| Super League | |
| Current Season: | 2024 Super League season |
| Sport: | Rugby league |
| Country: | |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Levels: | 1 |
| Domestic Cup: | Challenge Cup |
| Confed Cup: | World Club Challenge |
| Champions: | Wigan Warriors (6th title) |
| Most Champs: | St Helens (10 titles) |
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred, and legally known as Super League Europe)[1] [2] is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which ten are from Northern England, reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within the UK, one from London and one from southern France.
The Super League began in 1996, replacing the existing First Division and, significantly, switching from a traditional winter season to a summer season.
The regular season typically runs from February to September with each team playing 27 games; 11 home games, 11 away games, Magic Weekend and an additional 4 'loop fixtures' decided by league positions. The top six then enter the play-off series leading to the Grand Final which determines the champions. As of 2024 there is no relegation to the Championship.
The Super League champions take on the champions of the Australian National Rugby League in the World Club Challenge.
Twenty-four clubs have competed since the inception of the Super League since 1996: nineteen from England, three from France, one from Wales and one from Canada. Four of them have won the title: St Helens (10), Leeds Rhinos (8), Wigan Warriors (6) and Bradford Bulls (4).
See also: List of Super League seasons.
During the 1950s, British rugby league experienced a boom in popularity. However the twenty years that followed saw attendances and popularity decline. A "Super League" was first suggested as far back as the 1970s as a way to address the decline. By the early 1990s the sport was still struggling with dwindling attendances, poor facilities and was dominated by one club, Wigan, who were the only full time professional team.
In 1992, the then Chief Executive of the Rugby Football League, Maurice Lindsay reopened the idea for a Super League. He wanted the new league to break the stereotype of rugby league being a sport only played in Northern England, and had a vision for clubs to play out of new facilities under a set of minimum standards in an unpublished document called "Framing the Future".
Lindsay's Super League was given a boost during the mid 90s Australian Super League war. A Rupert Murdoch backed Super League in Australia was trying to gain broadcasting supremacy over the Australian Rugby League. In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Murdoch, whose broadcasting company bSkyb already had the rights to the First Division, approached the RFL.
A £77 million offer[3] and an £87 million payment[4] aided the decision. It was agreed a 14 team Super League would take place in 1996, switching the sport from winter to summer and making every team full time.
As part of the agreement, the Super League would be a European competition. Rugby league held a traditional heartland in the South of France and so Toulouse Olympique were invited (however never ended up taking a place in Super League I). A second club from the French leagues was also planned to be invited but the French government refused their backing unless there was a team from Paris, thus Paris Saint-Germain were founded as the second French club playing under the same name and colours as the association football club.
As well as two French clubs being involved, several merges between English clubs were put forward:
The proposal to merge neighbouring clubs, many of whom were local rivals and had been part of communities for a hundred years, proved unpopular. On Good Friday 1995 it was announced that Toulouse had pulled out and Widnes had their own place alongside Warrington, this as well as anti-merger campaigns and debates in parliament effectively killing any change of mergers happening.
The first major change before the Super League happened in the 1994–95 season. It was decided the teams finishing in the top ten of the First Division would be in the Super League. Teams finishing 11–15 would be relegated to the Second Division while the bottom team would be relegated to the new Third Division. In the current Second Division the top seven teams would remain while the rest would make up the Third Division.
Controversy occurred at the end of 1994–95 when Keighley won the Second Division but were denied promotion due to fourth placed London Broncos being fast tracked to the First Division as Lindsay wanted the Super League to have greater national coverage. This resulted in a legal challenge from Keighley and Widnes who were both denied a place in the Super League.
The 1995–96 season would be the last to be played in winter and fittingly was the sports centenary year. The season was kept short, starting in August and finishing in January, with the 1995 World Cup taking place in October.
Super League finally kicked off in 1996 with the 12 founding teams being:
Along with the new league, new rules were introduced. Squad numbers were adopted, a video referee was at every televised game and the salary cap was introduced to stop clubs overspending and to allow for a more level playing field. Super League was also more Americanised with clubs adopting nicknames and the league seasons copying the NFL Super Bowl by being known as a Roman numeral rather than year (e.g. Super League 1996 was known as Super League I).
The first game was on 29 March which saw PSG beat Sheffield 30–24 in front of 17,873 people at Charlety Stadium. The inaugural Super League title was won by St Helens, breaking Wigan's stronghold for the first time since 1989 while Workington were relegated.
St Helens were unable to defend their title as Super League's second season was won by the Bradford Bulls with London Broncos justifying the decision to be fast tracked into Super League by finishing second. Oldham were relegated and PSG, who had finished 11th for the second consecutive time were dissolved after it was discovered some of their overseas players had tourist visas to avoid paying French tax.
Due to Oldham being relegated and PSG folding, two teams, Hull Sharks and Huddersfield Giants, were promoted. It was also announced ahead of the 1998 season that there would be no relegation as the league planned to expand to 14 teams from 1999.
Following PSG folding, and as a result only English teams being present in the competition, the league was not referred to as a European competition from then on out and acted solely as the top tier of the British rugby league system.
The other major change was that a playoff would decide the Champions. This was not new to rugby league as a playoff system had been in use for most of the sports existence although one hadn't been used since 1973. Confusingly a playoff did take place at the end of the season but was separate from the official league season and thus didn't count towards anything. Old Trafford the venue for the old Premiership Playoff Final would be used to host the new Grand Final in which the top five Super League teams would contest.
The first Grand Final took place at Old Trafford in front of a sellout crowd of 40,000 who watched Wigan defeat Leeds 12–8, their first league title since the old First Division.
Ahead of the expansion to 14 clubs Wakefield Trinity were promoted from the Second Division and a new club, Gateshead Thunder were awarded a place in Super League in 1999, which was won by St Helens who beat Bradford in the Grand Final.
Gateshead had a successful debut season on the field finishing two points off the playoffs however off the field the club was suffering financial difficulties. By the end of the season Gateshead announced they would merge with Hull Sharks who were to revert to being known as Hull FC. Gateshead weren't the only club struggling, Sheffield announced they could no longer continue and merged with Huddersfield and would be known as Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants. Due to these two clubs resigning from the league it was agreed Super League would revert to 12 teams after just one season.
Relegation was reintroduced in 2001 with one team going down each year. The only major change to the league was in 2002 when the playoffs were expanded to six teams. The League Leaders Shield was introduced in 2002 to reward the team who finished top at the end of the regular season.[5]
In 2005 it was announced a franchise was to be awarded to a French club, with Toulouse, Villeneuve and Catalans Dragons all applying. In the end Catalans, who were only founded in 2000 after a merger between two Perpignan based clubs, were chosen. Their debut season would be in 2006 and they would be exempt from relegation for the first three years. Their inclusion in Super League meant two clubs would be relegated in 2005. Bottom team Leigh were relegated with 11th placed Widnes.
By the mid-2000s standards on the field had improved and attendances increased but many clubs still played out of crumbling stadiums and most of the sport was still played in the North of England. There was also the emergence of the "Big Four" (Bradford, Leeds, Wigan, and St Helens) who were dominating the league during its first 10 seasons.
See main article: Super League licensing.
Announced in May 2005, to try and combat the issues facing Super League, the RFL introduced licences as the new determinant of the Super League competition's participants from 2009 with relegation scrapped, two new teams would expand the league to 14. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than simply the on-the-field performance of a club.[6] After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams to be admitted on a licence basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009.[6]
The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors.[7]
Successful applicants were licensed for three years of Super League competition and[8] three-yearly reviews of Super League membership took place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.[7]
Points attained by each club's application are translated into licence grades A, B or C. Clubs who achieved an A or B Licence would be automatically awarded a place in the Super League, while those who achieved a C Licence underwent further scrutiny before the RFL decided who made the final cut.[9]
First licensing period
See main article: 2009–11 Super League licences. In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that the Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009 with the playoffs also expanding to 8 teams,[10] [11] and on 22 July 2008 the RFL confirmed the teams awarded licences.[12] The teams announced were the 12 existing Super League teams along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders and Salford. Celtic Crusaders became the first Welsh team to play in Super League and the only team to be awarded a licence who had never played in the Super League previously.
Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Leigh and Widnes all failed to attain a licence. Leigh and Widnes, especially, were disappointed with their exclusions with Leigh's chairman being extremely critical of the RFL.[13]
By the end of the 2008 season, Salford and Celtic Crusaders finished 13th and 14th respectively and the Grand Final was won by the League Leaders, Leeds Rhinos for a fourth time. The following season Crusaders made the playoffs but were knocked out in the first round. League Leaders Wigan won the Grand Final.
By 2011 the Crusaders were suffering financial difficulties and entered administration and were deducted four points. Salford on the other hand despite never making the playoffs in the three years since they were promoted were in a much better financial position.
During this period the league was dominated by Leeds and St Helens with Leeds winning three titles and St Helens appearing in every Grand Final.
Second licensing period
See main article: 2012–14 Super League licences. For the 2012–14 seasons Championship sides Batley, Barrow, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax and Widnes all met the on-field criteria needed to submit an application,[14] but despite this only Barrow, Halifax and Widnes decided to submit an application.[15] On 31 March 2011 Widnes were awarded a Super League licence; Barrow did not meet the criteria and were refused a licence; and Halifax's application was to be further considered alongside the other Super League clubs.[16]
The Rugby Football League's final decision was announced on 26 July 2011, Widnes would join thirteen existing Super League teams with Crusaders having withdrawn their application and Halifax being refused a license.[17] Crusaders CEO Rod Findlay stated that the club's finances were not in a good enough condition to justify their place in Super League.[18] Halifax chairman Mark Steele was critical of the decision to award Wakefield a licence over themselves, saying "If you compare Belle Vue with the Shay, it's no contest; if you compare playing records, it's no contest; and if you compare the financial position, we have kept our head above water and they haven't."[18] Wakefield had been favourites to lose their licence before Crusaders' withdrawal.[18]
See main article: Rugby League Super 8s. After two licensing periods the system started to fall out of favour. Some highlighted clubs such as Wakefield and Castleford which had failed to build new stadiums but were twice awarded licenses over Championship clubs who many thought would be better suited to Super League. There was also unrest in the Championship with clubs feeling their success on the pitch should be rewarded.
At the 2013 Annual General Meeting in Bradford, the Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs to 12 from 2015, and also for a return of promotion and relegation with a 12 club Championship.[19]
A radical new league structure was proposed. The 12 Super League and 12 Championship clubs would play each other home and away over 22 rounds. Following the conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs then competed in a play-off series where they split into 3 leagues of 8 based upon league position:[20] [21]
Funding for clubs was tiered in both leagues to prevent relegation-related financial difficulties.
In preparation for the new structure, two clubs would be relegated from Super League in 2014 to reduce the league to 12. By the end of the season London Broncos and four-time Champions Bradford Bulls were relegated to the Championship.
In June 2015 eight of the 12 Super League clubs voted to allow a Marquee Player that could exceed a club's salary cap as long as they could afford their wages. The marquee player rule came into force for the 2016 Super League season.
The first Super 8s season was won by the Leeds Rhinos, with all four Super League clubs surviving the Qualifiers. The following year Hull KR were relegated when they lost to Salford in the Million Pound Game, with Leigh being promoted.
2017 saw Castleford finish top of the league for the first time in their history although they eventually lost the Grand Final to Leeds who claimed their 8th title.
By 2018 there were question marks over how successful the Super 8s were. Attendances after the split dropped and there was more interest in relegation than there was in the Super League 8s and playoffs.
On 14 September 2018, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the sport. The Super League clubs were unhappy with the way the RFL was running the sport and wanted more control over future TV deals and sponsorship money. A vote went in favour of the Super League and they subsequently split from the RFL while also voting to scrap the Super 8s in favour of a more traditional league structure with a one up one down system for promotion and relegation.[22]
As a result of the split the Super League appointed former Everton CEO Robert Elstone as Chief Executive. Elstone brought in new branding and new rules such as the shot clock to stop time wasting, and golden point extra time in favour of draws.[23]
Elstone's success was short lived. After a successful 2019 season, the 2020 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The season was temporarily suspended during the national lockdown after which Toronto Wolfpack did not return to complete the season. There were calls made from Super League clubs for the two executive bodies – Super League and the RFL – to re-amalgamate following the financial difficulties from the pandemic.[24]
On 14 December 2020, it was decided by unanimous vote that the Leigh Centurions would take the 12th spot in the 26th Super League season, replacing the Toronto Wolfpack who withdrew from the league as a result of financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. This came after the RFL cancelled the Championship 2020 season in response to the pandemic.[25]
In February 2021 Elstone announced his resignation as Chief Executive of Super League, citing failures to bring outside investment to the league and the effects of the pandemic. Huddersfield's chairman Ken Davy was appointed as temporary Chief Executive until the end of the season. Subsequently, the new Sky Sports TV deal for the Super League and lower divisions was cut from £40 million to £25 million per year for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.[26] This again had RFL and Super League officials calling for a realignment of the two governing bodies.
See main article: IMG Grading for the British Rugby Football League. On 22 March 2022, at a Special General Meeting it was announced the RFL and Super League were to officially realign after a majority of clubs voted in favour. A new company separate from the RFL was also set up to take care of the commercial side of the sport.
On the 10 May 2022 the RFL announced it had signed a 12-year deal with sports marketing company IMG to maximise the sports growth.
IMG announced that they planned to scrap traditional promotion and relegation in favour of a return to licensing, although it would be slightly different to how it was executed before.
Clubs across all three divisions would be graded A, B or C. Clubs Graded A would be eligible for Super League and be immune from relegation with the rest of Super League being made up of the highest ranking Grade B clubs who could be moved between Super League and the Championship depending on how well they were rated. Clubs Graded C would make up the rest of the Championship and League One. The overall goal was to have a Super League with 12 Grade A clubs.
IMG announced grading criteria in March 2023, with clubs being judged on fandom, on field performances, finances, stadium and catchment.
There are 12 clubs in the Super League. During the course of the season (usually from February to September) each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at their opponent's. Clubs also play five additional 'Loop Fixtures' (including Magic Weekend) which are decided by the previous seasons league standings (For example, the team that finished 1st the previous season would play an additional game against the 3rd, 5th etc. placed teams.[27]). Altogether clubs play 27 games.
Teams receive two points for a win, if a game is drawn at full time, 20 minutes of Golden point are played. If teams are still drawn after Golden point, both teams are awarded a point.[28] No points are awarded for a defeat.
Teams are ranked by competition points, points difference (points scored less points conceded), points scored. The team finishing top after 27 games is awarded the League Leaders Shield.
See main article: Super League play-offs. The play-offs have had various formats. Currently once every club has played 27 games, the top six teams qualify for the playoffs.[29]
Round one sees 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th. The winners then progress to the semi finals where the teams finishing 1st and 2nd enter. The two winners of the semi-finals meet in the Grand Final.
See main article: Super League Grand Final. The Grand Final is the championship-deciding game and showpiece event of the Super League season. It is held annually at Old Trafford, with the exception of 2020 when it was hosted at the KCOM Stadium in Hull in front of no supporters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| City | Stadium | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | Old Trafford | 1998–2019, 2021–present | |
| Hull | KCOM Stadium | 2020 |
See also: List of current and former Super League venues.
| Current Champions |
See also: Rugby Football League expansion.
| Club | Seasons in Super League | First season in Super League | Last season in Super League | Titles (Most recent top division title) | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield Trinity | 24 | 1999 | 2023 | 1968 | Wakefield | |
| Bradford Bulls | 19 | 1996 | 2014 | 2005 | Bradford | |
| Widnes Vikings | 11 | 2002 | 2018 | 1989 | Widnes | |
| Halifax Panthers | 8 | 1996 | 2003 | 1985–86 | Halifax | |
| Sheffield Eagles | 4 | 1996 | 1999 | N/A | Sheffield | |
| Crusaders § | 3 | 2009 | 2011 | N/A | Bridgend Wrexham | |
| Oldham | 2 | 1996 | 1997 | 1956–57 | Oldham | |
| Paris Saint-Germain § | 2 | 1996 | 1997 | N/A |  Paris | |
| Gateshead Thunder § | 1 | 1999 | 1999 | N/A | Gateshead | |
| Workington Town | 1 | 1996 | 1996 | 1950–51 | Workington | |
| Toronto Wolfpack | 1 | 2020 | 2020 | N/A |  Toronto | |
| Toulouse Olympique | 1 | 2022 | 2022 | N/A | Toulouse |
See main article: List of British rugby league champions. For the first two Super League seasons, Champions were decided by a round robin system. The league format changed in 1998 with a play-off series used to determine the Super League champions for the first since 1972–73.
| Club | Wins | Runners up | Winning Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Helens | 10 | 5 | 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 |
| 2 | Leeds Rhinos | 8 | 3 | 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 |
| 3 | Wigan Warriors | 6 | 6 | 1998, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2023 |
| 4 | Bradford Bulls | 4 | 3 | 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005 |
| 5 | Warrington Wolves | 0 | 4 | - |
| 6 | Catalans Dragons | 2 | ||
| 7 | Castleford Tigers | 1 | ||
| Hull FC | ||||
| London Broncos | ||||
| Salford Red Devils |
See main article: League Leaders' Shield. The League Leaders' Shield was first awarded in 2002, and is given to the team finishing the regular season top of Super League.[30]
| Club | Wins | Winning Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Helens | 9 | 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| 2 | Wigan Warriors | 4 | 2010, 2012, 2020, 2023 |
| 3 | Leeds Rhinos | 3 | 2004, 2009, 2015 |
| 4 | Warrington Wolves | 2 | 2011, 2016 |
| 5 | Bradford Bulls | 1 | 2003 |
| Huddersfield Giants | 2013 | ||
| Castleford Tigers | 2017 | ||
| Catalans Dragons | 2021 |
See main article: The Double (rugby league). In British rugby league, the term The Double refers to the achievement of a club that wins both the League Championship and Challenge Cup in the same season. To date, this has been achieved by ten different clubs in total, six of which occasions have been during the Super League era.
| Club | Wins | Winning years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan Warriors | 7 | 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2013 | |
| 2 | St. Helens | 4 | 1965–66, 1996, 2006, 2021 | |
| 3 | Huddersfield Giants | 2 | 1912–13, 1914–15 | |
| 4 | Broughton Rangers | 1 | 1901–02 | |
| 5 | Halifax | 1 | 1902–03 | |
| 6 | Hunslet FC § | 1 | 1907–08 | |
| 7 | Swinton Lions | 1 | 1927–28 | |
| 8 | Warrington Wolves | 1 | 1953–54 | |
| 9 | Bradford Bulls | 1 | 2003 | |
| 10 | Leeds Rhinos | 1 | 2015 |
See main article: The Treble (rugby league). The Treble refers to the team who wins all three domestic honours on offer during the season; Grand Final, League Leaders' Shield and Challenge Cup. To date seven teams have won the treble, only Bradford Bulls, St. Helens and Leeds Rhinos have won the treble in the Super League era.
| Club | Wins | Winning years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 1912–13, 1914–15 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 1965–66, 2006 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 1907–08 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 1927–28 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 2003 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 2015 |
The winner of the Grand Final is given the Super League Trophy as Super League Champions. This is considered more prestigious than the minor premiership. Each year, the year of a champion team's triumph, team name and team Rugby league football captain are engraved.
The record for most Super League titles won is held by St Helens with ten titles. Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield currently holds the record for captaining the most Super League title winning sides after captaining Leeds to their first 7 grand final successes. St. Helens contested the final 6 years in a row (from 2006 until 2011) during which time they succeeded only once in lifting the trophy against Hull F.C. in 2006; after which they suffered consecutive defeats against Leeds in 2007, 2008, 2009, Wigan in 2010 and Leeds once again in 2011. However, St. Helens made a victorious return in 2014, defeating rivals, Wigan 14–6 and have since won a further four grand finals, defeating Salford in 2019, Wigan in 2020 and Catalans Dragons in 2021 and Leeds in 2022.
Following their 2020 defeat to St. Helens, Wigan have now broken St Helens' record of losing five Grand Finals, losing a total of six. Hull F.C. (2006), Warrington (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2018), Castleford (2017), Salford (2019), and Catalans (2021) have all appeared in the Grand Final but never won.
The Man of Steel Award is an annual award for the best player of the season in Super League. It has continued from pre-Super League times, with the first such award given in 1977. It was renamed in honour of Steve Prescott in 2014.
See main article: Albert Goldthorpe Medal. The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award voted for be members of the press who cast a vote after every game of the regular season. The three players who, in the opinion of the reporter, have been the three 'best and fairest' players in the game will receive three points, two points and one point respectively. To be eligible for a vote, a player must not have been suspended from the competition at any stage during the season.
See main article: Super League Dream Team. Each season a "Dream Team" is also named. The best thirteen players in their respective positions are voted for by members of the sports press. The 2023 dream team is as follows:
| Nat. | Name | Club | Appointed | Time as head coach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleford Tigers | |||||
| (interim) | |||||
| (interim) | |||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | |||||
| Leeds Rhinos | |||||
| Salford Red Devils | |||||
The Super League has been won by 16 coaches, 10 from Australia, 5 from England and 1 from New Zealand.
| Head Coach | Wins | Winning years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian McDermott | 4 | 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 | |
| 2 | Brian Noble | 3 | 2001, 2003, 2005 | |
| 3 | Shaun Wane | 3 | 2013, 2016, 2018 | |
| 4 |  Kristian Woolf | 3 | 2020, 2021, 2022 | |
| 5 | Ian Millward | 2 | 2000, 2002 | |
| 6 | Tony Smith | 2 | 2004, 2007 | |
| 7 |  Brian McClennan | 2 | 2008, 2009 | |
| 8 | Shaun McRae | 1 | 1996 | |
| 9 | Matthew Elliott | 1 | 1997 | |
| 10 | John Monie | 1 | 1998 | |
| 11 | Ellery Hanley | 1 | 1999 | |
| 12 | Daniel Anderson | 1 | 2006 | |
| 13 | Michael Maguire | 1 | 2010 | |
| 14 | Nathan Brown | 1 | 2014 | |
| 15 | Justin Holbrook | 1 | 2019 | |
| 16 | Matt Peet | 1 | 2023 |
Statistics correct as of 18 August 2024
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Smith | Huddersfield (2001, 2003) Leeds (2004–2007) Warrington (2009–2017) Hull KR (2019–2022) Hull (2023–2024) | 536 | |
| 2 | Daryl Powell | Leeds (2001–2003) Castleford (2013–2021) Warrington (2022–2023) | 365 | |
| 3 | Brian McDermott | London (2007–2010) Leeds (2011–2018) Toronto (2020) | 340 | |
| 4 | Brian Noble | Bradford (2001–2006) Wigan (2006–2009) Crusaders (2010) Salford (2013–2014) | 321 | |
| 5 | Shaun McRae | St. Helens (1996–1998) Gateshead (1999) Hull (2000–2004) Salford (2007, 2009–2011) | 312 | |
| 6 | Steve McNamara | Bradford (2006–2010) Catalans (2017–present) | 308 | |
| 7 | John Kear | Sheffield (1997–1999) Huddersfield (2000) Hull (2005–2006) Wakefield (2006–2011) | 272 | |
| 8 | Richard Agar | Hull (2006, 2008–2011) Wakefield (2012–2014) Leeds (20 19–2022) | 236 | |
| 9= | Ian Watson | Salford (2015–2020) Huddersfield (2021–2024) | 228 | |
| 9= | Ian Millward | St. Helens (2000–2005) Wigan (2005–2006) Castleford (2012–2013) | 228 |
See main article: List of Super League records.
| + Most appearances | |||
| Rank | Player | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Roby | 495 | |
| 2 | Kevin Sinfield | 454 | |
| 3 | Andy Lynch | 452 | |
| 4 | Paul Wellens | 442 | |
| 5 | Jamie Peacock | 438 | |
| 6 | Leon Pryce | 432 | |
| 7 | Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook | 430 | |
| 8= | Ben Westwood | 429 | |
| 8= | Rob Burrow | 429 | |
| 10 | Danny Tickle | 419 | |
See also: List of Super League players with 100 or more tries.
| + Most tries | |||
| Rank | Player | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Hall | 253 | |
| 2 | Danny McGuire | 247 | |
| 3 | Josh Charnley | 244 | |
| 4= | Paul Wellens | 199 | |
| 4= | Keith Senior | 199 | |
| 6 | Jermaine McGillvary | 196 | |
| 7 | Tommy Makinson | 187 | |
| 8 | Ryan Atkins | 186 | |
| 9 | Leon Pryce | 173 | |
| 10 | Luke Dorn | 170 | |
See also: List of players with 1,000 Super League points.
| + Most points | |||
| Rank | Player | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Sinfield | 3,443 | |
| 2 | Danny Brough | 2,462 | |
| 3 | Paul Deacon | 2,415 | |
| 4 | Andy Farrell | 2,376 | |
| 5 | Pat Richards | 2,280 | |
| 6 | Danny Tickle | 2,267 | |
| 7 | Lee Briers | 2,240 | |
| 8 | Sean Long | 2,202 | |
| 9 | Marc Sneyd | 2,153 | |
| 10 | Iestyn Harris | 1,678 | |
12 players have captained teams to win the Super League.
| Captain | Wins | Winning years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Sinfield | 7 | 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 | |
| 2 | Sean O'Loughlin | 4 | 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018 | |
| 3 | James Roby | 4 | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 | |
| 4 | Chris Joynt | 3 | 1999, 2000, 2002 | |
| 5 | Robbie Paul | 3 | 1997, 2001, 2003 | |
| 6 | Bobbie Goulding | 1 | 1996 | |
| 7 | Andy Farrell | 1 | 1998 | |
| 8 | Jamie Peacock | 1 | 2005 | |
| 9 | Sean Long | 1 | 2006 | |
| 10 | Paul Wellens | 1 | 2014 | |
| 11 | Danny McGuire | 1 | 2017 | |
| 12 | Liam Farrell | 1 | 2023 |
See main article: English rugby league sponsorship. Since its inaugural season in 1996, the Super League has been sponsored seven times with the first sponsor, Stones Bitter continuing to be title sponsors having sponsored the old First Division since 1986. With the exception of the 2013 season, the league has had a title sponsor every year.
| Period | Sponsor | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1997 | Stones Bitter | Stones Super League | |
| 1998–1999 | JJB Sports | JJB Super League | |
| 2000–2004 | Tetley's Bitter | Tetley's Super League | |
| 2005–2011 | Engage Mutual Assurance | Engage Super League | |
| 2012 | Stobart Group | Stobart Super League | |
| 2013 | no sponsor | Super League | |
| 2014–2016 | First Utility | First Utility Super League | |
| 2017–2026 | Betfred | Betfred Super League |
As well as title sponsorship, Super League has a number of official partners and suppliers.[31] For the 2017 season these include Kingstone Press Cider, Dacia, Foxy Bingo, Batchelors and Specsavers.
The official rugby ball supplier is Steeden.[32]
The Super League has had three official logos. The first was used from the inaugural season in 1996 until 2016. The logo had the Super League S with Super above it and League below it. The title sponsors name would appear above the logo until 2014 when title sponsors First Utility used their own personalised logos that appeared on player shirts and in the media. The reigning champions had a ribbon around the logo with champions on it until 2011.The second official logo was introduced in 2017 as part of a radical rebrand across British rugby league. The design was deliberately similar to new Rugby Football League (RFL) and England team logos, in order to maintain a ubiquity of public message. It had a rectangular backdrop representing the George Hotel in Huddersfield (where rugby league was originally founded), thirteen lines representing thirteen players, a chevron (a traditional design feature on many rugby league shirts) and the S which represented the ball and the Super League. The reigning champions had the right to wear a gold version of the logo on their shirts.
Ahead of the 2020 Super League season, a brand new logo was revealed. This was designed by the same company who had recently redesigned the Premier League logo and was more simplistic than previous iterations. In 2024 this was updated by the marketing firm 160/90 to three separate logos, to represent the three Super League competitions, teal for Mens', Purple for Women's and Green for Wheelchair.[33]
Since its formation in 1996 only four teams have won the Super League, Bradford, Leeds, St. Helens and Wigan. Also, only nine teams have taken part in the Grand Final, Hull FC, Castleford Tigers, Warrington Wolves, Salford Red Devils, and the Catalans Dragons being the other five. Eight teams have been the league leaders, however only one of these Huddersfield Giants in 2013, is a different team to those that have appeared in the grand final, meaning that only nine different teams in total have been involved in the grand final or topped the regular season table, however, 23 teams have taken part in Super League since its inception. The last grand final to feature two sides other than Wigan, Leeds, St Helens or Bradford occurred in 1991 when Hull F.C. defeated Widnes 14–4 in the premiership final.[34] This had led to the criticism that Super League is effectively uncompetitive, by perpetuating success in the hands of a small number of wealthy clubs.[35] [36]
An overseas quota restricting the maximum number of foreign players at each club has existed since the inception of the Super League in 1996.[37] However, overseas players that hold a European Union passport or come under the Kolpak ruling do not count towards the quota. This resulted in the number of non-British players at some clubs greatly exceeding the quota.
In response to concerns over the growing number of foreign players in the league, in 2007, the RFL announced plans to introduce a "homegrown player" rule to encourage clubs to develop their own players.[38] As of 2017, Super League clubs are permitted to register no more than five overseas players. Additionally, squads are also limited to a maximum of seven non-Federation trained players.[39]
A salary cap was first introduced to the Super League in 1998, with clubs being allowed to spend up to 50 percent of their income on player wages. From the 2002 season onwards, the cap became a fixed ceiling of £1.8 million in order to increase parity within the league.[40]
The Super League operates under a real-time salary cap system that will calculate a club's salary cap position at the start of and throughout the season:[41]
In 2017, Super League clubs approved proposals to increase the salary cap over the next three seasons, eventually rising to £2.1 million by 2020. Clubs will also be allowed to sign a second marquee player.[42]
Before each Super League fixture, each club must announce the squad of 19 players it will choose from by 2:00pm on the second day before the match day.[41]
Sky Sports have been the primary broadcast partner of Super League since its inaugural season in 1996. The current deal lasts between 2024 until 2026, which will see, for the first time ever, Sky Sports producing all six matches per week, and each will be broadcast live in some form.[43]
The 2024 season also saw the creation of Super League+https://superleagueplus.co.uk/home, a dedicated streaming service which would broadcast four out of six matches per round live, with the other two matches on a 48-hour delay.[44]
For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Channel 4 had the rights to broadcast ten matches, consisting of eight regular season plus two play-off games.[45] The BBC obtained the same rights as Channel 4 had, beginning from the 2024 season, with the addition of extra matches shown on the Red Button and iPlayer.
Sky Sports broadcasts live Super League games in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Broadcasting slots occur on Thursdays and Fridays at 19:30 or 19:55 (20:00 kick off), and varying times on weekend afternoon.
| Duration | Broadcasters | Value per year | Games shown per year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1999 | Sky Sports | ~£17 million | ? | |
| 1999–2003 | ~£12 million | ? | ||
| 2004–2008 | ~£9 million | ? | ||
| 2009–2011 | ~£18 million | 80 | ||
| 2012–2016 | 100 | |||
| 2017–2021 | ~£40 million | 80 | ||
| 2022–2023 | Sky Sports[46] Channel 4[47] | ~£26 million[48] | 66 + 10 | |
| 2024–2026 | Sky Sports BBC Super League+ | ~£20 million[49] | ~170[50] |
Source:[51]
In addition to Sky Sports' live coverage, BBC Sport previously broadcast a weekly highlights programme called the Super League Show, usually presented by Tanya Arnold. This was broadcast to the North West, Yorkshire, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions on BBC One on Monday nights (after 11pm) and was repeated nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday afternoons.[52] A national repeat was first broadcast overnight during the week since February 2008 when the then BBC Director of Sport, Roger Mosey, commented that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to watch it elsewhere in the UK. The end of season play-off series was shown nationwide in a highlights package. The Super League Show is also available for streaming or download using the BBC iPlayer in the UK.
The Super League Show was cancelled ahead of the 2024 season after Super League agreed a deal with Sky Sports to show every game.
Internationally, Super League is shown live by eight broadcasters in eight countries and regions.
| Country/ Region | Broadcaster | |
|---|---|---|
| Fox League, NITV | ||
| Africa | ||
| Asia | Premier Sports | |
| Fox Sports | ||
| Sportsnet | ||
| Caribbean | Sports Max | |
| L'Équipe | ||
| Sky Sport | ||
| Pacific Islands | TVWan | |
| Worldwide (Online) | SuperLeague+ |
Talksport is an official broadcaster of Super League, broadcasting commentaries and magazine programming on Talksport 2. BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra covers more than 70 Super League games through 5 Live Rugby League each Thursday and Friday night.[53] Each 3 hour programme is presented by Dave Woods with a guest summariser (usually a Super League player or coach) and in addition to live commentary also includes interviews and debate. A 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.
Super League is also covered extensively by BBC Local Radio:
| Station | Area | |
|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio Humberside | Hull | |
| BBC Radio Leeds | West Yorkshire | |
| BBC Radio Manchester | Salford, Wigan and Warrington. | |
| BBC Radio Merseyside | St Helens, Warrington and Widnes. |
The competition is also covered on commercial radio stations:
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations on-line streaming.
ESPN3, formerly ESPN360, has had worldwide broadband rights since 2007 when they broadcast the 2007 Grand Final.
Since 9 April 2009, all of the matches shown on Sky Sports have also been available live online via Livestation everywhere in the world excluding the US, Puerto Rico, UK, Ireland, France, Monaco, Australia and New Zealand.[54] In 2016 Livestation shut down, however these matches are also available online for UK users only through Sky Go and Now TV.
In the United Kingdom, a number of commercial radio stations, along with BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and the local BBC radio stations simulcast commentary of Super League games on the internet. Additionally, the 5 Live Rugby League podcast is available to download each week from the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrtxd/episodes/downloads.
