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.
The league operates a promotion and relegation system with the second tier RFL Wheelchair Championship.
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. The competition ran from April to September when the Grand Final was held. In 2012, the leagues were restructured with the Super League and Championship being replaced with a Premier League, Division One and Entry Division. 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.
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.
Teams The 2026 Super League teams are: Bradford Bulls (2026) Edinburgh Giants (2025–2026) Halifax Panthers (2019–2026) Hull FC (2020–2026) Leeds Rhinos (2019–2026) London Roosters (2022–2026) Sheffield Eagles (2025–2026) Wigan Warriors (2022–2026)
Teams to have previously played in Super League are: Argonauts (2019–2021) Hereford Harriers (2019) Leyland Warriors (2020–2021) North Wales Crusaders (2019–2022) St Helens (2019) Warrington Wolves (2022–2023)
Results The following is a summary of Wheelchair Super League seasons:
Key
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. 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. The same format was used for the finals day in 2014 when Leyland Warriors won the competition. 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. Halifax won the title again in 2017, also by defeating Leeds in the final. The 2018 Grand Final saw Leeds Rhinos beat Halifax 54 points to 44.
2019 season The first Super League season saw six teams compete: Argonauts, Halifax, Hereford Harriers, Leeds Rhinos, North Wales Crusaders, and St Helens.
Grand Final Leeds Rhinos 42–50 Halifax (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. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
POSCLUBPWLDPFPADIFFPTS1Leyland Warriors110011228 8422Argonauts110060263423 Leeds Rhinos110060322824 Halifax000000005 North Wales Crusaders10103260−2806 Hull FC202054172−1180
2021 season With the 2020 season being cancelled due to the pandemic, no new teams were included in the 2021 Super League.
POSCLUBPWLDPFPADIFFPTS1 Leeds Rhinos (C)9900622206416182Argonauts541022411011483 Halifax Panthers7430312316−484Leyland Warriors9450348372−2485 North Wales Crusaders5050103322−21906 Hull FC707081364−2830
Playoffs Semi Finals Leeds Rhinos 66–63 Halifax Panthers Leyland Warriors 76–38 Argonauts
Grand Final Leeds Rhinos 52–36 Leyland Warriors (19 September 2021; 3:15pm; Medway Park Sports Centre, Gillingham; Sky Sports Arena)
2022 onwards
2020srowspan="2"20222023202420252026
Titles + SeasonChampionsScoreRunners-upLeague Leaders2019 Halifax50–42 Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos2020 colspan="4" 2021 Leeds Rhinos 52–36 Leyland Warriors Leeds Rhinos2022 Halifax Panthers 52–48 Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos2023 Wigan Warriors 50–42 Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos2024 Leeds Rhinos 52–32 Halifax Panthers Leeds Rhinos2025 Halifax Panthers 42–32 London Roosters Halifax Panthers2026 Halifax Panthers 64–24 Leeds Rhinos Halifax Panthers
Champions ClubNo.Years Halifax Panthers42019, 2022, 2025, 2026 Leeds Rhinos22021, 2024 Wigan Warriors12023
League Leaders' Shield ClubNo.Years Leeds Rhinos52019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Halifax Panthers22025, 2026
Individual awards 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. 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). 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. YearPlayer of the Year"Wheels of Steel"Young Player of the YearCoach of the YearNameClubNameClubNameClub2019Lewis King ArgonautsRob Hawkins Halifax Panthers Steve Jones North Wales Crusaders2020colspan="6" rowspan="2" 20212022Rob Hawkins Halifax Panthers Nathan Collins Leeds Rhinos Phil Roberts Wigan Warriors2023Lewis King London Roosters Josh Butler Leeds Rhinos Tom Coyd London Roosters2024Josh Butler Leeds Rhinos Rob Hawkins Halifax Panthers Wayne Boardman Halifax Panthers2025Joe Coyd London Roosters Finlay O'Neill Halifax Panthers Tom Coyd London Roosters2026Rob Hawkins Halifax Panthers Max Owen London Roosters Martyn Gill Edinburgh Giants
Notes
References
External links Super League