The RFL Wheelchair Super League is the highest level of wheelchair rugby league in England, Scotland and Wales.
The Wheelchair Super League was founded in 2019, whilst the wheelchair competition was played in Great Britain prior to this, 2019 was the first official Super League season.
Starting in 2023, the previous year's league champions play the previous year's French Elite 1 champions in the European Club Challenge.
Background
Plans were unveiled in 2011 for a Wheelchair Super League and Championship. The competition would feature Wigan, Halifax, Mersey Vikings, Bury Jigsaw and Wolverhampton Rhinos in the Super League, and Bradford Bulls, Mersey Vikings A, Wakefield, and Medway Dragons in the Championship. Small festival tournaments would also take place for clubs not yet ready to join the top divisions.[1] The competition ran from April to September when the Grand Final was held.[2] In 2012, the leagues were restructured with the Super League and Championship being replaced with a Premier League, Division One and Entry Division.[3] The lower tiers were later renamed as the "Championship" and "Championship 1" and the top tier became the Super League at the start of the 2019 season.[4]
Format
Like the men's and women's running competition, the league operates a round robin system to determine the League Leaders' Shield before a playoff series leading to a grand final.
The following is a summary of Wheelchair Super League seasons:[4]
Key
Qualified for playoffs
Pre Super League seasons
In the 2011 season, when the competition was also known as the "Super League", it was won by Bury Jigsaw who defeated Halifax in the Grand Final.[2][8][9] In 2013, the National Championship was decided using a three team round-robin format in which Bury Jigsaw defeated Halifax and Mersey Storm to win the title.[10][11] The same format was used for the finals day in 2014 when Leyland Warriors won the competition.[12] Halifax won the Premier League title in 2015 and retained it in 2016 when they beat Leeds Rhinos 68 points to 54 in the Grand Final.[13] Halifax won the title again in 2017, also by defeating Leeds in the final.[14] The 2018 Grand Final saw Leeds Rhinos beat Halifax 54 points to 44.[15][14]
2019 season
The first Super League season saw six teams compete: Argonauts, Halifax, Hereford Harriers, Leeds Rhinos, North Wales Crusaders, and St Helens.
(19 September 2019; 19:00; Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham)
2020 season
The 2020 season saw Leyland Warriors and Hull F.C. promoted to Super League, whilst Hereford Harriers and St Helens were relegated.[18] The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]
POS
CLUB
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
DIFF
PTS
1
Leyland Warriors
1
1
0
0
112
28
84
2
2
Argonauts
1
1
0
0
60
26
34
2
3
Leeds Rhinos
1
1
0
0
60
32
28
2
4
Halifax
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
North Wales Crusaders
1
0
1
0
32
60
−28
0
6
Hull FC
2
0
2
0
54
172
−118
0
2021 season
With the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic, no new teams were included in the 2021 Super League.[20]
The UK Wheelchair Rugby League Awards were first held in January 2020 and included Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Club of the Year, Match Official of the Year, and the Chair's Award, and were based on performances in the Wheelchair Super League and the Challenge Cup.[25] The sport then suffered a period of disruption due to COVID-19 and the next awards ceremony was not held until early 2023 (for the 2022 season).[26]
In 2023, three awards for the Wheelchair Super League were introduced as part of the Man of Steel Awards: the Coach of the Year, the Young Player of the Year, and the "Wheels of Steel" for the competition's outstanding player.[27]
^ abLondon Roosters were formed in 2022 from players from the Argonauts, Gravesend Dynamite and Medway Dragons and replaced the Argonauts in the Super League[6][7]
