Derbies in the Rugby Football League

Whilst the sport of rugby league is played across Great Britain, it is most popular in its heartlands, the traditional counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire with the majority of professional and semi-professional clubs coming from this area of the country.

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 been the most successful in modern times winning three Challenge Cups since 1969 and appearing in five finals.

Widnes were relegated in 2005, not returning to the Super League until 2011, whilst Warrington began to challenge the dominance of sides such as Leeds, Wigan and St Helens at the top.

The main derby in Cumbria is between Whitehaven and Workington Town, just a few miles apart from each other and connected by the A595 in the traditional county of Cumberland.

Both Whitehaven and Workington have a rivalry with Barrow Raiders in southwest Cumbria, in the traditional Furness area of Lancashire.

Named as such as they traditionally meet on Good Friday (and also Boxing Day before Super League saw the sport switch to a summer schedule).

In the late 1990s a merger was proposed between the two clubs to form a team known as Humberside or simply Hull but this was later rejected.

[8] The Locker Cup Derby is contested between Lancashire teams Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors.

As yet, there isn't much of a rivalry as neither team had met in the same division until recent times, and the Broncos have played at many different grounds around London, therefore making it difficult to build a stable fan base.

Celtic Crusaders joined the national leagues in 2006 and were, at that time, the only Welsh side outside the amateur game.

Bradford fell into financial trouble in 2011 and 2012, had not won or appeared in a final since 2005 and had to sell players to keep the club alive.

The most recent competitive meeting between the two sides was a Challenge Cup sixth round tie in May 2019, which Bradford won 24-22 to progress to the quarter finals.

The Festive Challenge is an annual Boxing Day friendly between rivals Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity.

[11][12] In addition to traditional local derbies, a four-way rivalry exist between the so-called Super League Big Four, reflecting the success of recent teams in certain years.

Prior to 2010, Bradford Bulls was considered a Big Four member, before the rise of Warrington, the club has since dropped in performance level and now plays in the Championship.