Super League is a full-time professional rugby league club competition operating in the northern hemisphere. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League.
Super League (Europe) (SLE) began in March 1996 and saw the English season switch from winter to summer for the first time in over 100 years. Most of the teams are based in Great Britain, though initially the league was intended to be European, and indeed French club Paris Saint Germain contested the first ever Super League match. Following their departure in 1997, the league was solely English until Catalans Dragons were admitted for the 2006 season. In 2009, the Celtic Crusaders, from Wales, will enter the competition.
During the league's regular season, each team plays 27 games over 27 rounds from February to September. At the end of the regular season, the top six teams in Super League play in the playoffs, which culminates with the Grand Final.
Each year the competition winners play a game against the premiers of the Australasian National Rugby League competition in the World Club Challenge.
Teams
The map below indicates the locations of teams currently competing in Super League.| Super League (Europe) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Stadium | City/Area | Est. | |
| Bradford Bulls | Odsal Stadium | Bradford, West Yorkshire | 1863 | |
| Castleford Tigers | The Jungle (Wheldon Road) | Castleford, West Yorkshire | 1926 | |
| Catalans Dragons | Stade Gilbert Brutus | Perpignan, France | 2006 | |
| Harlequins RL | Twickenham Stoop | Twickenham, London | 1980 | |
| Huddersfield Giants | Galpharm Stadium | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire | 1864 | |
| Hull FC | Kingston Communications Stadium | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire | 1999 | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | "New" Craven Park | Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire | 1882 | |
| Leeds Rhinos | Headingley Carnegie Stadium | Leeds, West Yorkshire | 1864 | |
| St Helens RLFC | The GPW Recruitment Stadium | St Helens, Merseyside | 1873 | |
| Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | Belle Vue | Wakefield, West Yorkshire | 1873 | |
| Warrington Wolves | Halliwell Jones Stadium | Warrington, Cheshire | 1879 | |
| Wigan Warriors | JJB Stadium | Wigan, Greater Manchester | 1872 | |
History
The competition was first mooted during the Australian Super League war as a way for Rupert Murdoch to gain the upper hand during the battle for broadcasting supremacy with the Australian Rugby League. Murdoch also approached the British clubs to form Super League (Europe) (SLE). A large sum of money aided the decision, and the competition got under way in 1996. Part of the deal saw rugby league switch from a winter to a summer season.Initially, several mergers between existing clubs were proposed:
- Castleford, Wakefield and Featherstone Rovers would form Calder
- Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers would form Humberside
- Whitehaven RLFC, Workington Town, Barrow and Carlisle would form Cumbria
- Warrington and Widnes were to form Cheshire
- Salford and Oldham were to form Manchester
- Sheffield and Doncaster were to form South Yorkshire
They were to be included with the following stand-alone clubs:
However this proved so unpopular that only existing clubs were selected for the competition. The clubs finishing below 10th in the existing top flight were excluded, which meant Hull FC, Wakefield and Widnes were left out, as were pioneering club Keighley Cougars who had just won the Second Division Championship. London Broncos, now known as Harlequins Rugby League, who had come fourth in the Second Division, were “fast-tracked” in on commercial grounds. A new team, Paris Saint Germain, was created to give a French dimension.
After two years Paris were dropped from the competition, thus the 'Europe' in 'Super League (Europe)', became somewhat otiose; it was however retained. Promotion and relegation between Super League and the Rugby League National Leagues was re-introduced, and in 2002 the SLE governing body re-integrated fully into the Rugby Football League. For most intents and purposes, Super League is now simply a re-titled first division of British rugby league. However, in 2006, French side Catalans Dragons (also known as UTC or Les Catalans) from Perpignan joined the league (giving more credence to the Super League (Europe) name). In order to facilitate this move, two clubs were relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season, Leigh who finished bottom of the league were replaced by the one club coming up from the National Leagues and Widnes who finished 11th (and would have stayed up any other year) were dropped for Les Catalans, thus the number of clubs in Super League remained at 12.
2009 Licensing
Super League Licences were announced in May 2005 by the Rugby Football League (RFL) as the new determinant of the Super League competition's participants from 2009 in place of promotion and relegation. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than just the on-the-field performance of a club. After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams admitted on a licence basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009.The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League XIV in 2009 would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL Board of Directors.
Successful applicants would be licensed for three years of Super League competition. Three-yearly reviews of Super League membership will take place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful.
Points attained by each club's application would be translated into a license grades A, B or C. Clubs who achieved an A or B Licence would be awarded a place in Super League, while those who achieve a C Licence will undergo further scrutiny before the RFL decide who makes the final cut.
In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009.
The RFL announced the 14 clubs to be licenced at 1000 BST on 22 July 2008. The teams announced were the 12 existing Super League teams; Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Catalans Dragons, Harlequins RL,Huddersfield Giants, Hull F.C., Hull Kingston Rovers, Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders (meaning the league expands into Wales for the first time) and Salford City Reds. Celtic Crusaders become the only Super League franchise never to have played in the Super League previously.
Leigh Centurions, Widnes Vikings and Halifax had all played in Super League previously, but failed to attain a licence. Leigh and Widnes, especially, were disappointed with their exclusions with Leigh's chairman being extremely critical of the RFL.
The RFL released the grading of each of the 14 clubs on 23 July 2008.
| A licence | B licence | C licence |
|---|---|---|
Structure
Currently, 12 teams compete in Super League. They play each other twice on a home-and-away basis, interrupted by the Magic Weekend round. An additional four fixtures are then played (prior to the introduction of Millennium Magic in 2007, an additional six fixtures were added). The other four rounds are: one fixture at home and one fixture away against teams that finished in the top six in engage Super League in 2007 plus one fixture at home and one fixture away against teams that finished in the bottom six in engage Super League the previous season. After the 27 rounds, a play-off structure is then used to determine the two teams who will meet in the Super League Grand Final to decide the championship. Currently the top six teams enter the play-offs. The structure is designed to reward the teams finishing nearer the top with easier routes to the Grand Final, which is played at Old Trafford. The system works like this:Week One
- Elimination Semi-final A: 3rd vs 6th - team 3 home venue.
- Elimination Semi-final B: 4th vs 5th - team 4 home venue.
Week Two
- Elimination Final: Winners of Elimination Semi-final A vs Winners of Elimination Semi-final B - winner of Elimination SF A home venue.
- Qualification Match: 1st vs 2nd - team 1 home venue.
Week Three
- Final Qualifier: Losers of Qualification Match vs Winners of Elimination Final - home venue of the Loser of the Qualification match.
Week Four
- Grand Final: Winners of Qualification Match vs Winners of Final Qualifier
Results
- See Rugby League Championship for full list of championship winners (1895-date).
Trophies and Awards
The League Leader's Shield is a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League which is also known as a minor premiership. League Leader's Shield was introduced only in 2003, previously no prize was awarded to the team finishing top.
The winner of the Grand Final is given the engage Super League Trophy. This is considered more prestigious than a minor premiership since this team becomes the Super League Champions.
The Man of Steel Award is an annual award for the best player of the season in Super League. It has continued from pre-Super League times, with the first such award given in 1977.
Each season a Super League Dream Team is also named. The best thirteen players in their respective positions are voted for by members of the sports press.
Television coverage
Sky has the rights to show live Super League games in the UK; two live matches are broadcast each week - one on Friday Night at 7:30pm and another at 6pm on Saturdays. Regular commentators are Eddie Hemmings and Mike Stephenson with summarisers including Phil Clarke, Barrie McDermott and Terry O'Connor. Live Super League broadcasts regularly rank amongst the top 10 most watched programmes in a week on Sky Sports with in excess of 250,000 viewers.. Highlights are shown on Boots N' All which is shown on Sky Sports and is rebroadcast on the Internet.BBC Sport own the rights to broadcast a highlights package called the Super League Show but choose to only broadcast this to the North West, Yorkshire & North Midlands, North East & Cumbria, and East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire regions. It can also be viewed over the internet or downloaded using BBC iPlayer in the UK. End of season play-offs are shown across the whole country in a highlights package. However, coverage will be extended from the 17th of February 2008 in the form of a repeat of the show on Sunday nights which will be available across all parts of the country. BBC Director of Sport Richard Moseley said that this move was in response to the growing popularity and awareness of the sport, and the large number of requests from people who want to want to watch it elsewhere in the UK.
Sport+ in France show every Catalans Dragons home match Live and also Live or Delayed Coverage of Catalans away matches that have been shown in the UK Live on Sky.
Internationally Super League is shown Live on Showtime Sports (Middle East), Sky Sport (New Zealand) and Setanta Sports (USA and Canada) show Super League matches Live or delayed each week whilst FOX Sports Australia show the previous weekends UK televised Matches on Thursday Nights.
ESPN360 has worldwide broadband rights; coverage began with the 2007 Grand Final.
Radio coverage
Super League is covered heavily by BBC Local Radio.
- BBC Radio Manchester cover Wigan, Warrington and St Helens.
- BBC Radio Humberside cover Hull KR and Hull FC.
- BBC Radio Leeds cover Bradford, Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield and Huddersfield.
- BBC Radio Merseyside (AM/DAB only) cover St Helens and Warrington.
- BBC London 94.9 cover Harlequins via online streaming.
Also some commercial stations offer Super League commentary.
- BCB 106.6 (Bradford Community Broadcasting) cover Bradford Bulls Home & Away.
- Radio Aire cover Leeds Rhinos.
- KCFM Hull cover Hull KR and Hull FC.
- Radio Worm (Warrington Online Radio Media) covers every Warrington Home Match (Online Only).
- Radio Marseillette covers every Catalans Dragons Home Match (In French).
- Radio France Bleu Roussillon covers every Catalans Dragons Away Match (In French).
All Super League commentaries on any station are available via the particular stations online streaming.
Teams that have played in the Super League
- Bradford Bulls
- Castleford Tigers
- Catalans Dragons
- Gateshead Thunder
- Halifax Blue Sox
- Harlequins RL (formerly London Broncos)
- Huddersfield Giants
- Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants
- Hull SharksWho merged with Gateshead Thunder to save their place in Super League
- Hull FC
- Hull KR
- Leeds Rhinos
- Leigh Centurions
- Oldham Bears
- Paris Saint Germain
- Salford City Reds
- Sheffield Eagles
- St Helens
- Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
- Warrington Wolves
- Widnes Vikings
- Wigan Warriors
- Workington Town
See also
- Super League Records
- Super League war
- British rugby league system
- Rugby League Challenge Cup
- World Club Challenge
- Rugby League National Leagues
- List of sports attendance figures
- Super League Dream Team
- Super League Ultimate 13: Grand Final Team
References
Inline
General
- Super League - the first ten years, Phil Caplan and Jonathan R. Doidge, ISBN 0-7524-3698-8
External links
- superleague.co.uk
- RFL Super League coverage
- Scores from Sky Sports
- The Sun | Super League news, results, fixtures, tables
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday October 04, 2008 at 11:51:36 PDT (GMT -0700)
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