Rugby Football League

Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
Founded	29 August 1895
Formerly named	Northern Rugby Football Union (1895–1922)
IRL affiliation	1948
RLEF affiliation	2003
Responsibility	England
Headquarters	Leeds, United Kingdom
Key people	Clare Balding (President); Ralph Rimmer (Chief Executive)
Competitions	Super League; Championship; League 1; Rugby League Conference; Challenge Cup; 1895 Cup; World Club Challenge
Website	rugby-league.com
	As of 30 June 2009

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England.^[2] The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisation. This has since been supplanted by Super League, the Championship and League 1.

Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships. The social and junior game is administered in association with the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA). The Rugby Football League is a member of the Rugby League European Federation and as a senior Full Member has a combined veto power over the Council with France. The RFL is part of the Community Board, which also has representatives from BARLA, Combined Services, English Schools Rugby League and Student Rugby League. Clare Balding took over as the president in July 2020, taking over from Tony Adams.

Established as the Northern Rugby Football Union (often shortened to Northern Union) in August 1895 by representatives of twenty-one Rugby Football Union clubs at a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Football League,^[3] mirroring its sister organisations overseas, the Australian Rugby Football League and New Zealand Rugby Football League.

The turnover of the RFL was reported as £27 million in 2011.^[4]^[5]

History[]

On Tuesday 27 August 1895, as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester, prominent Lancashire rugby clubs Broughton Rangers, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan declared that they would support their Yorkshire colleagues in their proposal to form a Northern Union.

Two days later, on Thursday 29 August 1895, representatives of 21 clubs met in the George Hotel, Huddersfield to form the "Northern Rugby Football Union" (usually termed Northern Union or NU). Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Football Union, but Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting.

The 22 clubs and their years of foundation were:

Colors	Club	Established	City/Town
RFL Founding Clubs
	Batley	1880	Batley, West Yorkshire
	Bradford F.C.	1863	Bradford, West Yorkshire
	Brighouse Rangers	1873	Brighouse, West Yorkshire
	Broughton Rangers	1877	Broughton, Lancashire
	Halifax	1873	Halifax, West Yorkshire
	Huddersfield	1864	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
	Hull F.C.	1865	Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
	Hunslet	1883	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Leeds	1870	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	Leigh	1878	Leigh, Lancashire
	Liversedge RFC	1877	Liversedge, West Yorkshire
	Manningham	1876	Bradford, West Yorkshire
	Oldham	1876	Oldham, Lancashire
	Rochdale Hornets	1871	Rochdale, Lancashire
	Runcorn RFC	1895	Runcorn, Cheshire
	St Helens	1873	St. Helens, Lancashire
	Stockport RFC	1884	Stockport, Cheshire
	Tyldesley FC	1879	Tyldesley, Lancashire
	Wakefield Trinity	1873	Wakefield, West Yorkshire
	Warrington	1876	Warrington, Cheshire
	Widnes	1875	Widnes, Lancashire
	Wigan	1872	Wigan, Lancashire

The Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup 1896

In 1908 the Northern Union's brand of rugby was taken up in Australia and New Zealand. The Union hosted touring sides from both countries before assembling a Great Britain representative team for a 1910 tour of Australia and New Zealand. These nations, particularly Australia, would go on to excel in the sport and gain significant influence over it over the following century.

The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) was created in 1973 in Huddersfield by a group of enthusiasts concerned about the dramatic disappearance of many amateur leagues and clubs. Fewer than 150 amateur teams remained with a mere 30 youth rugby league teams. The 'breakaway' from the RFL was acrimonious and was strongly contested, with a vote 29–1 against recognising BARLA. Thanks to Tom Mitchell, this changed to a unanimous vote of approval for BARLA within 12 months.

Maurice Lindsay became the Chief Executive of the RFL in 1992, proposing the Super League, which replaced Championship as the sport's premier league competition from 1996 onwards. Lindsay returned to Wigan in 1999 for his second stint at the club after Sir Rodney Walker, then chairman of the RFL, sacked him after a campaign to unseat him failed.^[6]

The RFL accumulated losses of £1.9 million at the end of 2001, shortly before a major restructuring of the governing body and the appointment of Richard Lewis as executive chairman in May 2002.^[7] Within a year of joining the RFL, he oversaw reunification with BARLA after nearly 30 years of division.^[8] Lewis left in 2012 to become Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.^[9] The RFL net value has been positive every year since 2004, being £1.7 million in 2011.^[4]

In 2011 a major change to the game was agreed, changing from a winter to a summer game, starting in 2012 with a playing season from March to November, aligning with the Super League, which has played this way since 1996. The regional leagues may include winter competitions in addition.^[4]

In 2012, the Rugby Football League were awarded the Stonewall Sport Award in recognition of their work in embracing inclusivity and tackling homophobia.^[10] They also became the first UK sporting organisation to make the top 100 employers in the Stonewall Index that measures attitudes towards lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.^[11]

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex served as patron until February 2021.^[12]

Competitions[]

The RFL operates a five-tier system and is responsible for running the top three professional divisions as well as the National Conference League and various regional leagues below that. The RFL also runs two cup competitions for professional clubs and is involved with the organization of the World Club Challenge and World Club Series.

Name	Tier	Established	Latest Winners
RFL Leagues
Super League	1	1996	St Helens
Championship	2	2003	Toronto Wolfpack
League 1	3	2003	Whitehaven

Name	Established	Winners
RFL Domestic Cups
Challenge Cup	1896	Leeds Rhinos
League 1 Cup	2015	Barrow Raiders

Name	Established	Winners
RFL International Cup
World Club Challenge	1976	Sydney Roosters

Teams[]

English national team[]

The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. As of 2008, the team now participates in all World Cups, Four Nations, and Test matches.^[13]

The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan.^[14] Since then, and right up until the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France and Wales became the only regular opponents. Even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup was in 1975, and since then they have become runners-up in 1975 and 1995, the latter tournament being held in England. In 2008 they competed in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, an England 'A' team, competed for the Federation Shield. In the past England's main rivals have been Wales and France, with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, England's main rivals would now be Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, France.

Traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the shirt usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons. These colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of the shirt, shorts and socks were white too with red strips.^[15] Also in 2008 the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a much simpler shield and cross design,^[16] nevertheless the team will still be known as "The Lions".

Currently the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia and New Zealand. Steve McNamara became head coach leaving Bradford to take the national job and Sean O'Loughlin is the current captain.

Great Britain national team[]

The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed the "Great Britain Lions", or simply "The Lions".

For most of the 20th century the Great Britain team was assembled to go on tours overseas, and to play against foreign touring teams, as well as competing in Rugby League World Cup tournaments. They were one of the strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to Australia. They won the Rugby League World Cup on three occasions: 1954, 1960 and 1972.

Since 1995 the RFL have pretended to send the home nations as separate teams for World Cup purposes. Great Britain continued to compete as a test playing nation both home and away. They competed against Australia for the Ashes, and New Zealand for the Baskerville Shield, as well the Tri-Nations series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also played in series and tours against other nations such as France, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

In 2006, the RFL announced that after the 2007 All Golds Tour^[17] the Great Britain team would no longer compete on a regular basis, and that players would be able to represent England, Wales and Scotland at Test level. It is planned that the Great Britain team will come together in future only for occasional tours, similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union.

Board of directors[]

The RFL board consists of the following:

Member	Position	Notes
Brian Barwick	Chairman	Former chief executive of the FA.^[18]
Ralph Rimming	Chief Executive Officer	Former CEO of the Huddersfield Giants
Maurice Watkins, CBE	Senior Non-Executive Director	Sports lawyer from Brabner Chaffe Street in Manchester and a former director of Manchester United.
Clare Fister	Non-Executive Director	Current Chair of Welcome to Yorkshire.

Young People's Advisory Panel[]

The RFL launched the Young People's Advisory Panel in 2010, a group consisting of young people aged 16–25 from across England. The national panel meet at least three times a year at the RFL's Red Hall headquarters to discuss and debate the following:

Changes in the structure of youth rugby;
Communications between young rugby league enthusiasts and the RFL;
RFL policies which impact on young people.

Two nominated members will also sit on the youth & junior forum, a key device used to advance youth rugby league.^[19]^[20]

Presidents[]

Tenure	Name	Club
1988–1989	Les Bettinson	Salford
1989–1990	S. Ackroyd	Halifax
1990–1991	Harry Jepson OBE	Leeds
1991–1992	Maurice Lindsay	Wigan
1992–1993	Colin Hutton	Hull Kingston Rovers
1993–1994	R. Waudby	Hull F.C.
1994–1995	R. Teeman	Bramley
1995–1996	Kath Hetherington	Sheffield Eagles
1997	W.J. Mason	Hunslet
1998–1999	T. Smith	Widnes
1999–2000	W. Garrett	Warrington
2000–2001	Ralph Calvin	Whitehaven^[21]
2001–2002	M. White	Swinton
2002–2003	R. Taylor	Rochdale Hornets
2003–2004	T. Fleet	Widnes
2004–2005	Gary Hetherington	Leeds
2005–2006	P. Hindle	Castleford
2006–2007	S. Wagner	Featherstone Rovers
2007–2008	G. Liles	Hunslet
2008–2009	K. Nicholas	Batley
2009–2010	Chris Hamilton	Oldham
2010–2011	Bev Risman OBE
2011–2012	J. Whaling
2012–2013	J. Hartley
2013–2014	David Oxley CBE
2015–2016	Andrew Farrow
2016–2018	Air Commodore Dean Andrew OBE	United Kingdom Armed Forces
2018–2019	Andy Burnham	Mayor of Greater Manchester
2019–2020	Tony Adams	Sporting Chance Clinic
2020-	Clare Balding

Logo[]

The first logo used by the RFL was an oval shape, representing the ball with XIII and 13 over it and The Rugby Football League around it. The logo was also seen on the sleeve of teams shirts.

RFL logo used until 2017 rebrand

In the late 1990s the logo was changed to a more simplistic design to the old one. It had a rugby ball shape with three small lines, representing 13 players, and two long lines, representing goalposts, arranged on a rugby ball so as to suggest a hand carrying or passing it. The Rugby Football League was abbreviated to RFL.

In 2017 the RFL had its most radical rebrand since the formation of Super League. The new logo was a rectangular background meant to represent The George Hotel in Huddersfield, where rugby league was founded and 1895 the year it was founded. Thirteen stripes inside it represent thirteen players. The oval on top represents the ball and the appreciation RFL has been replaced with Rugby Football League.

Headquarters[]

Red Hall, RFL HQ

The RFL moved into permanent headquarters in 1922 at 180 Chapeltown Road, Leeds, where it stayed for 73 years before leaving in 1995 to its current HQ at Red Hall in Leeds, a Grade II listed brick building dating from 1642.^[22]^[23]

In 2015, some departments including Super League, moved to offices at Quay West in Trafford Wharf, Greater Manchester.^[24]

References[]

^ RLEF. "Overview". RLEF. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
^ "RLIF Confederations". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
^ "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 2011 RFL Annual Report
^ BBC Sport – Rugby Football League announces record turnover of £29m. Bbc.co.uk (2012-07-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-20.
^ "League's cease-fire is over as superpowers prepare for War". Dave Hadfield, The Independent. 29 January 1998. Retrieved 30 August 2007.^{[dead link]}
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2008-07-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Multi-tasking Lewis a southerner happy to work at northern union". The Guardian. 1 June 2007.
^ www.therfl.co.uk The board of directors (retrieved 23 Dec 2012)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Wilson, Andy (12 January 2011). "RFL is named among top 100 employers in Stonewall Index". The Guardian.
^ "Harry and Meghan not returning as working members of Royal Family". BBC. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
^ The Rugby Football League – Brand England Launched Archived 27 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 24 May 2008.
^ RL1895 – The First International Archived 4 February 2012 at archive.today Retrieved on 6 June 2008.
^ England Official Website – New Shirt Launched Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
^ England Official Website – New Logo Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
^ Sporting Life Archived 10 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ "RFL appoints ex-FA boss Brian Barwick as chairman". BBC Sport. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
^ "Midlands Rugby League". Midlands Rugby League. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.^{[dead link]}
^ "London Broncos Rugby League". League.quins.co.uk. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.^{[dead link]}
^ Irving, A (1 March 2007). "Ralph handles league's hot seats". News & Star. whitehavennews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
^ British Listed Buildings
^ RFL: The History of Red Hall (Sep 2012)
^ "Place North West | RFL relocates from Leeds". Place North West. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2018.

External links[]

[rlefoview1-1] RLEF. "Overview". RLEF. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 2009-06-30.

[2] "RLIF Confederations". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

[3] "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.

[RFL2011-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c 2011 RFL Annual Report

[BBC-5] BBC Sport – Rugby Football League announces record turnover of £29m. Bbc.co.uk (2012-07-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-20.

[League's_cease-fire_is_over_as_superpowers_prepare_for_War-6] "League's cease-fire is over as superpowers prepare for War". Dave Hadfield, The Independent. 29 January 1998. Retrieved 30 August 2007.^{[dead link]}

[7] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2008-07-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[8] "Multi-tasking Lewis a southerner happy to work at northern union". The Guardian. 1 June 2007.

[web2012-9] www.therfl.co.uk The board of directors (retrieved 23 Dec 2012)

[10] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[11] Wilson, Andy (12 January 2011). "RFL is named among top 100 employers in Stonewall Index". The Guardian.

[BBC-final-12] "Harry and Meghan not returning as working members of Royal Family". BBC. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

[13] The Rugby Football League – Brand England Launched Archived 27 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 24 May 2008.

[14] RL1895 – The First International Archived 4 February 2012 at archive.today Retrieved on 6 June 2008.

[15] England Official Website – New Shirt Launched Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 June 2008.

[16] England Official Website – New Logo Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 June 2008.

[RLSL-17] Sporting Life Archived 10 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[barwickappoint-18] "RFL appoints ex-FA boss Brian Barwick as chairman". BBC Sport. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.

[19] "Midlands Rugby League". Midlands Rugby League. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.^{[dead link]}

[20] "London Broncos Rugby League". League.quins.co.uk. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.^{[dead link]}

[21] Irving, A (1 March 2007). "Ralph handles league's hot seats". News & Star. whitehavennews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2011.

[Britlist-22] British Listed Buildings

[RedHall-23] RFL: The History of Red Hall (Sep 2012)

[24] "Place North West | RFL relocates from Leeds". Place North West. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2018.

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show v t The Rugby Football League
Chairmen	Rodney Walker Richard Lewis Brian Barwick
Presidents	Les Bettinson Colin Hutton Harry Jepson Maurice Lindsay Gary Hetherington Bev Risman
Founder members	Batley FC Bradford FC Brighouse Rangers RFC Broughton Rangers Halifax FC Huddersfield FC Hull FC Hunslet FC Leeds FC Leigh FC Liversedge RFC Manningham FC Oldham FC Rochdale Hornets FC Runcorn RFC Stockport RFC St Helens FC Tyldesley FC Wakefield Trinity FC Warrington FC Widnes FC Wigan FC

show v t Rugby league in Great Britain and Ireland
Nations and regions	Rugby league in England Rugby league in Ireland Rugby league in Scotland Rugby league in Wales Rugby league in Lancashire Rugby league in Yorkshire
Federations	Rugby Football League BARLA Rugby League Ireland Scotland Rugby League Wales Rugby League
National teams	Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales
Women's national teams	Great Britain England
Leagues	Super League Championship League 1 National Conference League Cumbria Men's League Cumberland League East Rugby League London & South East Men's League Midlands Rugby League North East Rugby League North West Men's League South West Rugby League Yorkshire Men's League Pennine League Hull & District League South Premier Scottish National League North Wales Conference South Wales Premiership Super 8 Women's Super League Women's Rugby League
Cups	Challenge Cup League 1 Cup Yorkshire Cup Conference Challenge Trophy BARLA National Cup BARLA Yorkshire Cup BARLA Cumbria Cup Cumberland County Cup Women's Challenge Cup
Former competitions	RFL Championship Premiership Rugby League Conference Lancashire Cup Lancs/Yorks League League Cup Charity Shield BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Independent Television Floodlit Trophy Trans-Pennine Cup Championship Cup Conference League South BARLA Lancashire Cup Captain Morgan Trophy

show v t Rugby League European Federation
Members	Full England France Ireland Italy Jamaica Lebanon Russia Scotland Serbia South Africa Ukraine Wales Associative Canada Czech Republic Germany Greece Malta Netherlands Norway Spain Turkey United States Observers Belgium Denmark Ghana Hungary Latvia Nigeria Sweden
National teams	Austria Bosnia Belgium Catalonia Czech Republic England Estonia France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lebanon Malta Moldova Morocco Netherlands Norway Portugal Russia Scotland Serbia Spain Sweden Ukraine Wales
Competitions	European Cup European Championship B (second tier) European Championship C (third tier) European Championship D (fourth tier) Euro Med Challenge (defunct)