Super League (Europe)

Super League (Europe) is the only full-time professional rugby league competition operating in the northern hemisphere. Currently all the teams are based in Great Britain, though there has been French involvement and French club Union Treiziste Catalane, to be known as Les Catalans, will join for the 2006 season. As a result of sponsorship from Engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the Engage Rugby Super League.

History

The competition was first mooted during the Super League war as a way for Rupert Murdoch to gain the upper hand during the battle for supremacy with the Australian Rugby League. Murdoch approached the British clubs to form Super League (Europe) (SLE). A large sum of money aided the decision, and the competition got under way in 1996. Part of the deal saw rugby league switch from a winter to a summer season.

Related Topics:
Super League war - Rupert Murdoch - Australian Rugby League

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Initially, several mergers between existing clubs were proposed:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Castleford, Wakefield and Featherstone Rovers would form Calder
• Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers would form Humberside
• Whitehaven RLFC, Workington Town, Barrow and Carlisle would form Cumbria
• Warrington and Widnes were to form Cheshire
• Salford and Oldham were to form Manchester
• Sheffield and Doncaster were to form South Yorkshire

However this proved so unpopular that only existing clubs were selected for the competition. Several clubs currently in the existing top flight were excluded, whilst other from the lower divisions (such as London Broncos) were “fast-tracked” in on commercial grounds. A new team, Paris Saint Germain, was created to give a French dimension.

Related Topics:
London Broncos - Paris

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After two years Paris were dropped from the competition, thus the 'Europe' in 'Super League (Europe)', became somewhat otiose; it was however retained. Promotion and relegation between Super League and the Rugby League National Leagues was re-introduced, and in 2002 the SLE governing body re-integrated fully into the Rugby Football League. To most intents and purposes, Super League is now simply a re-titled first division of British Rugby League. However, it has recently been announced that a French side, Union Treiziste Catalane from Perpignan, are to be introduced in 2006. In order to facilitate this move, it has been decided that two clubs will be relegated from Super League at the end of the 2005 season, with only one club coming up from the National Leagues, thus the number of clubs in Super League will remain at 12.

Related Topics:
Rugby League National Leagues - Rugby Football League - Union Treiziste Catalane - Perpignan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~