Derbies in the Rugby Football League
Whilst the sport of rugby league is played across England, it is most popular in its heartlands, the traditional counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland, with the majority of professional and semi-professional clubs coming from this area of the country. Many fixtures are considered to be local derbies, where both teams come from the same town or city, or two that are very close to each other.
Derbies
Calder Derby
The Calder Derby is contested between Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity, with both Wakefield and Castleford being part of the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough, which the River Calder flows through.
Historically Wakefield have been the more successful side, winning two league titles and five Challenge Cups. However, Castleford have been the more successful side in recent years winning five out the six games played in the 2014 and 2015 season by large margins. In terms of silverware, Castleford have also been the most successful in modern times winning three Challenge Cups since 1969 and appearing in five finals. Wakefield have only appeared in one final during this period.
Both clubs also have a local rivalry with Featherstone, a small town in the metropolitan borough, but this rivalry is not as strong due to competitive games between these sides nowadays being rare. Before the Super League era, Featherstone were a decent side and derbies between Castleford, Featherstone and Wakefield were closely and bitterly contested.
Cheshire Derby
The Cheshire Derby is a local derby between Warrington and Widnes. Both towns lie in the traditional county of Lancashire, but have been adminstered as part of Cheshire since 1974.
Both teams struck up a rivalry in the mid and late 20th century being local rivals and being somewhat dominant forces in the Challenge Cup, Widnes being known as the Cup Kings in the late 1970s and 1980s. Widnes were relegated in 2005, not returning to the Super League until 2011, whilst Warrington began to challenge the dominance of sides such as Leeds, Wigan and St Helens at the top.
Cumbria Derbies
The main derby in Cumbria is between Whitehaven and Workington Town, just a few miles apart from each other and connected by the A595 in the traditional county of Cumberland.
Both Whitehaven and Workington have a rivalry with Barrow Raiders in southwest Cumbria, in the traditional Furness area of Lancashire. The rivalry between Barrow and the other Cumbrian sides isn't as pronounced as travelling between Barrow and West Cumbria is difficult because of the terrain and the local roads.
East Lancashire Derby
The East Lancashire Derby takes place between Salford Red Devils and Oldham Roughyeds, with the City of Salford lying to the west of Manchester and Oldham being a major town to the north east of the city. In recent years the derby has become less meaningful as Salford have been competing mainly in the Super League and Oldham currently competing in the Championship, making competitive games less frequent. Oldham also have a fierce rivalry with neighbouring Rochdale Hornets and Swinton Lions. A further East Lancashire rivalry also exists between Salford City Reds and Swinton Lions, and this fixture is also known as the Salford Derby, due to both clubs being based in the City of Salford.
Good Friday Derby
The Good Friday Derby is contested between Wigan Warriors and St. Helens. Named as such as they traditionally meet on Good Friday (and also Boxing Day before Super League saw the sport switch to a summer schedule). The towns of St Helens and Wigan lie only eight miles apart in the traditional county of Lancashire. The two clubs have been the most successful clubs in England winning 31 Challenge Cups and 33 league titles between them. They have also met in three Grand Finals in the Super League era.
Heavy Woollen Derby
The Heavy Woollen Derby is a local derby contested between Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams. Both the towns of Batley and Dewsbury are in the Heavy Woollen district of Yorkshire, an area named after the heavy woollen cloth that was manufactured there in the 1800s.
Hull Derby
The Hull Derby is contested by Hull F.C. from the west side and Hull Kingston Rovers from the east side of the city of Kingston upon Hull. The two teams are separated by the River Hull. In the late 1990s a merger was proposed between the two clubs to form a team known as Humberside or simply Hull but this was later rejected. The rivalry was at its highest during the 1980s when both Hull sides were the dominant forces in the league. The Hull Derby is considered to be one of the most fierce in Rugby League due to both of the clubs residing from within the same city.
Leeds Derby
The Leeds Derby is contested between Leeds and Hunslet. Leeds play in the north Leeds district of Headingley whilst Hunslet is a district in southern Leeds. The rivalry between Leeds and Hunslet has become very one-sided due to Leeds becoming one of the so-called big four sides in recent times, whilst Hunslet have rarely played in the top division in decades. Therefore, the two teams rarely meet in competitive fixtures. There was also a third Leeds Derby until Bramley folded in 2000.
London Derby
The London Derby is contested between London Broncos and London Skolars; these teams being the only professional or semi-professional sides within Greater London. As yet, there isn't much of a rivalry as neither team had met in the same division until recent times, and the Broncos have played at many different grounds around London, therefore making it difficult to build a stable fan base. However they play each other in a pre-season friendly called the Capital Challenge which is held at the Artillery Grounds.
Skolars more commonly play competitive derby matches against Hemel Stags. Hemel Hempstead, although a town in Hertfordshire and not part of London, is very close to Skolars' North London base.
Roses derbies
Games between Yorkshire clubs Halifax and Huddersfield Giants against traditional Lancashire clubs Oldham and Rochdale Hornets are often called Roses Derbies or Wars of the Roses due to the clubs being located near the edge of the county boundaries. Meetings between Oldham and Huddersfield were particularly competitive up until the mid 1990s.
South Yorkshire Derby
The South Yorkshire Derby is contested between Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster. The only competitive matches between the two have occurred in the Championship. Sheffield are the more successful team, winning back-to-back Championship titles in 2012 and 2013, and the Challenge Cup in 1998.
Welsh Derby
The Big Welsh Derby is played between the only two Welsh clubs in the professional ranks of British rugby league.
Celtic Crusaders joined the national leagues in 2006 and were, at that time, the only Welsh side outside the amateur game. They left South Wales and moved to Wrexham in 2009. This led to Wales' second club South Wales Scorpions being formed. In 2011, Celtic Crusaders folded and the new club North Wales Crusaders were entered into League 1 in 2012.
Competitive derbies between the two clubs have taken place in 2012, 2013 and 2015 to date.
West Yorkshire derbies
Games between Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds are often called West Yorkshire derbies, although there are many other derbies that take place in West Yorkshire with specific names such as the Calder derby and the Heavy Woollen derby.
The rivalry between the Leeds Rhinos and the Bradford Bulls is one of the great rivalries in English Rugby League. The cities are next to one another and the teams have met in countless cup finals. During the early years of the Super League the rivalry peaked, with both Leeds and Bradford being dominant forces in Rugby League, challenging for numerous titles whilst meeting in Grand Finals and Challenge Cups. Bradford fell into financial trouble in 2011 and 2012, had not won or appeared in a final since 2005 and had to sell players to keep the club alive. The rivalry remains passionate despite Bradford's decline and Leeds continuing to win many more titles. Bradford were relegated in 2014 for the first time in 40 years, ending competitive fixtures between the sides. Leeds and Castleford has become the West Yorkshire derby in the Super League.