Rugby league derbies in the United Kingdom
Whilst the sport of rugby league is played across the UK, it is most popular in its 'heartland' regions of the traditional counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland with the majority of professional and semi-professional clubs coming from this area of the country. Very many fixtures are considered to be local derbies where both teams come from either the same town or city; or two settlements that are very close to each other.
England
Calder Derby
The Calder Derby is contested between Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats with both Wakefield and Castleford being part of the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough, which the River Calder flows through.
Historically Wakefield have been the more successful side, winning two league titles and five Challenge Cups. However Castleford have been the more successful side in recent years winning five out the six games played in the 2014 and 2015 season by large margins. In terms of silverware, Castleford have also seen the most successful in modern times winning three Challenge Cups since 1969 and appearing in five finals. Wakefeild have only appeared in one final during this period.
Both Wakefield and Castleford also have a local rivalry with Featherstone Rovers with Featherstone being a village that is also in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough but this is not as strong as both Castleford and Wakefield play in the top division and Featherstone do not therefore competitive games between these sides are rare.However before the Super League era Featherstone were a strong side and derbies between Featherstone, Castleford and Wakefeild were close and bitterly contested.
Cheshire Derby
The Cheshire Derby is a local derby between Warrington Wolves and Widnes Vikings. Both the towns of Warrington and Widnes lie in the traditional county of Lancashire but were transferred to Cheshire in 1974.
Both teams struck up a rivalry in the mid and late 20th century being local rivals and being somewhat dominant forces in the Challenge Cup, Widnes being known as the Cup Kings during the late 1970s and 80s. In recent years the rivalry hasn't been as strong since Widnes were relegated in 2005 and didn't return to Super League until 2011 whilst Warrington began to challenge sides such as Leeds, Wigan and St Helens.
Cumbria Derbies
The main derby in Cumbria is between Whitehaven and Workington Town. The towns of Workington and Whitehaven are just a few miles apart from each other and are connected by the A595 and were in the traditional county of Cumberland.
Both Whitehaven and Workington have a rivalry with Barrow Raiders who are located in south west Cumbria in what was Detached Lancashire. The rivalry between Barrow and the other Cumbrian sides isn't as pronounced as travelling between Barrow and West Cumbria is difficult because of the terrain and the local roads.
Good Friday Derby
The Good Friday Derby is contested between Wigan Warriors and St Helens RFC. The towns of St Helens and Wigan lie only eight miles apart. The two clubs have been the most successful clubs in England winning 31 Challenge Cups and 33 league titles between them. They have also met in three Grand Finals in the Super League era.
Heavy Woollen Derby
The Heavy Woollen Derby is a local derby contested between Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams. Both the towns of Batley and Dewsbury are in the Heavy Woollen district, an area named after the heavy woollen cloth that was manufactured there in the 1800s.
Hull Derby
The Hull Derby is contested by Hull F.C. from the west side of Hull and Hull KR from the east side of Hull. The two teams are separated by the River Hull. In the late 1990s a merger was proposed between the two clubs to form Humberside or just Hull but this was later rejected. The rivalry was at its highest during the 1980s when both Hull sides were the dominant forces in the league.
Leeds Derby
The Leeds Derby is contested between Leeds Rhinos and Hunslet Hawks. Leeds play in the north Leeds district of Headingley whilst Hunslet is a district in south Leeds. The rivalry between Leeds and Hunslet has become very one-sided as Leeds areone of the so-called big four sides whilst Hunslet have been out of the top division for decades and the two teams rarely meet in competitive fixtures.
London Derby
The London Derby is contested between London Broncos and the London Skolars; these teams being the only professional or semi-professional sides within Greater London. The derby isn't seen as very big deal as there isn't much of a rivalry as the Broncos have played at many different grounds around London and not built a stable fan base. Both teams have never played in the same league as each other so rarely play in competitive fixtures. However they play each other in a pre-season friendly called the Capital Challenge which is held at the Artillery Grounds.
Skolars more commonly play competitive games against Hemel Stags, Hemel Hempstead although not in London, is close to Skolars' North London base.
Manchester Derby
The Manchester Derby takes place between Salford Red Devils and Oldham Roughyeds with the City of Salford lying to the west of Manchester and Oldham being a major town to the east of the city. In recent years the derby has become less meaningful as Salford have been competing mainly in the Super League and Championship and Oldham have been competing in League 1 making competitive games less frequent. Oldham have recently struck up more of a rivalry with Rochdale Hornets.
A further Greater Manchester rivalry exists between Salford City Reds and Swinton Lions.
South Yorkshire Derby
The South Yorkshire Derby is contested between Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster RLFC. The only competitive matches between the two have occurred in the Championship. Sheffield have been the most successful team winning back-to-back Championship titles in 2012 and 2013.
West Yorkshire derbies
Games between Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds are often called West Yorkshire derbies although there are many other derbies that take place in West Yorkshire with specific names such as the Calder derby and the Heavy Woollen derby.
Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls have one of the biggest rivals in England. Both cities are located right next to one another and the teams have met in countless finals. During the early years of Super League the rivalry was at its highest as both Leeds and Bradford were dominant forces meeting in Grand Finals and Challenge Cups. Bradford fell into financial trouble in 2011 and 2012 and had not won or appeared in a final since 2005 and had to sell players to keep the club alive although the rivalry was still strong even though Leeds won many more titles. Bradford were relegated in 2014 for the first time in 40 years which meant there were fewer competitive fixtures between the sides. In recent years Leeds and Huddersfield has been the big West Yorkshire derby as they both played in more meaningful games.
Wales
Welsh Derby
The Welsh Derby is played between the only two Welsh clubs in the professional ranks of British rugby league.
Celtic Crusaders joined the national leagues in 2006 and were, at that time, the only Welsh side outside the amateur game. They left South Wales and moved to Wrexham in 2009. This led to Wales' second club South Wales Scorpions being formed. In 2011 Celtic Crusaders folded and the new club North Wales Crusaders were entered into League 1 in 2012.
Competitive derbies between the two clubs have taken place in 2012, 2013 and 2015 to date.
See also
References
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