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Rugby League

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Super League
Nicknames
Years
Challenge Cup
Players
Other

Rugby League

Super League

Super League replaced the Rugby Football League Championship in 1996, and switched from a winter to a summer season (February to July). At the end of the regular League season a play–off tournament takes place. The play–offs have taken various forms over the years; in 2019 the League reverted to the five–team play–off system that had been in effect from 1998 to 2001.

Most wins

Only four clubs have ever won the Super League Grand Final, up to and including the 2022 season:

        Runners–up
9 wins Click to show or hide the answer 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2014, 2006, 2002, 2000, 1999 5 times
8 wins Click to show or hide the answer 2017, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2004 3 times
5 wins Click to show or hide the answer 2018, 2016, 2013, 2010, 1998 6 times
3 wins Click to show or hide the answer 2005, 2003, 2001 3 times

Warrington Wolves have reached the Grand Final four times, but never won it. Three of Wigan Warriors' Grand Final wins have been against Warrington.

The original twelve

Odsal Stadium has been home since 1927 to Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Formerly known as ... Northern
Relegated in 2014 – nine years after winning the last of their four Super League titles
Wheldon Road has been home since 1927 to Click to show or hide the answer
Ground officially known from 2000–10 as The Jungle (following the change of club name); has had a number of names since, but still popularly known to many fans as The Jungle
Thrum Hall (now a supermarket) was home from 1886 to 1998 to Click to show or hide the answer
Now plays at The Shay, home of the football club from the same town
Known from 1996 to 2002 as ... Blue Sox; relegated in 2003
Headingley Stadium has been home since 1890 to Click to show or hide the answer
Played nine Grand Finals between 2004 and 2017, winning eight of them
Played at The Valley, 1996 and 1997; has used a number of grounds since; moved in late 2015 to Trailfinders Sports Club, Ealing (still there in 2020) Click to show or hide the answer
Relegated in 2014, returning for one year in 2019
Known from 2006 to 2011 as Harlequins Rugby League
Watersheddings was home (1889–1997) to Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Relegated in 1997, and reformed as ... Roughyeds
As of 2020, Whitebank Stadium has been the home since 2017 of
Dissolved in May 1997 (played home games at Stade Sébastien Charléty) Click to show or hide the answer
Played home games at Owlerton Stadium 1984–91, Don Valley Stadium 1991–9 Click to show or hide the answer
Reluctantly merged with Huddersfield Giants for the 2000 Super League season ('Sheffield' was dropped from the name of the merged club after one year); a new club of the same name was founded in 1999, and (as of 2017) plays in the Championship
Knowlsey Road was home, from 1890 to 2010, to Click to show or hide the answer
Played the 2011 season at Halton Stadium, Widnes; moved in 2012 to Langtree Park – known since 2017, for sponsorship reasons, as the Totally Wicked Stadium
Wilderspool Stadium was home, from 1881 to 2003, to Click to show or hide the answer
Moved in 2003 to the Halliwell Jones Stadium (built on the site of the former Tetley Walker brewery)
Nicknamed The Wires
Central Park was home, from 1902 to 1999, to Click to show or hide the answer
Moved in 1999 to the JJB Stadium – known since 2009 as the DW Stadium
Nicknamed The Cherries
Derwent Park (known in 2015–16 as the Zebra Claims Stadium) has been home since 1956 to Click to show or hide the answer
Relegated to the Championship in 1996, and to League One in 2019

Current members

The following clubs played in the Super League in the 2022 season but not in its inaugural season. The right–hand column shows when they joined the Super League.

Stade Gilbert Brutus (Perpignan, in the Pyrénées–Orientales department of France) Click to show or hide the answer 2006
Played at the Fartown Ground, 1878–1992; after two years sharing the local football club's ground, moved to the McAlpine stadium – now known as the John Smith's Stadium – in 1994 Click to show or hide the answer 2003
Merged with Sheffield Eagles in 1999
In 1915, became the second of only three clubs to win "all four cups": Challenge Cup, League Championship, County League and County Cup (the modern version – which has never been won – includes the League Leaders' Shield and the World Club Challenge, as well as the Challenge Cup and Super League trophy)
Played at The Boulevard, 1895–2002 Click to show or hide the answer 1998
Moved to the KC Stadium in 2003
Craven Park (a.k.a. KC Lightstream Stadium) is home to; previously (1922–89) played at a different ground with the same name Click to show or hide the answer 2006
Name changed from Centurions in 2022 (following promotion to Super League for the third time) Click to show or hide the answer 2005
2017
2023
The A. J. Bell Stadium (f.k.a. Salford City Stadium) is home to Click to show or hide the answer 2004
Previously (1901–2011) played at The Willows
Added 'Reds' to their name in 1995, and inserted 'City' before it in 1999; relaunched under their present name, following a winding–up petition and takeover by a Manchester–based Palestinian businessman, in 2013
Belle Vue (known since 2011 as the Rapid Solicitors Stadium); known as the Wildcats from 1999 to 2016 Click to show or hide the answer 1998

The following four clubs have played in the Super League in every one of its first 20 seasons:

Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer Click to show or hide the answer

Others

The following clubs have played in Super League, but not in 1996 or 2023:

(Ground) Years Club
Brewery Field, Bridgend (2009); Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (2010–11) 2009–11 Click to show or hide the answer
Kingston Park, Newcastle–upon–Tyne2009 Click to show or hide the answer
French club: played in the Championship in 2009 and 2010; returned to England in 2016, and made its debut in the Super League in 2022, but were relegated after only one season 2022 Click to show or hide the answer
Halton Stadium – previously known as Naughton Park – has been home (since 1895) to Click for more information 2002–5
2012–18
Click to show or hide the answer
Nicknamed The Chemics

Other Rugby League clubs worthy of mention:

Winners of the Rugby League Challenge Cup in its first, second and fifth seasons (1896–7, 1897–8, 1900–1) Click to show or hide the answer
Representing a market and mill town now in the Borough of Kirklees – population 48,730 in 2011
Added 'Bulldogs' to their name in 1996 (the beginning of the "summer era")
Home town, less than 2 miles south–west of Pontefract, has a population of 15,244 (2011 census) Click to show or hide the answer
Won the Challenge Cup in 1967, 1973 and 1983, and the League Championship in 1977
Home ground (since 1904) is Post Office Road (various sponsorship names over the years, including – for mysterious reasons – the Chris Moyles Stadium 2007–9)
Named after an inner–city district of Leeds: in 1908, became the first of only three clubs to win "All Four Cups"; dissolved 1973 Click to show or hide the answer
In 1928, became the last of only three clubs – and the only one from Lancashire – to win "All Four Cups" Click to show or hide the answer
Won the League a total of six times (1927–64), and the Challenge Cup three times (1900, 1926, 1928)
Added Lions to their name in 1996
Founded in 2016 to take advantage of Canadian interest in Rugby; joined League One in 2017; promoted to the Championship in their first season (2017), and to the Super League in 2020, but folded in 2020 without playing a game in the Super League, citing financial and travel restrictions resulting from the COVID–19 pandemic Click to show or hide the answer

Nicknames

Warrington Click to show or hide the answer
Widnes Click to show or hide the answer
Wigan Click to show or hide the answer

Years

Home International Championship instituted Click to show or hide the answer
The first Rugby League World Cup (held at various intervals since then – 2008 was the 13th, 2013 will be the 14th) Click to show or hide the answer
Super League first contested Click to show or hide the answer
Super League increased from 12 teams to 14 Click to show or hide the answer
Super League reverts to 12 teams Click to show or hide the answer

Rugby League Challenge Cup: most wins

In the following table, the middle column shows the year of each club's most recent win.

19 wins; 8 wins in a row, 1988–95; also won the League seven times in a row, 1990–6 2013 Click to show or hide the answer
14 wins, including 2014, 2015 and 2020; runners–up in 2010, 2011 and 2012 2020 Click to show or hide the answer
12 wins; 3 wins in a row, 2006–8; ended Wigan’s run of eight successive wins in 1996 2008 Click to show or hide the answer
8 wins, including 2009, 2010 and 2012 2012 Click to show or hide the answer
7 wins1984 Click to show or hide the answer

Players (and coaches)

Australian winger: scored a world record 796 tries, including 740 for Warrington RLFC (1946–62); after his death in 1991 (aged 67),a statue was erected in his honour on a roundabout near Wilderspool Stadium; it was moved to Warrington's new ground, the Halliwell Jones Stadium, in 2004 Click to show or hide the answer
Leeds Rhinos and England scrum–half and hooker (493 games for Leeds, 2001–17, 15 for England and 5 for Great Britain): diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019, aged 37, prompting his Leeds & England colleague Kevin Sinfield to embark on a series of fund–raising efforts – starting by running 7 marathons in 7 days in 2020Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Played 467 games for Wigan, 1983–97: won 8 championships and 9 challenge cups; Man of Steel 1990 Click to show or hide the answer
Played 576 games for Wakefield Trinity, in two spells 1959–69 and 1970–4; altogether played 765 games for 6 different clubs, 1956–79, and scored a record 6,220 points; his brothers Peter and Don also played (Don holds Featherstone Rovers' try–scoring record) Click to show or hide the answer
Scored 32 points (3 tries, 10 goals) when Great Britain beat Fiji 72–4 in 1996 Click to show or hide the answer
Warrington and Gt. Britain captain, died of motor neurone disease 2007 aged 43 Click to show or hide the answer
Scored 189 tries in 202 games for Wigan, 1985–90; only player to win the Man of Steel award three times (1985, 1987, 1989 – first time while playing for Bradford Northern, his first club); voted the greatest British rugby league player of all time, in 2007 Click to show or hide the answer
Signed for two clubs in one day, 2005 (St. Helens refused to sell him to Wigan so he signed for Bradford Bulls and then for Wigan) Click to show or hide the answer
St. Helens player, first to win the Lance Todd Trophy three times (2006) Click to show or hide the answer
Joined Wigan from Widnes in 1991 for £440,000 – a record until 2006 Click to show or hide the answer
Former St. Helens, Hull and Wakefield player: retired in 2003 following a knee injury, died of cancer in 2013 aged 39; the Man of Steel Award was renamed in his honour in 2014 Click to show or hide the answer
The highest points–scorer in Super League history, and the third highest in British rugby league history, behind Jim Sullivan and Neil Fox; BBC Sports Personality of the Year runner–up on his retirement, after captaining Leeds Rhinos to their first–ever 'treble' (Challenge Cup, Championship Final, and finishing top of the Super League); in all he captained Leeds to seven Super League championships and two Challenge Cup wins Click to show or hide the answer
Legendary Wigan goal–kicker, 1924–6: kicked 22 goals in a cup tie in 1925 Click to show or hide the answer
Legendary Salford team manager, 1928–40: New Zealander, played for Wigan 1908–13; the Man of the Match award in the Challenge Cup final is named after him Click to show or hide the answer
Kicked a record 221 goals for Salford in the 1972–73 season Click to show or hide the answer

Other

Annual award to the outstanding player in the British game: inaugurated in 1997, voted on by the press originally, and by Super League players from 2008 Click to show or hide the answer

Playing Positions

Note that in some competitions, including Super League, squad numbers are used. If setting questions on this topic, it might be best to include the word "traditionally" or some such.

Backs:

No. Position No. Position No. Position
1 Click to show or hide the answer 2 Click to show or hide the answer 3 Click to show or hide the answer
4 Click to show or hide the answer 5 Click to show or hide the answer 6 Click to show or hide the answer
7 Click to show or hide the answer

Forwards:

8 Click to show or hide the answer 9 Click to show or hide the answer 10 Click to show or hide the answer
11 Click to show or hide the answer 12 Click to show or hide the answer 13 Click to show or hide the answer

These are the positions shown in Wikipedia. Note that this is totally different from rugby union, where the scrum are numbers 1 to 8, the half backs and three–quarter backs are 9 to 15, and the fullback is No. 15.

Interestingly (well – I find it interesting) the rugby league numbering is more like association football, where the numbers start at the back and work across the field from right to left. At least, that's until you get to the scrum. But the hooker (who might be considered as the centre forward) is No. 9!

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23