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 for administrative purposes with parts of traditional Lancashire forming parts of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria as well as the current borders of Lancashire.
See also: History of rugby league. 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 (behind Leeds Rhinos), with seven Super League titles.
See main article: Lancashire rugby league team.
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.
See main article: RFL 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 (RFL) not seeing it as being a part of the future of modern rugby league.
The table below lists clubs located within the traditional borders of Lancashire: from the top division (the Super League), down to tier 3 of the British rugby league system.
| Club | Stadium | Founded | County Subdivision | Honours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super League - tier 1 | |||||
| Leigh Leopards | Leigh Sports Village | 1878 | Greater Manchester | League 1905-06, 1981-82 (2) | |
| Salford Red Devils | AJ Bell Stadium | 1873 | Greater Manchester | League 1913-14, 1932–33, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1973–74, 1975-76 (6) | |
| St. Helens | Totally Wicked Stadium | 1873 | Merseyside | League 1931/32, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1965/66, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021 (16) | |
| Warrington Wolves | Halliwell Jones | 1876 | Cheshire | League 1947–48, 1953–54, 1954–55 (3) | |
| Wigan Warriors | DW Stadium | 1872 | Greater Manchester | League 1908/09, 1921/22, 1925/26, 1933/34, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1949/50, 1951/52, 1959/60, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1998, 2010, 2013 (20) | |
| Championship - tier 2 | |||||
| Widnes Vikings | Halton Stadium | 1875 | Cheshire | League 1977–78, 1987–88, 1988–89 (3) | |
| League 1 - tier 3 | |||||
| Barrow Raiders | Craven Park | 1875 | Cumbria | Challenge Cup 1954-5 (1) | |
| Oldham | Whitebank Stadium | 1876 | Greater Manchester | League 1904-05, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1956-57 (4) | |
| Swinton Lions | Park Lane | 1866 | Greater Manchester | League 1926-27, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1962–63, 1963–64 (6) | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Spotland | 1866 | Greater Manchester | Challenge Cup 1922 (1) | |
Greater Manchester has the strongest concentration of rugby league teams within the traditional boundaries of Lancashire. The most notable team is Wigan Warriors.
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 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 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.
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.