Ranked: The rugby league clubs who have played the most games of all-time

Ben Olawumi 04 Jan 2025 6:05 PM

Wigan, Huddersfield, Leeds — From left to right: Wigan (1952), Huddersfield (1953) and Leeds (1968) players

Our friends over at the Rugby League Record Keepers’ Club (RLRKC) have alerted us to an absolute belter of a statistic, and we wanted to share it with you – there are just eight clubs who have played over 4,600 first-class matches in our sport.

As is common knowledge, rugby league dates back to 1895 when the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from England’s established Rugby Football Union to create a separate competition.

All eight of the clubs to have played over 4,600 first-class games of league were involved in that breakaway, which officially happened in Huddersfield – the West Yorkshire town therefore being recognised as the ‘home of rugby league’.

The Rugby Football League (RFL) name – as we now know them – then came about back in 1922.

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Ranked: The rugby league clubs who have played the most games of all-time

Taken directly from the RLRKC website, ‘first-class’ games are classed as those…

From matches and tournaments recognised by the Northern Rugby Football Union (NU) / Rugby Football League (RFL), involving teams from member and affiliate clubs.
From matches and tournaments when the NU/RFL played a part in the organisation of them, or selection of the teams to participate – The status of the match at the time of kick-off determines its inclusion, regardless of whether the match or tournament concluded; thus games which were abandoned, or later expunged or ordered to be replayed are included, as well as any replayed matches.
From tournaments involving both member/affiliate clubs and non-member clubs (e.g. the Challenge Cup & National League Cup), rounds/groups involving exclusively non-member clubs are not classified as first-class and are therefore excluded; for any rounds/groups involving member clubs all game are included, regardless of a club’s status, with the same also applying for subsequent rounds.

For the avoidance of doubt, after the close of the 1914-15 seasons for the remainder of World War I, all games were arranged on a friendly basis, and are not included as first-class games; these re-commenced in January 1919, as part of the 1918-19 season. In contrast, first-class games were played throughout World War II.

The recent events in relation to the 2020 season allow for a practical illustration of the above principles, and are worth re-confirming to ensure clarity: all games played by Toronto Wolfpack prior to their decision to withdraw for the remainder of the season, and matches played by Championship and League 1 clubs prior to the suspension of these competitions are included in the club and player statistics, as these were all first-class matches when they were played (i.e. their subsequent expunction does not change their recognition for statistical purposes).

Now that the Ts & Cs are out of the way, we can bring you the list of the eight clubs, ranked by the number of first-class games they’ve played at the time of writing on January 4, 2025…

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8. Warrington Wolves – 4,663

Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, shakes hands with the Warrington team ahead of the 1950 Challenge Cup final

* Warrington are the only club on this list who haven’t completed exactly 127 seasons of first-class rugby league. They have completed 123, because their ground – Wilderspool – was unavailable for four years during World War II.

7. Huddersfield Giants – 4,676

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6. Halifax Panthers – 4,698

September 1964: Halifax’s John Freeman leaves the Rugby league headquarters in Leeds after being banned by the council at the conclusion of a six-month probe into an allegation that he had received an illegal payment from the club