Rugby league in Lancashire


Rugby League in Lancashire refers to the sport of rugby league in relation to its participation and history within the traditional county of Lancashire, England. The county has since been split up with parts of traditional Lancashire forming parts of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria as well as the current borders of Lancashire.

History

Rugby league was founded in Yorkshire in 1895 at the George Hotel in Huddersfield when 22 clubs broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Rugby Football Union which later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Of those 22 founding clubs, 9 were from Lancashire.
The first Lancashire winners of the newly formed league, the NRFU Championship were Oldham, with Wigan being the most successful with 22 titles. Between 1896 and 1900 teams either played in the Lancashire or Yorkshire League depending on geographical location but still competed in the Challenge Cup. Wigan are the most successful club in the competition with 19 titles.
In the Super League era St Helens R.F.C. are the most successful Lancashire club, and second most of all, with seven Super League titles.

Competitions

Lancashire League

The Lancashire League was founded in 1895 for teams in Lancashire to compete in. Wigan and St Helens dominated the league before it was abandoned in 1970 due to the amount of fixtures being played.

Lancashire Cup

The Lancashire Cup was a cup competition for teams in Lancashire. The competition ran from 1905-1992 when it folded due to the amount of fixtures in the calendar and the Rugby Football League not seeing it as being a part of the future of modern rugby league.

War of the Roses

The War of the Roses, was the inter-county rugby league matches between representative teams from Lancashire and Yorkshire, the areas where rugby league has traditionally been most popular in England. The fixture was abandoned in 2003 after poor attendances and lack of interest from players and the media.

Rugby league clubs in Lancashire

The table below lists clubs located within the traditional borders of Lancashire: from the top division, down to tier 3 of the British rugby league system.

Locations

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester has the strongest concentration of rugby league teams within the traditional boundaries of Lancashire. The most notable team is Wigan Warriors.

Cheshire

Cheshire had its own rugby league tradition with Runcorn being one of the founder members of the Northern Union in 1895 but this died out. Boundary changes to England's counties in the 1970s brought the formerly Lancastrian towns of Widnes and Warrington into Cheshire.

Merseyside

Merseyside was a county formed in 1974 from parts of Lancashire and Cheshire. Currently St. Helens are the only professional side within Merseyside, but other sides have also existed, notably Liverpool Stanley and Prescott Panthers.

Cumbria

Cumbria is a county that was created in the 1970s composing of the former counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Barrow Raiders are the oldest side in what is now Cumbria and are based in what was part of Lancashire. Other Cumbrian sides exist and have existed in the traditional county of Cumberland, namely Whitehaven, Workington Town and at one time Carlisle. These sides played in the Lancashire cup despite playing outside the boundaries of traditional Lancashire.

Lancashire

Within the current borders of Lancashire there are currently no professional rugby league sides. The most recent side to play is Blackpool Panthers which folded in 2010.