On this day 150 years ago, St.Helens R.F.C. was founded, and what a journey we have been on together as a Club and community...
Please take a look at this timeline video the Club has produced, which sums up our glorious story so far…
St.Helens R.F.C. was formed at a public meeting on a Wednesday evening in the Fleece Hotel in Church Street on the 19th of November, 1873.
William Douglas Herman arrived in our town in 1870 as a Chemist to work at Pikington’s Crown Glass Works, coming up north from London where he had played rugby for Crescent FC in Battersea Park on the South Bank of the Thames, he was disappointed that at that time there was no rugby in the local area of St. Helens.
William wanted to create a team in our town and placed the following notice in the St. Helens Newspaper:
“It is proposed to form a football club for St. Helens and neighbourhood. Gentlemen taking an interest in the game are requested to attend a preliminary meeting to be held at the Fleece Hotel on Wednesday November 19, 1873 at 7.30pm.”
That meeting held at the Fleece on Church Street, saw some of the most prominent men of the time attend who had both commercial and industrial connections, and on that night William Douglas Herman was named both Chairman and Captain of the new St.Helens Club. The rest is history…
Over 1,200 men and 50 women have played for St.Helens in official competitive fixtures since our first match as part of the Norther Union (now known as the Rugby Football League). Find out more about our players with their Heritage Numbers.
Across both the winter and summer eras of the sport of rugby league the Saints have achieved an astonishing 78 trophy successes…
Super League Era Honours:
- Super League Champions: 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
- World Club Challenge Winners: 2001, 2007, 2023.
- Challenge Cup Winners: 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021.
- League Leaders’ Shield Winners: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022.
- BBC Sports Personality Team Of The Year: 2006
Women’s Super League Era Honours:
- Super League Champions: 2021
- Challenge Cup Winners: 2021, 2022, 2023
- League Leaders’ Shield Winners: 2021
Pre Super League Honours:
- Championship Winners: 1931-32, 1952-53, 1958-59, 1965-66, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1974-75
- Challenge Cup Winners: 1955-56, 1960-61, 1965-66, 1971-72, 1975-76
- League Leaders’ Shield Winners: 1964-65, 1965-66
- Regal Trophy Winners: 1987-88
- Premiership Winners: 1975-76, 1976-77, 1984-85, 1992-93
- Lancashire Cup Winners: 1926-27, 1953-54, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1984-85, 1991-92
- Lancashire League Winners: 1929-30, 1931-32, 1952-53, 1959-60, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1968-69
- Charity Shield Winners: 1992-93
- BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Winners: 1971-72, 1975-76
Away from the trophy success, the development of our future players has always been of the utmost importance, with the Saints Academy leading the way in youth player development.
Moving to our new home the Totally Wicked Stadium in 2012 from the iconic Knowsley Road, the Saints’ ground is a remarkable venue for events outside of rugby and is the premier setting for the town of St Helens and beyond.
Our Club is such a vital part of the community too, highlighted in modern times by the work done by the Saints Community Development Foundation.
