Rugby league in Wales
Encyclopedia
Rugby league
is a sport played in Wales
. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League
.
There is a long but sporadic history of rugby league in Wales. Over the decades many hundreds of players have "gone north" to play for the leading English
clubs. Consequentially the national side, nicknamed the Dragons, have often been a very strong force in the international game.
was an increasingly popular sport for Wales in the 1890s and particularly in the south
where its popularity surpassed that of association football
. The Welsh coal miners shared the same working class
ethos of the miners from the northern counties of England
. The impending schism of 1895 tore apart the English rugby union and in the early 1900s, the shock waves where being felt in rugby worldwide, though there was little desire in Wales to embrace professionalism. Amateurism in Wales was seen as a means of holding together a community in which there were expectations by the public on their sportsman to not turn their back on international rugby. The Welsh took pride in the position rugby gave them in the sporting world, and therefore the Welsh Rugby Union
saw little attraction in turning professional.
Nonetheless, many Welsh players signed for English clubs. The Northern Union
's administrators began to ponder the possibilities of international competitions against an English representative side. The first attempt met with a lack of public interest, and the first scheduled Northern Union international, also became the first postponed Northern Union international. It was rescheduled for the 5 April 1904. The team opposing England was labelled Other Nationalities
and consisted of Welshmen and a few Scots
. The Other Nationalities proved too strong, defeating the English 9 - 3. In 1905, England gained back some credibility with a 21 - 11 win.
In 1907 a professional version of the "All Blacks" rugby team from New Zealand (nicknamed the All Golds by Australian press) toured England in what became the first set of international games played under the new NU rules. The All Golds had not played under the Northern Union rules and underwent a week of intensive training. The first Wales international league game took place at Aberdare on 1 January 1908 played against the All Golds. Wales went on to defeat New Zealand 9-8, the winning try scored by former Wales
rugby union international Dai Jones.
In 1907, the Welsh Northern Union was formed in Wrexham, but the Northern Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the South of Wales and the WNU soon folded. In 1907 two Welsh clubs Ebbw Vale RLFC
and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC
joined the Northern Union and also competed in the Challenge Cup.
During the 1908-09 season, there were sufficient numbers of Welsh clubs to run a separate Welsh League
section of the competition, alongside the Northern Union's Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues
. The Welsh League lasted only two seasons before folding in 1910 due to a lack of teams.
In 1926 the RFL formed a Welsh commission in an attempt to convert rugby union clubs to rugby league.
From 1949 to 1955 a Welsh league was run by the Welsh commission but it was disbanded due to lack of interest and finance. Founder members were Neath, Cardiff, LLanelli, Bridgend, Ystradgynlais, Aberavon, Amman Vale and Blaina.
Harsh economic times in the 1980s meant that rugby union
players such as Jonathan Davies and Scott Gibbs 'Went North' to play professional rugby league in order to earn a living. This flow of players was halted when rugby union became professional in 1995.
With the Rugby League Conference’s growth throughout England, the RFL and its WRL arm setup an amateur club, the Cardiff Demons
who joined the Central South Division of the Rugby League Conference
in 2001. The Demons, who were mainly made up of former players from the university UWIC rugby league club were quite successful and instantly saw interest from other parts of Wales grow.
In 2002, two former students of Swansea University decided to setup a local club called the Swansea Bulls - now Swansea Valley Miners - with the view to play friendly matches against the Demons and other touring clubs. Peter Thomas and Gareth Jones, both former Welsh Student R.L team members started an amateur team out of the Morriston R.F.C. ground with a mixture of university and local Union players. Junior teams soon started playing league and one team, coached by Neville Price was coached by the Bradford Bulls team coaches on a weekend tour.
The following year, the RFL saw that it was time to expand, letting in six more open-aged sides to form the Welsh division of the Rugby League Conference with North Wales Coasters playing in one of the English divisions.
With the traditional venue of Wembley being rebuilt, the Rugby League Challenge Cup
was played at the Millennium Stadium
in Cardiff
in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Wales Rugby League
achieved governing body status in 2005 and employed its first professional chairman, Mark Rowley, in 2006.
Crusaders joined National League Two
in 2006. They played against Brisbane Broncos in the Bulmers Original Cider Challenge at the Brewery Field on Thursday 15 February 2007, losing with a scoreline of 6-32. They achieved promotion to National League One
in 2007.
More recently, the Rugby Football League
(RFL) took an entire round of Super League
matches to the Millennium Stadium
in Cardiff, Wales on the weekend of 5-6 May, 2007. This was called Millennium Magic
.
and Ebbw Vale
joined for the 1907/08 season; followed closely behind Aberdare
, Barry
, Mid-Rhondda
and Treherbert
joined in 1908/09. The 1908/09 season saw the first Welsh League
, played alongside the Northern Union League.
Aberdare, Barry, and Mid-Rhondda dropped out after that season, with Treherbert following the next year. Merthyr Tydfil lasted until 1910/11, and Ebbw Vale was the last of these to leave, after 1911/12. The next Welsh club was Pontypridd
, who joined in 1926/27; only to dropped out after 8 games of the 1927/28 season. A Cardiff
club participated in the 1951/52 season, but disbanded after that season.
Following in the footsteps of Fulham F.C.
(who founded the RL team that is now Harlequins Rugby League), Cardiff City F.C.
decided to enter a team for the 1981/82 season. The Blue Dragons
, as they were known, shared Ninian Park
with the Bluebirds until the 1983/84 season, when the club went into liquidation. They were then moved to Bridgend for the 1984/85 season, where they placed on the bottom of the table, and were expelled after the season for failing to obtain a home ground. The final professional rugby league club was South Wales RLFC
, who finished 6th in the Second Division in 1996. Because of small crowds, the club withdrew from the league before the next season.
There are currently two professional rugby league clubs in Wales. The Crusaders Rugby League team, based in Wrexham
, play in the Super League
competition. Neath
-based South Wales Scorpions
play in the Championship 1
, there are also plans for the CPC Bears
, based in West Wales
, to join the Championship competition in 2013.
were the governing body for rugby league in the UK. They were formed as the Northern Rugby Union in 1895.
In 1907, the Welsh Northern Union was formed in Wrexham
, but the Northern Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the South of Wales, which is the heartland of Welsh rugby union, and the WNU soon folded.
In 1926, the newly renamed RFL formed a Welsh commission in an attempt to convert rugby union clubs to rugby league.
The Wales Rugby League
was formed in 1995 and recognised at that time as the governing body of rugby league in Wales by the Rugby Football League, the British Amateur Rugby League Association and the Welsh Sports Council. It employed its first professional chairman, Mark Rowley, in 2006.
Wales became the 12th full member of the Rugby League International Federation
following a meeting of the Federation board in Melbourne in May 2010.
competitions (see British rugby league system
). Crusaders and South Wales Scorpions represent Wales at the professional level within the RFL's structures. Valley Cougars
play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference
.
Amateur Welsh teams form the Welsh Premier division and Welsh regional division in the Rugby League Conference
. South Wales Thunder play a full winter season against invited sides from England. Montgomeryshire Marauders are the only open age amateur side in north Wales and play friendlies.
Wales' junior competition is the Welsh Conference Junior League
. In 2011 there will also be a North Wales Under 12 league. In the Conference Youth League there will be two Welsh sides: North Wales Crusaders and CPC Bears.
In 2007, 2008 and 2011 Super League
took an entire round on the road
to the Millennium Stadium
in Cardiff
.
During the reconstruction of Wembley stadium the Challenge Cup final was played at Cardiff
's Millennium Stadium
and one year a reported 15,000 tickets were sold in Wales out of an overall attendance of around 70,000. The record attendance for any rugby league game in Wales was set in 2005 with 74,213 attending the Challenge Cup final in Cardiff.
Rugby league is now considered as the country's fastest growing sport.
and League Weekly and two monthly magazines, Rugby League World
and Thirteen Magazine. These cover the sport worldwide and across the UK. As most British rugby league takes place in the North of England, the coverage tends to reflect this. These publications are usually only available by subscription in Wales though Rugby League Express can be bought at outlets in South Wales
.
BBC Sport
own the rights to broadcast a highlights package called the Super League Show
which was first broadcast in Wales in 2008. Prior to this it had only been broadcast in the North of England. Rugby League Raw
is not broadcast in Wales despite the BBC owning the rights to do so. The BBC covers the Rugby League Challenge Cup
from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.
Highlights of Crusaders games were shown on the rugby union programme ScrumV and their home games can be seen on Y Clwb Rygbi 13 on S4C
. The BBC covers the Rugby League Challenge Cup
from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.
BBC Radio Five Live
and BBC Five Live Sports Extra
carry commentary from a selection of Super League matches each week. GTFM carries a weekly rugby league spot throughout the season on their Saturday afternoon "The Season Ticket" show.
Sky
has the rights to show live Super League games; one or two live matches are broadcast often fronted by Mike Stephenson
and Eddie Hemmings
. Sky also hold the rights to show the Rugby League Tri-Nations
live, whilst highlights are shown on BBC Sport. Australia
's National Rugby League
and State of Origin were shown until 2005-06 season when Setanta Sports
outbid Sky for the rights.
9-8 in Aberdare
in 1908.
The national side, nicknamed the Dragons, have often been one of the stronger sides in international rugby league and have also provided a number of players for the Great Britain
team. The two great eras of Welsh Rugby League coincide with the playing careers of Jim Sullivan and Jonathan Davies. They compete in the Rugby League European Nations Cup
and the Rugby League World Cup
.
There is a very successful Wales A team selected from domestic Welsh players, which competes in the Amateur Four Nations competition. Wales have won seven of the eight tournaments played.
Wales also play in regular international tournaments at under 19, under 15 and student level.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
is a sport played in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body...
.
There is a long but sporadic history of rugby league in Wales. Over the decades many hundreds of players have "gone north" to play for the leading English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
clubs. Consequentially the national side, nicknamed the Dragons, have often been a very strong force in the international game.
History
Rugby footballRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
was an increasingly popular sport for Wales in the 1890s and particularly in the south
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
where its popularity surpassed that of association football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
. The Welsh coal miners shared the same working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
ethos of the miners from the northern counties of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The impending schism of 1895 tore apart the English rugby union and in the early 1900s, the shock waves where being felt in rugby worldwide, though there was little desire in Wales to embrace professionalism. Amateurism in Wales was seen as a means of holding together a community in which there were expectations by the public on their sportsman to not turn their back on international rugby. The Welsh took pride in the position rugby gave them in the sporting world, and therefore the Welsh Rugby Union
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
saw little attraction in turning professional.
Nonetheless, many Welsh players signed for English clubs. The Northern Union
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
's administrators began to ponder the possibilities of international competitions against an English representative side. The first attempt met with a lack of public interest, and the first scheduled Northern Union international, also became the first postponed Northern Union international. It was rescheduled for the 5 April 1904. The team opposing England was labelled Other Nationalities
Other Nationalities rugby league team
The Other Nationalities rugby league team regularly played international, and also county, rugby league football teams in Europe from 1904 to 1975. The team, created in 1904 to play England in the first ever rugby league international match, was at first made up of Welsh and Scottish players...
and consisted of Welshmen and a few Scots
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The Other Nationalities proved too strong, defeating the English 9 - 3. In 1905, England gained back some credibility with a 21 - 11 win.
In 1907 a professional version of the "All Blacks" rugby team from New Zealand (nicknamed the All Golds by Australian press) toured England in what became the first set of international games played under the new NU rules. The All Golds had not played under the Northern Union rules and underwent a week of intensive training. The first Wales international league game took place at Aberdare on 1 January 1908 played against the All Golds. Wales went on to defeat New Zealand 9-8, the winning try scored by former Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
rugby union international Dai Jones.
In 1907, the Welsh Northern Union was formed in Wrexham, but the Northern Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the South of Wales and the WNU soon folded. In 1907 two Welsh clubs Ebbw Vale RLFC
Ebbw Vale RLFC
Ebbw Vale Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Ebbw Vale, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the last to disband in 1912 after the failure of the Welsh...
and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC
Merthyr Tydfil RLFC
Merthyr Tydfil Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at College Field, Merthyr Tydfil were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and folded in 1911 after the failure of the Welsh League...
joined the Northern Union and also competed in the Challenge Cup.
During the 1908-09 season, there were sufficient numbers of Welsh clubs to run a separate Welsh League
Welsh League
The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales. Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournament to take place...
section of the competition, alongside the Northern Union's Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues
Rugby league county leagues
The Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...
. The Welsh League lasted only two seasons before folding in 1910 due to a lack of teams.
In 1926 the RFL formed a Welsh commission in an attempt to convert rugby union clubs to rugby league.
From 1949 to 1955 a Welsh league was run by the Welsh commission but it was disbanded due to lack of interest and finance. Founder members were Neath, Cardiff, LLanelli, Bridgend, Ystradgynlais, Aberavon, Amman Vale and Blaina.
Harsh economic times in the 1980s meant that rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
players such as Jonathan Davies and Scott Gibbs 'Went North' to play professional rugby league in order to earn a living. This flow of players was halted when rugby union became professional in 1995.
With the Rugby League Conference’s growth throughout England, the RFL and its WRL arm setup an amateur club, the Cardiff Demons
Cardiff Demons
Cardiff Demons RLFC are a rugby league side who play out of St. Albans RFC in the east of Cardiff, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...
who joined the Central South Division of the Rugby League Conference
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...
in 2001. The Demons, who were mainly made up of former players from the university UWIC rugby league club were quite successful and instantly saw interest from other parts of Wales grow.
In 2002, two former students of Swansea University decided to setup a local club called the Swansea Bulls - now Swansea Valley Miners - with the view to play friendly matches against the Demons and other touring clubs. Peter Thomas and Gareth Jones, both former Welsh Student R.L team members started an amateur team out of the Morriston R.F.C. ground with a mixture of university and local Union players. Junior teams soon started playing league and one team, coached by Neville Price was coached by the Bradford Bulls team coaches on a weekend tour.
The following year, the RFL saw that it was time to expand, letting in six more open-aged sides to form the Welsh division of the Rugby League Conference with North Wales Coasters playing in one of the English divisions.
With the traditional venue of Wembley being rebuilt, the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
was played at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body...
achieved governing body status in 2005 and employed its first professional chairman, Mark Rowley, in 2006.
Crusaders joined National League Two
Rugby League National Leagues
The Championship, known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It is currently contested by ten teams from England. It acts as Europe's second-tier competition below the Super League, and has...
in 2006. They played against Brisbane Broncos in the Bulmers Original Cider Challenge at the Brewery Field on Thursday 15 February 2007, losing with a scoreline of 6-32. They achieved promotion to National League One
Rugby League National Leagues
The Championship, known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It is currently contested by ten teams from England. It acts as Europe's second-tier competition below the Super League, and has...
in 2007.
More recently, the Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
(RFL) took an entire round of Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
matches to the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
in Cardiff, Wales on the weekend of 5-6 May, 2007. This was called Millennium Magic
Magic Weekend
The Magic Weekend, previously Millennium Magic, is a concept by the Rugby Football League to stage an entire round of Super League matches in prestigious and exciting cities to showcase the sport....
.
Welsh professional clubs
There have been various attempts to introduce professional rugby league to Wales throughout the 20th century. Merthyr TydfilMerthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
and Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale RLFC
Ebbw Vale Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Ebbw Vale, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at Bridge End Field, Ebbw Vale were one of the first professional Welsh teams, and the last to disband in 1912 after the failure of the Welsh...
joined for the 1907/08 season; followed closely behind Aberdare
Aberdare RLFC
Aberdare Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Aberdare, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union...
, Barry
Barry RLFC
Barry Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union...
, Mid-Rhondda
Mid-Rhondda RLFC
Mid-Rhondda Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Tonypandy, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground in Tonypandy, Mid-Rhondda were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just a single...
and Treherbert
Treherbert RLFC
Treherbert Rugby League Football Club was a professional rugby league club based in Treherbert, Wales playing in the Welsh League and Northern Union. Based at the Athletic Ground, Treherbert were one of the first professional Welsh teams, formed in 1908 but folding after just two seasons...
joined in 1908/09. The 1908/09 season saw the first Welsh League
Welsh League
The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales. Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournament to take place...
, played alongside the Northern Union League.
Aberdare, Barry, and Mid-Rhondda dropped out after that season, with Treherbert following the next year. Merthyr Tydfil lasted until 1910/11, and Ebbw Vale was the last of these to leave, after 1911/12. The next Welsh club was Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
, who joined in 1926/27; only to dropped out after 8 games of the 1927/28 season. A Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
club participated in the 1951/52 season, but disbanded after that season.
Following in the footsteps of Fulham F.C.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
(who founded the RL team that is now Harlequins Rugby League), Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
decided to enter a team for the 1981/82 season. The Blue Dragons
Cardiff City Blue Dragons
The Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a rugby league team formed in 1981. Their home ground was Ninian Park which was also used by Cardiff City FC. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to Bridgend in 1984 as the Bridgend Blue Dragons, who were finally wound up in 1986. The team...
, as they were known, shared Ninian Park
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...
with the Bluebirds until the 1983/84 season, when the club went into liquidation. They were then moved to Bridgend for the 1984/85 season, where they placed on the bottom of the table, and were expelled after the season for failing to obtain a home ground. The final professional rugby league club was South Wales RLFC
South Wales RLFC (1995)
South Wales RLFC was a rugby league club formed in 1995. South Wales during their existence played at Morfa Stadium, Swansea, the Talbot Athletic Ground, Aberavon and Cardiff Arms Park.-History of rugby league in South Wales:...
, who finished 6th in the Second Division in 1996. Because of small crowds, the club withdrew from the league before the next season.
There are currently two professional rugby league clubs in Wales. The Crusaders Rugby League team, based in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, play in the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
competition. Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
-based South Wales Scorpions
South Wales Scorpions
South Wales Scorpions Rugby League Football Club is a professional rugby league club formed in 2009, based in Neath, Wales. They are owned by a consortium of South Wales businessmen, led by Phil Davies...
play in the Championship 1
Championship 1
Championship 1, known as The Co-operative Championship 1 due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group, is a rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It acts as the country's third-tier competition behind the Championship, with which it has a system of promotion and relegation. It is...
, there are also plans for the CPC Bears
CPC Bears
CPC Bears are a rugby league club based in Carmarthen and are the regional side for Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. They play in the Welsh Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...
, based in West Wales
West Wales
West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....
, to join the Championship competition in 2013.
Governing body
The Rugby Football LeagueRugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
were the governing body for rugby league in the UK. They were formed as the Northern Rugby Union in 1895.
In 1907, the Welsh Northern Union was formed in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, but the Northern Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the South of Wales, which is the heartland of Welsh rugby union, and the WNU soon folded.
In 1926, the newly renamed RFL formed a Welsh commission in an attempt to convert rugby union clubs to rugby league.
The Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League
Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body...
was formed in 1995 and recognised at that time as the governing body of rugby league in Wales by the Rugby Football League, the British Amateur Rugby League Association and the Welsh Sports Council. It employed its first professional chairman, Mark Rowley, in 2006.
Wales became the 12th full member of the Rugby League International Federation
Rugby League International Federation
The Rugby League International Federation is the world governing body of rugby league football. It was formed in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. Its purpose is to, "foster, develop, extend, govern and administer the game of Rugby League throughout the world". Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia,...
following a meeting of the Federation board in Melbourne in May 2010.
Competitions
Domestically, Welsh rugby league is now largely integrated with EnglishRugby league in England
Rugby league football is a team sport in England. The sport receives funding from Sport England as an "English priority" sport. The top-level competition in England—called Super League—is not an entirely all-English affair, as it includes a team from France, and also featured a team from Wales from...
competitions (see British rugby league system
British rugby league system
The British rugby league system is based on four separate structures: the professional leagues administered by the Rugby Football League, the reserve leagues, the amateur leagues administered by British Amateur Rugby League Association and the Rugby League Conference.There is no system of automatic...
). Crusaders and South Wales Scorpions represent Wales at the professional level within the RFL's structures. Valley Cougars
Valley Cougars
Valley Cougars are a rugby league team based in Caerphilly. They play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference-History:They were founded in 1975 and joined the Welsh Division of the Rugby League Conference in 2003. They led a nomadic existence for their first few years in the valleys...
play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...
.
Amateur Welsh teams form the Welsh Premier division and Welsh regional division in the Rugby League Conference
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference , was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.The RLC was founded as the 10-team Southern Conference League in 1997, with teams from the southern midlands and the...
. South Wales Thunder play a full winter season against invited sides from England. Montgomeryshire Marauders are the only open age amateur side in north Wales and play friendlies.
Wales' junior competition is the Welsh Conference Junior League
Welsh Conference Junior League
The Welsh Conference Junior League is a Welsh rugby league competition competed for at the under-17; under-15 and under-13 age groups. Its adult counter-part is the Rugby League Conference Welsh Premier.-Participating teams:...
. In 2011 there will also be a North Wales Under 12 league. In the Conference Youth League there will be two Welsh sides: North Wales Crusaders and CPC Bears.
In 2007, 2008 and 2011 Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
took an entire round on the road
Magic Weekend
The Magic Weekend, previously Millennium Magic, is a concept by the Rugby Football League to stage an entire round of Super League matches in prestigious and exciting cities to showcase the sport....
to the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
.
Popularity
In recent years rugby league's popularity in Wales has been on the increase. Matches between teams in the Welsh Premier division generally draw crowds of around 300 spectators.During the reconstruction of Wembley stadium the Challenge Cup final was played at Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
's Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
and one year a reported 15,000 tickets were sold in Wales out of an overall attendance of around 70,000. The record attendance for any rugby league game in Wales was set in 2005 with 74,213 attending the Challenge Cup final in Cardiff.
Rugby league is now considered as the country's fastest growing sport.
Media
There are two weekly rugby league newspapers Rugby Leaguer & League ExpressRugby Leaguer & League Express
Rugby Leaguer & League Express is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine 'Rugby League World' and the annual 'Gillette Rugby League Yearbook'.It features match reports and pictures...
and League Weekly and two monthly magazines, Rugby League World
Rugby League World
Rugby League World is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper Rugby Leaguer & League Express and the annual Gillette Rugby League Yearbook.-History:Rugby League World began...
and Thirteen Magazine. These cover the sport worldwide and across the UK. As most British rugby league takes place in the North of England, the coverage tends to reflect this. These publications are usually only available by subscription in Wales though Rugby League Express can be bought at outlets in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
BBC Sport
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
own the rights to broadcast a highlights package called the Super League Show
Super League Show
The Super League Show is the BBC's rugby league highlights programme, usually shown on a Sunday afternoon on BBC One in the North of England and on the BBC website. It is fronted by Look North newsreader Harry Gration and Tanya Arnold with a variety of studio guests from Super League...
which was first broadcast in Wales in 2008. Prior to this it had only been broadcast in the North of England. Rugby League Raw
Rugby League Raw
Rugby League Raw was a regional BBC Sport television programme featuring rugby league action and behind-the-scenes footage from the National Leagues play-offs....
is not broadcast in Wales despite the BBC owning the rights to do so. The BBC covers the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.
Highlights of Crusaders games were shown on the rugby union programme ScrumV and their home games can be seen on Y Clwb Rygbi 13 on S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
. The BBC covers the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
and BBC Five Live Sports Extra
BBC Five Live Sports Extra
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra is an additional digital radio service provided by the BBC via DAB Digital Radio and the digital satellite, digital terrestrial, IPTV and digital cable television services in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is not available via analogue radio...
carry commentary from a selection of Super League matches each week. GTFM carries a weekly rugby league spot throughout the season on their Saturday afternoon "The Season Ticket" show.
Sky
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
has the rights to show live Super League games; one or two live matches are broadcast often fronted by Mike Stephenson
Mike Stephenson
Michael "Mike" Stephenson, also commonly known as Stevo, is an English Rugby League World Cup winning Rugby League, and presenter/commentator on British satellite television channel Sky Sports who also represented Great Britain in the sport.Stevo, the nickname that he is commonly known as on TV...
and Eddie Hemmings
Eddie Hemmings (rugby league)
Eddie Leslie Bruce Hemmings presents Sky Sports rugby league coverage, and is also the channel's main commentator for the sport. Hailing from Warrington, Cheshire, England, Hemmings is usually partnered by the idiosyncratic co-commentator Mike Stephenson....
. Sky also hold the rights to show the Rugby League Tri-Nations
Rugby League Tri-Nations
The Rugby League Tri-Nations was a rugby league tournament involving the top three nations in the sport: Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand...
live, whilst highlights are shown on BBC Sport. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
and State of Origin were shown until 2005-06 season when Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports is an international sports broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. Setanta Sports was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events...
outbid Sky for the rights.
The national team
Wales participated in the first ever rugby league international when they beat New ZealandNew Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
9-8 in Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
in 1908.
The national side, nicknamed the Dragons, have often been one of the stronger sides in international rugby league and have also provided a number of players for the Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
team. The two great eras of Welsh Rugby League coincide with the playing careers of Jim Sullivan and Jonathan Davies. They compete in the Rugby League European Nations Cup
Rugby League European Nations Cup
The European Cup is a rugby league football tournament for European nations that was first held in 1935. The tournament was first started in 1935, with England, Wales and France each playing each other once...
and the Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
.
There is a very successful Wales A team selected from domestic Welsh players, which competes in the Amateur Four Nations competition. Wales have won seven of the eight tournaments played.
Wales also play in regular international tournaments at under 19, under 15 and student level.
See also
- British Rugby League Hall of FameBritish Rugby League Hall of FameThe British Rugby League Hall of Fame was established by the Rugby Football League in 1988 to commemorate the greatest ever players in British rugby league...
- List of Wales national rugby league team players
- Newport TitansNewport TitansTitans RLFC are a rugby league side who play out of Machen RFC in Machen, South Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference.-History:...
- Emerging Nations TournamentRugby League Emerging Nations TournamentIn 1995 and 2000, the Rugby League International Federation held an Emerging Nations Tournament alongside the Rugby League World Cup. The competition was designed to allow teams who have failed to qualify for the World Cup proper a chance to play on the international stage....
- Wales national rugby league team match resultsWales national rugby league team match resultsThe following list is a complete collection of results for the Wales national rugby league team.PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST IS NOT COMPLETE YET-1900s:-1910s:-1920s:-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s: Winning Team...
- Tydfil Wildcats Rugby LeagueTydfil Wildcats Rugby LeagueTydfil Wildcats Rugby League is a Rugby League club based in Merthyr Tydfil. The club colours are yellow and blue. The home ground was the cage in Troedyrhiw until September 2010 but relocated for the 2011 season to Dowlais RFC. The Wildcats play in the Wales Rugby League conference.- History...