Canada and the rest of the UK; Russian teams have previously featured. Amateur teams also have the chance to participate in the Challenge Cup and have been victorious over several Championship sides. BARLA administer different amateur competitions which traditionally ran throughout
7844-432: The laws in 1897 and again in 1906 in an effort make the game more exciting. This resulted in Northern Union football becoming a sport in its own right rather than a form of rugby union. The sport spread outside England and soon international matches began to be played. The first international match was played in 1904 as England was beaten 9–3 at Central Park , Wigan by " Other Nationalities " (largely Welsh players). This
7950-456: The match in either a neutral or Australian venue and also looking into the possibility of expanding the tournament. In February 2013, the changes to the tournament were gaining momentum with the NRL and Super League agreeing to begin alternating the World Club Challenge tournament between the UK and Australia. These changes were finally confirmed in November 2013, with both parties agreeing that
8056-559: 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,
8162-461: 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,
8268-452: The norm for a period of around 20 years. The total crowds for the British season hit a record in 1949–50, when over 69.8 million paying customers attended all matches. The 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final replay between Halifax and Warrington , held at Odsal Stadium , Bradford , drew 102,575 paying spectators with an estimated 20,000 others getting in free after a section of fencing collapsed. The boom had begun to subside by
8374-510: The offer, Auckland eagerly accepted, and were ultimately defeated by the tricolours 26–22 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Because the 1976 clash was a standalone game, there were no immediate plans for a follow-up match the next season, or indeed any in the foreseeable future. The concept would not return until 1987, when another unofficial match took place. Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay invited Manly-Warringah to Central Park . Long-serving Manly secretary Ken Arthurson proposed that
8480-519: The opening weekend of the 2025 Super League season , the date was unlikely. On 9th October 2024, Penrith confirmed to the NRL that they would not play the match before the start of the domestic seasons citing player welfare as the issue stating that their players were delaying their mandated leave to play in the 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships and 2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England thus not allowing players to have an adequate preseason before
8586-447: The other code without fear of persecution. In 1995, the fallout from the Super League war hit Britain, and the game underwent massive re-organisation. A new elite league, Super League was formed, and the sport switched from a winter to a summer season. Super League has largely been a success as the value of its TV contract and top tier game crowd attendances and have both grown year upon year since 2001. The Rugby League Conference
8692-404: The playing field, with a return planned for 2023 . In the reduced formats of the game, England took part in the defunct Rugby League World Sevens in 2002 and 2003, losing in the latter final to Parramatta Eels . The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s saw England reach the semi-final, losing to New Zealand at Bankwest Stadium , Sydney . World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge
8798-455: The prize money should be split between the two clubs, regardless of the outcome, however, Lindsay argued that the game should be played under a 'winner-takes-all' stipulation, believing that it would result in the players and fans taking the game more seriously. Played on a dry October night, the match between Manly and Wigan was a tough, at times spiteful, encounter which attracted 36,895 spectators to Wigan's Central Park, most of whom spilled onto
8904-432: The process. They also overtook Wigan in most challenges won with five. On 20 November 2020 it was announced that the 2021 World Club challenge, which was due to be played between Melbourne Storm and St Helens would be postponed until late in 2021 owing to the push back of seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing pandemic itself preventing overseas travel. However, due to the continuing issues surrounding
9010-425: The return of a promotion and relegation system between Super League and the Championship; from 2009 through to 2014 promotion between the Championship and Super League had been on a licensed, or franchised, basis. Promotion and relegation between the leagues now known as the Championship and League 1 has long existed, including during the 2009–14 period. Following the 2014 season, the professional leagues underwent
9116-704: The rugby league world, and have competed in the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament. Rugby league was recognised as a military sport in 1994. The Combined Services Rugby League (CSRL) is the co-ordinating group for the Army Rugby League, Royal Navy Rugby League and the 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
9222-555: The services, and the best players are selected to represent the Combined Services. The Women's Amateur Rugby League Association (WARLA) is the governing body of female rugby league in the United Kingdom; it currently falls under the Rugby Football League association which oversees its running and management. It was originally established in 1985 and was recognised by the RFL in its first year. In December 2021,
9328-613: The sport's north of England heartlands. Though many Rugby League Conference teams are affiliated to BARLA, the Conference itself is not a BARLA organisation. The top division under their control is the National Conference League, with regional leagues including the North West Counties and Pennine leagues. BARLA selects an international team consisting of amateur players, the BARLA Lions. This team tours many parts of
9434-422: 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
9540-486: The teams that took the field were not the ones that won the respective premierships. For these reasons, it was viewed as merely a pre-season warm up game by most Australasian teams and fans. Since the 2009 tournament, its popularity has increased with stronger crowds and also with Australian teams taking the concept more seriously, Australian teams were arriving earlier to acclimatize the players and often organising warm up games with other super league sides and this created
9646-512: 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
9752-515: The trip to England for the 2018 series. The Melbourne Storm (2017 NRL Premiers) in particular, were reluctant to travel meaning the series was in danger of cancellation for the first time since the 1990s as it is the Storm that was playing in the World Club Challenge. In June 2017, the Super League announced that the Australian city of Wollongong would host the first ever Super League game outside Europe. Wigan Warriors will "host" Hull F.C. in
9858-412: The two respective premiers as in previous years. In 2017, the format was reduced to four teams, with the NRL citing tight schedules, distant travel and long seasons as an impediment to their participation in the Series. After the NRL negotiated with the Brisbane Broncos, it was decided that they would represent the NRL in an exhibition match vs Warrington Wolves prior to the usual Challenge game between
9964-488: The winter in the heartlands but have mostly switched over to a summer season. The leading competition is the National Conference League which consists of four divisions (Premier Division, Division One, Division Two and Division Three) of up to 14 teams each. Other major amateur leagues include the Yorkshire Men's League , North West Men's League , Pennine League , Cumberland League , Barrow & District League and
10070-491: Was a one-off match at the beginning of each season between 1985 and 1995. It was contested by the Champions and the holders of the Challenge Cup. The rugby union county championship was continued as a rugby league County Championship after the 1895 great schism. Teams representing Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland / Cumbria and sometimes Cheshire and Northumberland & Durham took part in the championship. This continued as
10176-408: Was abandoned in 1989. Although the matches had provided a good test for selecting players for the full England and Great Britain sides, the crowds had been poor and the games had little attraction for the rest of the country. The series was revived again in 2001 before being abandoned in 2003. The Combined Services Rugby League (CSRL) was formed in 1994 after the official recognition of rugby league by
10282-443: 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,
10388-469: 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 was in 1975, and since then they have been runners-up in 1975 , 1995 (as hosts) and 2017 . In 2022 England hosted
10494-519: Was first broadcast by BBC radio in 1927. The Wembley tradition was started in 1929 when Wigan beat Dewsbury 13–2 at the first Rugby League Challenge Cup to be held at Wembley . Rugby league continued to be played throughout the 1914–15 season, however, the loss of players to the First World War , a government ban on professionalism and reduced attendances forced all major competitions to be replaced by regional competitions. The NRFU became
10600-421: Was followed by a tour of Britain by New Zealand in 1907. New Zealand met Great Britain in Great Britain's first ever Test match at Headingley , Leeds on 18 January 1908. The same year the first Australian Kangaroos tourists visited Britain. In 1910 the first British tour to Australia and New Zealand took place. The Challenge Cup began in 1897 with Batley beating St Helens to win the first title. The final
10706-457: Was founded in 1998 with the aim of providing regular fixtures for new clubs based outside the 'heartland' of rugby league. It began with fourteen teams, but within nine years had grown to eighty-eight clubs spread throughout England and the rest of Britain. The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for the sport in England. Previously, before the emergence of Wales Rugby League , Scotland Rugby League and Rugby League Ireland
10812-549: Was introduced but individual cases of discrimination continued, resulting in the Sports (Discrimination) Bill, which was introduced by David Hinchcliffe in 1994. In the mid 1980s Wigan began an era of domination of English rugby league that would end only with the formation of Super League. By 1995 they had won the Challenge Cup a record eight consecutive times and the league title for a record seven consecutive times. The traditional Origin series between Yorkshire and Lancashire
10918-505: Was keen to expand outside the heartlands and accepted the new club (now known as London Broncos ). This was not the first rugby league club to be based in London — three London-based clubs had come and gone in the 1930s — but unlike past ventures the new team survived despite several moves and name changes, and are now London Broncos . The 1982 Kangaroos won all their tour games for first time ever, and became known as "The Invincibles". This
11024-478: Was played when Wigan's 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 the trophy. Several attempts were made to expand the game outside the heartlands, a Southern Amateur Rugby League being formed in 1949, however only Cumberland and southern areas of
11130-516: Was resurrected in 2000, the World Club Challenge was once more played between the winners of the premierships in Australasia and Europe. During this period it was contested annually in the United Kingdom in late January or early February, before the commencement National Rugby League season and the Super League season. Over this period Super League teams dominated the tournament winning 7 of 9 matches, and this led one Australian commentator to deride
11236-497: Was the time when the gap between English and Australian rugby league became apparent and has never been fully closed. The All-Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group was formed in 1987 to support the sport of rugby league and tackle the key issues facing the game in Parliament. Ian McCartney MP was the first chairman and David Hinchliffe MP the secretary. In 1987 a "free gangway" between the two codes of rugby at amateur level
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