This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2018) |
Founded | 2014 |
---|---|
Folded | 2017 |
Country | England |
Last champions | Thatto Heath Crusaders |
The RFL Women's Rugby League was an amateur women's rugby league competition in the United Kingdom. First played for in 2014, the league ran for three full seasons. The 2017 season was not completed as the league was replaced in July 2017 by a new three division structure comprising the Women's Super League, the Women's Championship and the Women's Championship 1.
Women's Rugby League Premier clubs | ||
Club | City | Titles (Last) |
---|---|---|
Bradford Thunderbirds/Bulls | Bradford, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Brighouse Rangers | Brighouse, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Crosfields | Warrington, Cheshire | 0 |
Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Fryston Warriors | Castleford, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Hunslet Hawks | Leeds, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Leigh Miners Rangers | Leigh, Greater Manchester | 0 |
Lindley Swifts | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Normanton Knights | Normanton, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Oulton Raidettes | Leeds, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale, Greater Manchester | 0 |
Selby Warriors | Selby, North Yorkshire | 0 |
Stanningley | Leeds, West Yorkshire | 0 |
Thatto Heath Crusaders | St. Helens, Merseyside | 3 (2016) [1] |
West Craven Warriors | Barnoldswick, Lancashire | 0 |
Wigan St Patricks | Wigan, Greater Manchester | 0 |
Season | Champions | Score | Runners-up | League Leaders |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Thatto Heath Crusaders [2] | 36–14 | Bradford Thunderbirds | Bradford Thunderbirds [ citation needed ] |
2015 | Thatto Heath Crusaders [3] | 18–12 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers [4] |
2016 | Thatto Heath Crusaders [5] | 36–8 | Bradford Bulls | Thatto Heath Crusaders [6] |
In 2014, five teams took part in the Premier Division; Bradford Thunderbirds, Crosfields, Featherstone Rovers, Normanton Knights and Thatto Heath. [7] It was won by Thatto Heath who defeated Bradford 36-14 in the play-off final. [2] There were 11 teams in Division One; Brighouse Rangers, Fryston Warriors, Hunslet Hawks, Leigh Miners Rangers, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets, Selby Warriors, Stanningley, West Craven Warriors, Whinmoor Warriors and Wigan St Patricks. [7] Division One was won by Stanningley. [8]
Round 1 | Round 2 | Final | |||||||||||
Bradford Thunderbirds | 24 | Bradford Thunderbirds | 14 | ||||||||||
Thatto Heath | 10 | Thatto Heath | 36 | ||||||||||
Thatto Heath | 34 | ||||||||||||
Featherstone Rovers | 12 | ||||||||||||
Featherstone Rovers | 44 | ||||||||||||
Normanton Knights | 12 | ||||||||||||
The 2015 season began on 12 April with 13 teams in the Premier Division; Bradford Thunderbirds, Brighouse Rangers, Featherstone Rovers, Hunslet Hawks, Leigh Miners Rangers, Normanton Knights, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets, Selby Warriors, Stanningley, Thatto Heath, West Craven Warriors and Wigan St Patricks. [11] However, several fixtures were postponed and by early July the league table showed that Hunslet Hawks had forfeited their remaining fixtures. [12] By the end of the regular season Rochdale Hornets were also unable to play giving West Craven a bye in the first round of the play-offs. In the play-offs the top four competed for the championship, the next four for the shield and the remaining teams for the plate. Featherstone, the league leaders, lost to second-place Thatto Heath in the first round [13] but then defeated Bradford to set up a rematch with Thatto Heath in the Grand Final. [14] On 4 October, Thatto Heath won 18-12 in the final with the Shield going to Wigan St Patricks and Leigh taking the Plate. [3] [15] [16]
Round 1 | Round 2 | Final | |||||||||||
Featherstone Rovers | 4 | Thatto Heath | 18 | ||||||||||
Thatto Heath | 24 | Featherstone Rovers | 12 | ||||||||||
Featherstone Rovers | 26 | ||||||||||||
Bradford Thunderbirds | 14 | ||||||||||||
Bradford Thunderbirds | 56 | ||||||||||||
Stanningley | 30 | ||||||||||||
The 2016 season started on 3 April with a change to the format so that the twelve competing teams were split into two groups after five matches. [17] Bradford Bulls, who replaced the Bradford Thunderbirds, [18] were top of the table on 15 May [19] and were joined by, Featherstone Rovers, Normanton Knights, Stanningley, Thatto Heath and Wigan St Patricks in Group 1. Brighouse Rangers, Leigh Miners Rangers, Lindley Swifts, Oulton Raidettes, Rochdale Hornets and Selby Warriors were in Group 2. [20] The top four from each group then progressed to the play-offs. Group 1 league leaders Thatto Heath defeated fourth place Stanningley in the semi-final [21] and retained their title on 1 October with a 36-8 win over Bradford Bulls in the Grand Final. In Group 2 Leigh topped the league and went on to win the final 20-12 against Oulton. [5]
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
1 | Thatto Heath | 24 | |||||||
4 | Stanningley | 0 | |||||||
Thatto Heath | 36 | ||||||||
Bradford Bulls | 8 | ||||||||
2 | Featherstone Rovers | 28 | |||||||
3 | Bradford Bulls | 30 |
The 2017 season began on 12 March with 11 teams in the Premier Division: Barrow, Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Featherstone Rovers, Leigh Miners Rangers, Oulton Raidettes, Stanningley, Thatto Heath, Wakefield Trinity and Wigan St Patricks. [22] The season was left unfinished with last recorded match played on 9 July between Wigan and Barrow. [23] At that time Castleford were top of the table having won seven matches, but were the only team to have played all ten rounds, whereas Featherstone had won six of their eight matches and Bradford had won all five of their completed fixtures. [24] The County Cup finals were played the following weekend and after these the league was replaced by the Super League and Championship which both started on 23 July. [25] [26]
The Gilette National Youth League was a British rugby league tournament at under-18 level. The Halifax Home Insurance National Youth League was its previous name.
The National Conference League is the top league in the pyramid of amateur rugby leagues. It was formerly run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) in winter but now forms tier 3 of the RFL's pyramid in summer.
The Women's Rugby League Conference was a rugby league for female teams in Britain that ran from 2008 to 2013.
The North West Men's League is a rugby league competition for clubs in the North West of England. It is a successor league for the Rugby League Conference also comprising clubs from the North West Counties League following most of the latter switching to summer to follow the National Conference League.
The Bradford Bulls Women are an English professional women's rugby league team based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Formed in 1999 as an autonomous club, Dudley Hill Thunderbirds, the team was also known as Bradford Thunderbirds and Bradford Clayton Thunderbirds. As the Thunderbirds the club played in the Women's Rugby League Conference and later the Women's Rugby League. As of 2024 they compete in the Northern Women's Championship.
The 2018 RFL Women's Super League was the second season of the rugby league Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League. The grand final was won by Wigan Warriors Women, who beat Leeds Rhinos Women 18–16 at the Grand Final at the Manchester Regional Arena. Wigan finished second to League Leaders Shield winners Leeds in the regular season.
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league has developed with the 2023 season being contested by 12 teams playing home and away against each other in two groups with subsequent play-offs and Grand Final. In January 2023 it was announced that the league would be reduced to eight teams in the 2024 season.
Samy Kibula is a Congolese professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Emily Rudge is a British rugby league player who plays for St Helens Women in the Women's Super League. She plays at second-row. Born in Warrington Rudge attended Cardinal Newman High School and first played rugby league for a local Warrington club before joining Thatto Heath Crusaders. While at Warrington she was first selected for the England women's national rugby league team in 2008, aged 16. In 2011, Rudge was in the Warrington team that won the Championship Final of the Women's Rugby League Conference in August, before joining for Featherstone Rovers for the interim season before the launch of the first summer-based season.
The rugby league club St Helens R.F.C. have operated a women's team since they took some women from Thatto Heath Crusaders, and other women's sides in 2017 ahead of the 2018 season. They won four successive Challenge Cups from 2013 to 2016. The 2016 win formed part of their treble winning season. The side won the 2021 Women's Challenge Cup after beating York City Knights, adding to the four cup titles won as Thatto Heath. That season, they also completed the treble for the second time.
The 2023 RFL Women's Super League was the seventh season of the Women's Super League, for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
The 2017 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 16 teams during the summer of 2017. The competition was won by Bradford Bulls who beat Featherstone Rovers 50–18 in the final on 30 July 2017.
The 2019 National Conference League was the 34th season of the National Conference League, the top league for British amateur rugby league clubs.
The 2016 RFL Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for by 12 teams during the summer of 2016. The Challenge Cup was won by Thatto Heath St Helens who beat Leigh Miners Rangers 6–62 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by the Thatto Heath Reserves team who beat Whitley Bay Barbarians 0–44 in the final. Both finals took place on 31 July 2016 at the Provident Stadium, Bradford.
The 2012 Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for during the summer of 2012. This was the first staging of the Challenge Cup and it was won by Featherstone Rovers who beat Bradford Thunderbirds 46–0 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by Widnes Vikings who beat Stanningley 40–10 in the final. Both finals took place on 15 July 2012 at the Tetley's Stadium, Dewsbury.
The 2013 Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for during the summer of 2013. This was the second staging of the Challenge Cup and it was won by Thatto Heath who beat Bradford Thunderbirds 54–12 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by Normanton Knights who beat Featherstone Rovers 34–16 in the final. Both finals took place on 23 June 2013 at The LoveRugbyLeague.Com Stadium, Batley.
The 2014 Women's Challenge Cup was an English rugby league knockout tournament competed for during the summer of 2014. The Challenge Cup was won by Thatto Heath St Helens who beat Bradford Thunderbirds 32–24 in the final. The Challenge Shield was won by Fetherstone Rovers who beat Stanningley 64–14 in the final. Both finals took place on 3 August 2014 at the Tetley's Stadium, Dewsbury.
The Wakefield Trinity Ladies are the women's rugby league team of Wakefield Trinity in Wakefield, England. They were founded in 2016 and between 2018 and 2022 they played in the Super League. As of 2024, they compete in Northern League One, the third tier of women's rugby league in Britain.
The Barrow Raiders Ladies are the women's rugby league team of Barrow Raiders from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. They compete in the Women's Super League, and play their home games at Craven Park. Before taking the Barrow Raiders name the team were called the Barrow Island Ladies.
The Leigh Leopards Women are a women's rugby League team based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The team originally competed as the ladies' team of the Leigh Miners Rangers before an agreement between the club and the Leigh Leopards led to the rebranding of the team in late 2022. In 2022 and 2023 the team took part in the Women's Super League. As of 2024 they compete in the Northern Women's Championship.