Rugby League History

Rugby league effectively began in the George Hotel in Huddersfield, England, on August 29th 1895, when 21 clubs met and signed up to be part of the Northern Union.

Ostensibly the northern clubs were in dispute with their southern counterparts over the decision to fine Bradford and Leeds for making payments to players, but the roots of the issue went further than that.

The northern clubs felt that the southerners held far too much sway in the Rugby Football Union and the cultural and class divide between the two groups exacerbated the issue as well.

The Northern Rugby League came into being in 1904 and, after several years of tinkering, set upon a structure which featured a Yorkshire and Lancashire division with a series of play-offs to decide the Championship.
By 1907 the major law changes establishing the 13-man game had been introduced with the arrival of the All Golds touring side, who provided both league in Britain and in Australia with a much-needed cash boost.

Following the Second World War, the game had firmly established in England and Australia, but at the behest of France, where league had been banned under the Vichy regime, the Rugby League International Federation was founded in 1948, with the first World Cup following eight years later.

It was still the Ashes series which dominated the international game, but due to the relative lack of competition - Britain have not won the series since 1970 - in both countries the domestic game is king.

The 1980s saw the establishment of the State of Origin series in Australia, now a massive event, while the late 1990s saw the creation of the National Rugby League in Australia, after a long protracted dispute, and Super League in England.

In 2007 the Great Britain team split into its constituent parts, but at the renewed 2007 World Cup, England performed poorly, with New Zealand surprising Australia in the final.