The St Helens R.F.C. – Wigan Warriors rivalry is a historic local rivalry between the rugby league clubs St Helens and the Wigan Warriors, based in North West England. The rivalry is born out of relative proximity of the two towns, but as two of the most successful clubs in British rugby it has become a marquee event in the calendar.
Initially at least one fixture was played on Boxing Day annually and was known as the Boxing Day Derby, later the second fixture settled on Good Friday. Following the leagues decision to move the competition from winter to the summer the Good Friday Derby remains the one traditionally fixed game in the calendar.
St Helens and Wigan are two of the original twenty-two northern rugby clubs that broke away from the Rugby Football Union to form the Northern Union in 1895, which gave birth to the modern day sport of rugby league.[2] Prior to this, the clubs first met on the 5th December 1874 in a fixture at St Helens with the match ending in a draw.[3] The two clubs first encounter in the Northern Union was in the first season of the new code. The fixture was played at St Helens' Knowsley Road ground and ended in a 0-0 draw.[4] The clubs have since faced each other over 300 times in all competitions, and the rivalry has grown to become rugby league's biggest derby encounter.
Over the years the two clubs have become very successful. Wigan are the most successful club in British rugby league, having won 23 league titles and 21 Challenge Cups. St Helens are the second most successful team with 17 league titles and 13 Challenge Cup wins. In rugby league grand finals, the clubs have contested five league championship matches with St Helens claiming the title at Wigan's expense on four occasions (1971, 2000, 2014) and 2020 to Wigan's one grand final success over Saints in 2010.
In keeping with tradition, derby fixtures within the RFL have usually been played on Boxing Day and Good Friday.[5] Since the move to summer seasons in 1996, Boxing Day games have no longer been competitive and has seen events like Leeds's and Wakefield's Festive Challenge emerge in keeping with the Boxing Day tradition. The Super League however has kept to the tradition of having derbies on Good Friday with St Helens and Wigan not competing a Good Friday Derby on only three occasions since the summer switch.[6]
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