The Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league; however, the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split into two separate county competitions.

History This situation endured until 1901–1902, when the top teams in each league resigned and formed a new combined first division. The following season, the remaining clubs formed a second division. From then until 1907, when there was another re-organisation, the county leagues were not played.

The new structure initiated for the 1907–1908 season saw the clubs playing every other team in their own county home and away, and playing once each against the clubs from the other county. Results from all games counted towards the Rugby Football League Championship, whilst results within the county counted towards the respective county leagues.

The championship often included teams from outside the Yorkshire and Lancashire heartlands; these were allocated to a county league on a practical basis. Briefly, in the 1908–1909 season, there were enough clubs from Wales to add a third Welsh League to the structure. The sole winner of this title was Merthyr Tydfil.

The Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues were abandoned in 1970.

Results

The RFL Lancashire League was an annual competition from 1895 to 1970 for professional rugby league teams in Lancashire. Other teams from Cheshire and Cumbria also competed in the league. During the period 1896–1901 the county leagues were played as there was no national league championship during this period. After they were played alongside the RFL Championship until 1970. Teams also competed in the Lancashire Cup.

To keep the number of teams equal in both county leagues, clubs from Yorkshire were often invited to play in the Lancashire League. Halifax joined the Lancashire League in 1930, remaining there until the start of the Second World War. Following the demise of Belle Vue Rangers in 1955, it was initially decided that the Yorkshire League champions would compete in the Lancashire League during the following season, but clubs were later elected into the league on a voluntary basis instead.

Championship

Season Winners 1895–96 Runcorn 1896–97During the period 1896–1901 the county leagues were titled senior competitions. There was no national league championship during this period. Broughton Rangers 1897–98 Oldham 1898–99 Broughton Rangers 1899–1900 Runcorn 1900–01 Oldham 1901–02For the 1901–02 season the top teams from each senior competition resigned to form a single league championship. The lower clubs continued to contest separate county leagues for that year only. Wigan 1902–07: No competition 1907–08 Oldham 1908–09 Wigan 1909–10 Oldham 1910–11 Wigan 1911–12 Wigan 1912–13 Wigan 1913–14 Wigan 1914–15 Wigan 1915–18 No competition due to World War I 1918–19 Rochdale Hornets 1919–20 Widnes 1920–21 Wigan 1921–22 Oldham 1922–23 Wigan 1923–24 Wigan 1924–25 Swinton 1925–26 Wigan 1926–27 St Helens Recs 1927–28 Swinton 1928–29 Swinton 1929–30 St. Helens 1930–31 Swinton 1931–32 St. Helens 1932–33 Salford 1933–34 Salford 1934–35 Salford 1935–36 Liverpool Stanley 1936–37 Salford 1937–38 Warrington 1938–39 Salford 1939–45 No competition due to World War II 1945–46 Wigan 1946–47 Wigan 1947–48 Warrington 1948–49 Warrington 1949–50 Wigan 1950–51 Warrington 1951–52 Wigan 1952–53 St. Helens 1953–54 Warrington 1954–55 Warrington 1955–56 Warrington 1956–57 Oldham 1957–58 Oldham 1958–59 Wigan 1959–60 St. Helens 1960–61 Swinton 1961–62 Wigan 1962–63 Workington TownDuring the 1962–63 and 1963–64 seasons, the RFL reverted to a two division structure and the county leagues were rebranded as the Western and Eastern Divisional Championships. 1963–64 St. Helens 1964–65 St. Helens 1965–66 St. Helens 1966–67 St. Helens 1967–68 Warrington 1968–69 St. Helens 1969–70 Wigan

Wins by club

Rank Club Wins Years 1 Wigan 18 1901–02, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1920–21, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1969–70 2 St. Helens 9 1929–30, 1931–32, 1952–53, 1959–60, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69 3 Warrington 8 1937–38, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1967–68 4 Oldham 7 1897–98, 1900–01, 1907–08, 1909–10, 1921–22, 1956–57, 1957–58 5 Salford 5 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1938–39 6 Swinton 5 1924–25, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1960–61 7 Broughton Rangers 2 1896–97, 1898–99 8 Runcorn 2 1895–96, 1899–1900 9 Rochdale Hornets 1 1918–19 10 Widnes 1 1919–20 11 Workington Town 1 1962–63 12 St Helens Recs 1 1926–27 13 Liverpool Stanley 1 1935–36

Yorkshire League

The RFL Yorkshire League was an annual competition from 1895 to 1970 for professional rugby league teams in Yorkshire. During the period 1896–1901 the county leagues were played as there was no national league championship during this period. After they were played alongside the RFL Championship until 1970. Teams also competed in the Yorkshire Cup.

Championship Season Winners 1895–96 Manningham 1896–97 Brighouse Rangers 1897–98 Hunslet 1898–99 Batley 1899–1900 Bradford FC 1900–01 Bradford FC 1901–02 Leeds 1902–07 No competition 1907–08 Hunslet 1908–09 Halifax 1909–10 Wakefield Trinity 1910–11 Wakefield Trinity 1911–12 Huddersfield 1912–13 Huddersfield 1913–14 Huddersfield 1914–15 Huddersfield 1915–18 No competition due to World War I 1918–19 Hull 1919–20 Huddersfield 1920–21 Halifax 1921–22 Huddersfield 1922–23 Hull 1923–24 Batley 1924–25 Hull Kingston Rovers 1925–26 Hull Kingston Rovers 1926–27 Hull 1927–28 Leeds 1928–29 Huddersfield 1929–30 Huddersfield 1930–31 Leeds 1931–32 Hunslet 1932–33 Castleford 1933–34 Leeds 1934–35 Leeds 1935–36 Hull 1936–37 Leeds 1937–38 Leeds 1938–39 Castleford 1939–45 No competition due to World War II 1945–46 Wakefield Trinity 1946–47 Dewsbury 1947–48 Bradford Northern 1948–49 Huddersfield 1949–50 Huddersfield 1950–51 Leeds 1951–52 Huddersfield 1952–53 Halifax 1953–54 Halifax 1954–55 Leeds 1955–56 Halifax 1956–57 Leeds 1957–58 Halifax 1958–59 Wakefield Trinity 1959–60 Wakefield Trinity 1960–61 Leeds 1961–62 Wakefield Trinity 1962–63 Wakefield Trinity 1963–64 Halifax 1964–65 Castleford 1965–66 Wakefield Trinity 1966–67 Leeds 1967–68 Leeds 1968–69 Leeds 1969–70 Leeds

Wins by club

Winners Count Years 1 Leeds 151901–02, 1927–28, 1930–31, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70 2 Huddersfield111911–12, 1912–13, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1919–29, 1921–22, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1951–52, 3 Wakefield Trinity 81909–10, 1910–11, 1945–46, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1965–66 4 Halifax 7 1908–09, 1920–21, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1963–64 5 Hull41918–19, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1935–36 6 Hunslet31897–98, 1907–08, 1931–32 7 Castleford31932–33, 1938–39, 1964–65 8 Batley21898–99, 1923–24 9 Hull Kingston Rovers 21924–25, 1925–26 10 Bradford FC21899–1900, 1900–01 11 Dewsbury 1 1946–4712 Manningham11895–96 13 Bradford Northern11947–48 14 Brighouse Rangers 1 1896–97

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