Women's UK Rugby League History

Sisters are doing it for themselves. Pic RFL.

I was not noticing women's RL in its infancy but as this side of the game gains impetus, I've started to take notice. The Super League era for the women's game started in 2017 and for 2018 the four sides in the inaugural year became seven and the competition moved to another level.

The Challenge Cup goes back to 2012 but using the same standard for Super League, 2017 is the starting point. I'll make a brief summary of the earlier years and then into the 2017 season and forward.  

Challenge Cup: In 2012, it was won by Featherstone Rovers, then four consecutive years by the Thatto Heath Crusaders. That team was based in St Helens and was taken over by the St Helens Club for the  2018 season. 

In 2017 the winner was Bradford, defeating Featherstone 50-16. I don't have the quarter finalists for this season. Then Leeds won back to back titles, on both occasions defeating Castleford 20-14 and 16-10. 2020 wasn't held and in 2021 St Helens won its first cup against York 34-6. 

League: An amateur league was started in 2014 with clubs from lower divisions seemingly the driving force. The Bradford Thunderbirds won the first title, followed by the Featherstone Rovers and Thatto Heath Crusaders in 2015 and 2016. It was then superseded by the Super League competition.

Super League: It started in 2017 as mentioned and the first winner was the Bradford Bulls. Leeds won in 2018 and 2021 with Castleford in 2019. 

I'm not sure when the finals series were first held but the first I know of is 2017, with Bradford securing the treble with a 36-6 victory over Featherstone. In 2018, Wigan upset Leed's treble aspirations with a narrow 18-16 scoreline. 

The 2019 finals series culminated in Leeds overcoming Castleford 20-12 at the grand final. For 2021, Saints were too good for Leeds, winning 28-0. In the 2021 Plate final for the lower ranked sides, Featherstone was upset by Huddersfield 22-24. I allocated two points to Huddersfield for that trophy win.