Who Has the Most Super League Titles in History?

Rugby league is rugby union’s younger cousin, formed after twenty-two rugby clubs split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in 1985 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union NRFU). Rugby league is popular in northern England, but the game is played around Britain.

The Super League was formed in 1996, replacing the 101-year-old Rugby Football League First Division. The league comprises twelve teams, eleven from England and one from France. The first two seasons saw the winners of the Super League decided by league position. However, since 1998, the Super League has been decided by a series of play-offs between the top six clubs. The top two teams get an automatic bye, while the other four advance to the play-offs. 

The winners of the play-offs play the top two sides for a place in the Grand Final at Old Trafford, Manchester. The winner of the Grand Final is crowned Super League champions. Only four clubs have won Super League titles. SportsBoom scrolled the archives for the most successful team in the Super League, the team with the most titles in history. 

St Helens: A History of Rugby League Success

St Helens has won the most Super League titles in history. They are the most successful English rugby league club in the Super League era, winning ten titles since 1996. The club that finishes top of the league table at the end of the season is awarded the League Leaders Shield. 

The Saints won their first Super League title in 1996, the inaugural season of the reformed competition. In 1999, they won their second championship, beating Bradford Bulls 8-6. They defended their title the following year, beating Wigan Warriors 29-16. Two seasons later, St Helens edged Bradford 19-18. 

In 2006, they thumped Hull F.C. 26-4 in a one-side grand final in Salford. Grand Final success eluded the Saints. They won one title in twelve years, beating Wigan 14-6 in 2014. Leeds Rhinos and the Warriors dominated, winning eleven titles, and often beating St Helens in the Grand Final.

However, their title drought ended, and the glory days returned. The Red V claimed four successive championships. In 2019, they beat Salford 23-6. The next season’s final was a slugfest. St Helens edged Wigan 8-4. In 2020, a second close final ensued as St Helens pipped the Catalans 12-10.

In 2022, Leeds became the fourth team to feel Grand Final pain, losing 24-12. They filled their trophy cabinet with silverware to make up for the heartbreaks of the previous decade, and they became the most successful club in Super League history. 

The Merseyside club was founded in 1873 and is one of the founding members of the Rugby Football League (RFL). The club has won seventeen League Championships (ten Super Leagues and seven Rugby Football League Championships), thirteen Challenge cups, and three World Club challenge trophies.

The Saints have also claimed the most League Leaders’ Shield titles, winning nine. The league leaders have been awarded the Shield since 2003. The famous Merseyside club lost the most Grand Finals between 2007 and 2011. However, they have won the most titles in a row, winning four from 2019 to 2022. 

Players of both teams walk out to the field//Getty

St Helens Has Won The Most Super League Titles in the Last Decade

St Helens have won every trophy on offer since 2018. They won four Super League championships, including three League Leaders’ Shields (2018, 2019, 2022). They claimed international glory for the third time, winning the 2023 World Club Challenge. In 2021, they won the Challenge Cup, making the club the most successful English team of the previous decade. 

Despite being the most successful Super League club, the Saints have been runners-up more times than any team. They have finished second five times during the Super League era and eleven times during the RFL Championships. Wigan Warriors have six more total titles than St Helens. Wigan has won seventeen RFL Championships and six Super League titles. 

Twenty-three teams won the Rugby Football League Championship, but only four clubs have won Super League titles since the league reformed in the mid-nineties. The domestic treble is an almighty feat to achieve, something six clubs have managed. The ‘Treble’ refers to winning the Super League Grand Final, League Leaders’ shield, and the Challenge Cup.

The Saints have won two domestic trebles (1965/66 & 2005), the tie-second-most in English rugby league. However, the Warriors, their fierce rivals, have three domestic trebles, the most. St Helens, Wigan, and Bradford are the only British teams to win the ‘Quadruple,’ which includes the World Club Challenge. 

The Warriors were the first team to complete the set in 1994-95. The Bulls did the quadruple in 2003-04, and the Saints claimed all four trophies in 2006-07. However, since rugby league switched from a winter to a summer sport in 2012, the World Club challenge can only be won the following season, meaning the ‘quadruple’ is no longer possible.