The highest-attended game in every Super League season with one fixture DOMINATING
Fireworks are let off ahead of a Wigan Warriors game at The Brick Community Stadium in 2024
Clubs and fans alike are currently preparing for the 30th year of Super League, with pre-season already well underway and friendlies set to begin next month.
Below, we look at all 29 editions of the competition so far since its beginning back in 1996, and run through each year’s highest-attended game.
As you might expect, there’s one fixture in particular which has absolutely dominated the British game since the dawn of the summer era.
The derby between Wigan Warriors and St Helens has claimed top billing in 16 (SIXTEEN!) of the 29 Super League seasons to date, including in each of the most recent three.
Elsewhere, all-West Yorkshire clashes between Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls were the most popular in the early years of Super League, while the only other pairing with more than one top spot is another derby between Hull FC and Hull KR.
Beyond that, there are just four other pairings that have ended as the highest-attended game this year, and one of those is actually Super League‘s highest-ever attendance.
That, and everything below, excludes play-off games and Magic Weekends.
So, without further ado, here is the list in full…
LRL RECOMMENDS: Ranking rugby league’s 9 biggest derbies – Hull derby 2nd and Wigan Warriors feature TWICE
1996: Wigan 35-19 St Helens (20,429 – June 21)
ON THIS DAY 1996
Craig Murdock scores during a 35-19 victory over St Helens at Central Park. pic.twitter.com/6YjgGU9RRL
— Wigan RL History (@WiganRLHistory) June 21, 2021
1997: Leeds Rhinos 16-32 Bradford Bulls (19,137 – June 29)
1998: Bradford Bulls 6-26 Leeds Rhinos (19,188 – April 12)
1999: Bradford Bulls 19-18 Leeds Rhinos (24,020 – September 3)
2000: Bradford Bulls 26-28 Leeds Rhinos (21,237 – July 30)
2001: Wigan Warriors 22-22 St Helens (21,073 – April 13)
2002: Wigan Warriors 48-8 St Helens (18,789 – September 8)
Wigan beat St Helens 48-8 at the JJB Stadium #OnThisDay 2002. Australian stand off Julian O’Neill (below) scored 3 tries and 8 goals for a personal haul of 28 points pic.twitter.com/iYOZyPoUHK
— WiganRugbyStuff (@WiganRugbyStuff) September 8, 2024
2003: Leeds Rhinos 16-18 Bradford Bulls (23,035 – August 8)
2004: Bradford Bulls 12-26 Leeds Rhinos (23,375 – June 5)
2005: Wigan Warriors 22-20 St Helens (25,004 – March 25)
2006: Wigan Warriors 14-28 St Helens (18,358 – May 27)
2007: Wigan Warriors 14-32 St Helens (24,028 – April 6)
2008: Hull FC 44-18 Hull KR (21,283 – July 20)
2009: Hull FC 14-18 Hull KR (22,337 – April 10)
2010: Wigan Warriors 16-23 Warrington Wolves (22,701 – July 16)
2011: Wigan Warriors 28-24 St Helens (24,057 – April 22)
2012: Wigan Warriors 18-26 St Helens (21,522 – September 7)
2013: Wigan Warriors 28-16 St Helens (23,861 – March 29)
2014: Wigan Warriors 21-6 Leeds Rhinos (20,265 – September 5)
2015: Wigan Warriors 12-4 St Helens (24,054 – April 3)
2016: Wigan Warriors 4-23 St Helens (20,049 – July 22)
2017: Wigan Warriors 29-18 St Helens (23,390 – April 14)
2018: Leeds Rhinos 24-25 Castleford Tigers (23,246 – March 23)*
* Played at Elland Road
2019: Catalans Dragons 33-16 Wigan Warriors (31,555 – May 18)*
* Played at the Camp Nou
2020: Hull FC 25-16 Hull KR (19,599 – February 7)*
* Season impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic
2021: Wigan Warriors 2-26 St Helens (16,319 – August 20)*
* Season impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic
2022: Wigan Warriors 30-10 St Helens (19,210 – August 26)
