Leeds Rhinos–Wakefield Trinity rivalry

Leeds Rhinos – Wakefield Trinity

The 2008 Festive Challenge
Location	West Yorkshire, England
Teams	Leeds Rhinos Wakefield Trinity
First meeting	21 February 1903 (Leeds Rhinos 13–0 Wakefield Trinity)
Latest meeting	27 March 2021 (Leeds Rhinos 28–22 Wakefield Trinity)
Stadiums	Headingley Mobile Rocket Stadium
Statistics
Meetings total	123
Most wins	Leeds Rhinos (84)

The Leeds Rhinos – Wakefield Trinity rivalry is a West Yorkshire Derby born from locality and competitive history. The two sides play an annual pre-season friendly, the Festive Challenge, every Boxing Day to celebrate their rivalry.

Head-to-head record[]

Statistics correct as of 19/5/21^[1]

In all competitions, competitive and uncompetitive:

Played	Leeds	Drawn	Wakefield
123	83	6	34

Meetings in major finals[]

• 1932–33 Yorkshire Cup Final: Leeds 8–0 Wakefield
• 1934–35 Yorkshire Cup Final: Leeds 5–5 Wakefield
  • Replay 1: Leeds 2–2 Wakefield
  • Replay 2: Leeds 13–0 Wakefield
• 1947–48 Yorkshire Cup Final: Wakefield 7–7 Leeds
  • Replay 1: Wakefield 8–7 Leeds
• 1958–59 Yorkshire Cup Final: Leeds 24–20 Wakefield
• 1961–62 Yorkshire Cup Final: Wakefield 19–9 Leeds
• 1964–65 Yorkshire Cup Final: Wakefield 18–2 Leeds
• 1967–68 Challenge Cup Final: Leeds 11–10 Wakefield
• 1973–74 Yorkshire Cup Final: Leeds 7–2 Wakefield

Collective Honours[]

Leeds Rhinos		Honour	Wakefield Trinity
Rank	No.		No.	Rank
3rd	11	League	2	14th
2nd	14	Challenge Cup	5	7th
4th	2	Premiership	0	N/A
3rd	2	League Cup	0	N/A
N/A	0	Charity Shield	0	N/A
3rd	3	World Club Challenge	0	N/A
1st	15	Yorkshire League	7	3rd
1st	17	Yorkshire Cup	10	4th
5th	1	BBC2 Floodlit Trophy	0	N/A

Festive Challenge[]

The Festive Challenge

Sport	Rugby league
Number of teams	2
Country	(RFL)
Holders	Leeds Rhinos (5th title)
Most titles	Leeds Rhinos (5 titles)

The Festive Challenge is an annual friendly rugby match played between Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity that is played on Boxing Day.^[2][3]

History[]

Before the summer era of rugby league, games were regularly played on Boxing Day.

The 2010 event was postponed to New Year's Day due to poor weather.

In 2017, the fixture was moved to Belle Vue, the first time it was played away from Headingley, due to the redevelopment of Headingley Stadium.

Results[]

This section appears to be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective and add more content related to non-recent events. (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Year	Winner	Score	Runners up	Venue
2009	Leeds Rhinos	32–12	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Headingley Stadium
2010[a]	Leeds Rhinos	40–22	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
2011	Leeds Rhinos	26–10	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
2012	Leeds Rhinos	40–26	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
2013	Leeds Rhinos	18–18	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
2014	Leeds Rhinos	50–28	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
2015	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	14–6	Leeds Rhinos
2016	Wakefield Trinity	30–6	Leeds Rhinos
2017	Leeds Rhinos	17–10	Wakefield Trinity	Belle Vue
2018	Leeds Rhinos	10–4[4]	Wakefield Trinity	Headingley Stadium
2019	Wakefield Trinity	30–4[5]	Leeds Rhinos
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Leeds Rhinos	34–6[6]	Wakefield Trinity	Headingley Stadium

Winners[]

	Team	Wins	Years
1	Leeds Rhinos	7	2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021
2	Wakefield Trinity	3	2015, 2016, 2019

Sponsors[]

Period	Sponsor	Name
2009	Cravendale	Cravendale Festive Challenge
2011–2013	Heatshot	Heatshot Festive Challenge
2014	Tetley's	Tetley's Festive Challenge
2015–	Wetherby Whaler	Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge

See also[]

• Boxing Day Challenge
• West Yorkshire derbies
• Derbies in the Rugby Football League

Notes[]

References[]