Early years (1873–1945) , 1897: Batley (left) vs St Helens (right) St Helens are the oldest members of the
Rugby Football League. Founded as
St Helens Football Club on 19 November 1873 at the Fleece Hotel by William Douglas Herman, they played their first ever match on 31 January 1874 against
Liverpool Royal Infirmary. They became known as
St Helens Rangers up until the 1880s. The club moved from the City Road Ground in 1890 where they had shared with
St Helens Recs when neither were members of the Northern Rugby Football Union. They played in a vertically striped blue and white jersey—a stark contrast to the well known broad red band which would become the kit for the club later. The club reverted to this kit for one season during the rugby league centenary season in
1995. The
Challenge Cup was launched in
1897 and it was St Helens who contested its first final with
Batley, at
Headingley,
Leeds. The "Gallant Youths" of Batley emerged victorious 10–3, with Dave "Red" Traynor scoring the lone St Helens' try. Between 1897 and 1901, St Helens were not successful, even generally considered a mid—table side. They finished second to bottom in the 1900–01 Lancashire League season, meaning they did not qualify to compete in the national league the year later. In the 1901–02 season, however, they did finish third in the Lancashire league. In
1902–03, the combined
Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues saw St Helens enter for the first time. St Helens were placed in Division 1 but finished next to bottom and suffered relegation. Promotion was gained at the first attempt, only for another poor year to see them finish once again in a relegation position. However the two Divisions became one League to save the club from a second relegation. The Champion fortunes that St Helens fans' greet today were certainly not apparent in this period, with the club finishing fourth to bottom in 1907, third to bottom in 1908, and consistently mid—table between 1909 and 1913. On 14 June 1913, St Helens Recs joined the Northern Union after defecting from
rugby union and
association football. The Recs were based individually at the City Road ground, after previously sharing with St Helens, before their move to Knowsley Road, when neither played rugby league. The Recs played their first game on 6 September 1913. St Helens now had two
professional rugby league teams. In both sides first year in co—existence, St Helens finished yet again in a disappointing low mid—table finish. During the
First World War, St Helens struggled to compete and failed to complete the full fixture list of the Emergency War League on two occasions, with the club finishing mid—table in the first year of the war, as well as being beaten by 37 points to 3 by Huddersfield in that year's Challenge Cup Final. The aftermath of the war was still taking its toll on national sport, not merely the club's ability to compete and complete fixtures, on 31 January 1918 'close down' due to a lack of finances following a 22–0 defeat by Widnes. Saints re-open on 25 December 1918 and are beaten 20 points to nil by St Helens Recs in a friendly fixture at City Road. In the shortened 1918–1919 season, St Helens played only nine times. The club's lack of success and disappointing league finishes continued for another seven seasons. The club defeated town rivals the Recs in the
Lancashire County Cup Final by 10 points to 2 in the
1926–27 season. The season after, they were trophyless, finishing tenth in a 28—team league. One year after the Challenge Cup's début at
Wembley, St Helens reached the final there where they were defeated by 10 points to 3 by
Widnes in 1930. They won their first ever National Championship in the
1931–32 season, defeating
Huddersfield 9–5 in the final. This was the same season that they won their second Lancashire League, the first coming in the
1929–30 season. They lost the 1933 Lancashire Cup Final to Warrington, whilst finishing in no competitive position in the league once more. St Helens reached no finals or achieved any more honours during the remainder of the 1930s. Like during the First World War, the club could not enjoy having a full—time squad during the
Second World War and struggled to compete. They did not compete in the National Championship until a 17 team Emergency War League was formed in the 1941–42 season, and did not win any regional honours. They finished bottom of the EWL in seasons 1942–43 and 1943–44 and next-to-bottom in 1944–45.
Post-war (1945–1979) The club's fortunes that had seen them be successful so rarely the decade previous did not change in the 1940s. After the commitments of the Second World War, St Helens still found it hard to compete, and the trend of finishing as a mid—table side was once more apparent. The first two years of the 1950s, the last two years of Peter Lyons' reign, also ended trophyless. The arrival of
Jim Sullivan as
head coach in 1952 heralded a successful era for St Helens, and helped to establish the club as a respected force in British and eventually world rugby league. Under Sullivan, St Helens reached, and lost, the 1952–53 Challenge Cup final. They didn't have long to wait for trophies as St Helens won the
Lancashire Leagues, in
1952–53, The 1953 Championship final against Halifax was held at Manchester City's Maine Road ground; in front of a crowd of over 50,000, Saints won their second Championship 24–14. They also won the 1953 Lancashire Cup, beating Wigan 16–8 at Swinton, the first time the two old rivals had clashed in a major final, Saints. Sullivan took Saints to their first victory in the Challenge Cup final (against
Halifax in 1956), On Saturday 24 November 1956, St Helens inflicted a touring
Australia its biggest ever defeat with a 44–2 win. The following year saw Saints win the 1956-7 Lancashire League
1956–57 and they won it again in
1958–59. Sullivan's second championship came in 1958–59. A second
Lancashire County Cup came in 1960–61, Ex—St Helens
captain and
prop-forward Alan Prescott took over from Jim Sullivan as head coach in 1959. During this decade, the recognisable 'red vee' strip first appeared in 1961 for the
final against
Wigan. St Helens won this epic 12–6, and the kit has since become synonymous with the club.
Mick Sullivan joined Saints for £11,000, then a record transfer fee. They won the Lancashire Cup in the 1961–62 season, with a 25–9 success over
Swinton (at
Central Park,
Wigan) seeing yet more silverware come St Helens' way under the management of Prescott. After his departure in 1962,
Stan McCormick led the club to retaining the Lancashire Cup in his first year, again beating Swinton; and St Helens made it a quadruplet of Lancashire Cup successes with wins against Leigh in 1964, and once more Swinton in 1965, the latter success under coach Joe Coan. St Helens won the Western Division Championship under McCormick's rule, beating Swinton 10–7. St Helens, under coach Joe Coan, lost the 1964–65 Championship final to Halifax at
Station Road, Swinton. The 1965
New Zealand tourists appeared at Knowsley Road on Wednesday 15 September. Saints inflicted a 28–7 defeat on their visitors, their biggest loss of the tour. A
League and
Cup double was achieved under Coan in the 1965–66 season, whilst they lost the Floodlit Trophy final against
Castleford. St Helens were beaten by
Wakefield Trinity in the 1967 Rugby Football League Championship Final at Station Road, Swinton on 10 May 1967 by 20 points to 9 in a replay, after a 7–7 draw 4 days earlier. This would be Coan's last year in charge at St Helens after a highly successful period as boss. He was replaced by
Cliff Evans. Evans' first full season in charge at the club saw him win the club's eighth Lancashire Cup in 1968; winning 13–10 against Warrington after a replay. St Helens retained the Lancashire Cup the year later, whilst also winning the Lancashire League for being the highest placed Lancashire side in the National standings, and they also reached the final of the Floodlit Trophy that season, where they were beaten 7–4 by Wigan. The 1969–70 season would be the year that Evans would leave his post, but not without winning a National Championship, beating Leeds in the final after finishing third overall. The 1970s were also seen as a successful spell for St Helens, as they reached three Challenge Cup finals in the period.
Jim Challinor took over from Cliff Evans in 1970, and in his first season, he won the Championship, and reached two finals, the Lancashire Cup and Floodlit Trophy, losing both. In this season, a European Championship—not dissimilar to today's
World Club Challenge—was contested between St Helens and French champions
St Gaudens. Over a two—legged game, St Helens won 92–11 on aggregate. In their first Challenge Cup Final of the 1970s, they defeated
Leeds in 1972 16–13, in addition to winning their first Floodlit Trophy, after losing out in the final three times before, with an 8–2 win over Rochdale. The club reached the Championship final in that season, but were beaten. No success was achieved in seasons 1972–73 and 1973–74, with St Helens finishing third and second in the respective years. This could be a possible reason for Jim Challinor's replacement with
Eric Ashton as head coach. and contested the inaugural
Premiership Final, losing 26–11 to Leeds. They repeated their first Challenge Cup success of the 1970s three years after the first against
Widnes in 1976 where they were victorious by 20–5 in the famous 'Dads Army' final. They also won the Premiership against
Salford, and the Floodlit Trophy against
Dewsbury in a successful season. In the same year, St Helens lost to
Eastern Suburbs in an unofficial World Club Challenge Final by 25 points to 2. The club won the Premiership in 1977, but, on 13 December 1977, Saints lost 26–11 to
Hull Kingston Rovers in the final of the
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy. In 1978 Leeds avenged their 1972 loss against St Helens, emerging winners by 14–12. St Helens lost the Floodlit Trophy in the 1978–79 season, going down to Widnes. The 1979–80 season was unsuccessful, with St Helens finishing mid—table. Eric Ashton left the club after this disappointing year. However, his spell as coach was not nearly as successful as his spell as a player, and St Helens won nothing whilst under Coslett's command, finishing mid-table in both seasons. He held the post for two years before handing over to
Billy Benyon. Not in-keeping with several of his predecessors, Benyon did not enjoy any success in his first season as St Helens coach, losing the Lancashire Cup final of that year to Warrington. Nothing was won in the 1983–84 season, but Saints won back the Lancashire Cup, with a 26–18 win at Wigan in the 1984–85 season. They also won the
Premiership in the same season with a 36–16 victory over defending champions Hull Kingston Rovers at
Elland Road in
Leeds. The 1984–85 season saw the arrival (for one season only) of giant Australian international centre
Mal Meninga who quickly became a crowd favourite at Knowsley Road. In Benyon's last season as coach, 1985–86, nothing was won. The arrival of
Alex Murphy as coach in 1986 produced some colourful displays from a team that was widely regarded as an entertaining team to watch, but seemed to be constant runners-up. This was illustrated by the defeat by
Halifax in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley, 19–18, in 1987. Success was achieved in 1988 when St Helens lifted their one and only
John Player Trophy with a 15–14 victory over Leeds in January 1988, at
Central Park,
Wigan.
Neil Holding with the crucial, match-winning
drop-goal. They, however, lost to Widnes in the Premiership Final at
Old Trafford at the end of the season, further showing this team's ability to get to finals and not be able to compete on the best stage. Nothing was achieved in the next two seasons, including a defeat in the 1989 Challenge Cup Final and Murphy stood down as coach. Murphy was succeeded by
Mike McClennan in February 1990. They won the Lancashire Cup, in the 1991–92 season, beating
Rochdale Hornets. They also lost the Premiership Final that season, losing to Wigan. In 1993 the club avenged their defeat by Wigan the season previous to win the Premiership, in the same season that they won the
Charity Shield, and lost the Lancashire Cup final. McClennan was head coach until December 1993, when
Eric Hughes succeeded him as head coach in 1994. They finished fourth in both of Hughes' seasons in charge. The lack of trophies in the St Helens cabinet, after the club had suddenly become so accustomed to success, would need to change in the "new" brand
Super League that formed in 1996; hence Hughes' departure in 1996 and replacement with Australian
Shaun McRae. They also won the
World Club Challenge in
2001 and
2007, beating
Brisbane both times. In 2023 they then beat Penrith Panthers 13–12 in Australia to win it for a third time.
Late 1990s The success of the Saints in Super League began under the leadership of
Shaun McRae in 1996. During his tenure the club won one league title (
1996), a year in which he was named Super League's coach of the year, and enjoyed back—to—back successes over Bradford in the Challenge Cup (1996 and 1997). St Helens lost consecutive Premiership finals to Wigan in 1996, and 1997. 1998 proved to be a trophyless year, and
Ellery Hanley succeeded McRae in 1999, after the Australian left for new Super League side
Gateshead.
Ian Millward was appointed as Hanley's successor as head coach. but lead them to retaining their Super League title in
2000 beating
Wigan 29–16. They also won the
Challenge Cup in 2001; 13–6 over Bradford, with the final held at
Twickenham Stadium for the first time, and the
2001 World Club Challenge, earning a 20–18 win over the Broncos. Millward then lead Saints to the top of
Super League VII, and to reclaim the Super League title in the
2002 Grand Final,
Sean Long snatching a last minute 19–18 win over the
Bradford with a
drop—goal. They lost the 2002 Challenge Cup Final to Wigan at
Murrayfield Stadium by 21 points to 12. They were hammered in the
2003 World Club Challenge by
Sydney by 38 points to 0. In this season, they failed to win a trophy after being knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Leeds at the semi—final stage, and the Super League play—offs by Wigan at the same stage. In 2004 they beat arch—rivals Wigan 32–16 at the
Millennium Stadium,
Cardiff in front of a capacity crowd of 73,734 people to win the Challenge Cup, Long gaining his second of an eventual three
Lance Todd Trophies. Millward's reign was not without controversy and his St Helens career ended controversially after he was suspended in May 2005. He was sacked for gross misconduct a week later. Daniel Anderson was appointed as coach,
The Anderson era (2005–2008) Final Daniel Anderson saw his new team become the first team to top the
Super League and fail to reach
Old Trafford in 2005. However, St Helens won the
2006 Challenge Cup Final at
Twickenham Stadium, beating
Huddersfield 42–12.
Scrum-half Sean Long was awarded the
Lance Todd trophy for a record third time for his man—of—the—match performance during the final. before cementing their reputation as the team of the year by defeating Hull 26 points to 4 in the
Super League Grand Final. Once more St Helens confirmed their status as the outstanding team of the summer era. Additionally,
Paul Wellens received the
Man of Steel Award for the 2006 season. In December 2006 St Helens were awarded with the
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award at the Annual
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Ceremony. This accolade recognises the best team in any sport within the United Kingdom. At the same ceremony
Daniel Anderson was given the
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award – this was the first time a rugby league coach had won the award. After a slow start to the
2007 season, Saints added to their history by beating
Brisbane 18–14 to win the
2007 World Club Challenge. to reach the first Challenge Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium. Here, St Helens successfully defended their Challenge Cup by defeating
Catalans Dragons 30–8 in the
final on 25 August 2007. They were beaten in the
Grand Final that year by
Leeds by 33 points to 6, despite finishing at the top of the
league ladder for the third successive season.
James Roby, however, became the second St Helens player, and home—grown talent in two years to win the Man of Steel Award. Saints success in the Challenge Cup continued in
2008 with a victory at the new
Wembley Stadium, this time defeating
Hull F.C. 28–16. Paul Wellens received the
Lance Todd Trophy after sharing the award with team-mate
Leon Pryce the year earlier.—winning the
League Leaders Shield, and beat Leeds 38–10 for the right to go to Old Trafford to contest the Grand Final. However, St Helens were once again defeated by Leeds in the
Grand Final, by a margin of 24 to 16, on 4 October 2008.
James Graham, on a positive note, made it a hat—trick of ex—Blackbrook Royals to win the Man of Steel Award whilst playing for St Helens. This would be Anderson's last game in charge of the club, as he announced he was to return to Australia and the
Parramatta Eels of the
NRL. St Helens fans and players alike were saddened to see Anderson leave, after not only upholding the tradition of St Helens exciting brand of rugby, but giving them a defensive and disciplined edge that was never apparent under Ian Millward. His personality and relationship with the fans was an additional reason why St Helens fans were disgruntled in him leaving after four years in charge and why next boss
Mick Potter faced a fair amount of criticism in his initial period as boss.
The Potter years (2009–2010) in the pre-season 2010 Karalius Cup Mick Potter was announced as the successor to Anderson, which received many plaudits from the St. Helens fans and the European game as a whole, as the year previous he had led the
Catalans Dragons to a record—high third—placed finish in the league. On 9 August 2009, St Helens reached a record ninth consecutive
Challenge Cup semi—final, where they were beaten by 24 points to 14 by the
Huddersfield Giants. This prevented Saints from reaching the final at the
new Wembley Stadium for a third successive time and from winning the cup for a fourth time running. This defeat naturally came as a shock to the St Helens faithful, after so often in the last 15 years seeing the team reach the pinnacle of this competition and go on to win the cup. It was from here that the criticism began, and questions were raised particularly of his tactics and his activity (or lack of) in the transfer market. On 3 October 2009, Saints defeated fierce rivals the Wigan Warriors to book their place at a fourth consecutive
Super League Grand Final, only to lose out to the Leeds Rhinos in the final, 18–10, making the Leeds Rhinos the only team to win the Grand Final three times consecutively. A 20-year-old
Kyle Eastmond scored all of Saints' points. A trophyless year for the first time since 2003 was another catalyst to Potter's critics abusing and slating his appointment, with even rumours of rifts within the changing rooms.
2010s in 2010 2010 was the year that saw Potter surrender to his critics and leave St. Helens. Criticisms from club legends like Paul Sculthorpe and Sean Long regarding his personal skills with the fans, as well as the continued fan rejection saw him let his contract run out and, initially, seek a job in the NRL, but eventually, and perhaps surprisingly, join Bradford on a two—year contract. Names like
Royce Simmons,
Mal Meninga, and assistant coach
Kieron Purtill, were linked with the job for 2011. Simmons was the chosen man for the job, as announced on 22 July 2010. The 2010 season would also see legendary hooker and captain Keiron Cunningham retire from the game after 17 years with his one and only club. However, Cunningham would not be leaving without leaving a lasting legacy on the club. A lifelike bronze statue of Cunningham was built and placed on display in the town, before being transported to the club's new stadium upon its construction in 2012. He would additionally take up a coaching role with the academy, as well as a strength and conditioning role with the first team. However, Saints failure to perform on the big stage was once more shown, going down in this semi—final by 32–28. Defeating Huddersfield Giants in the qualifying semi—final in the
2010 play-off series by 42–22 not only saw Saints qualify for their fifth Grand Final in five years, but also saw the final ever game to be played at Knowsley Road. Fittingly, Cunningham snatched the final ever try at the famous old ground in typical fashion from dummy—half. However, for the fourth year running, St Helens once more proved flops in the
Grand Final. One of the finest finals of the Super League era was anticipated, but the flamboyant Saints that the fans saw so rarely under Potter once more failed to materialise, and, in front of a near sell—out crowd of 71,526, they fell to a 22–10 loss to rivals Wigan. It was not the romantic finish to the Saints careers of Potter, Cunningham or any of the departing members of the squad that many had hoped for, but nevertheless, a new era was just around the corner, as Simmons' reign began.
Beginning of a new era (2011–2018) Australian
Royce Simmons took over from compatriot Mick Potter for the start of the 2011 season. As the club awaited completion of the new stadium, all home fixtures in 2011 were played at the
Halton Stadium in
Widnes, effectively meaning St Helens were forced to play an entire season of away fixtures. In addition, they suffered upheaval in terms of the playing squad; having already lost the influential Cunningham to retirement and other club legends like Sean Long, the start of the season was overshadowed by the news that
Kyle Eastmond, who had been earmarked as Long's replacement, and inspirational leader
James Graham were both looking to leave the club. A number of serious injuries to further key players such as
Leon Pryce and
Ade Gardner meant the team was facing an uphill battle on the field all season. However, despite all the problems faced, St Helens defied the odds to reach their 11th Challenge Cup semi-final in a row, and at the end of the season they qualified for their sixth consecutive Grand Final. However, for the fifth year in a row they were on the losing side, as the injury-plagued squad finally succumbed to Leeds. However, the 2011 season saw the emergence of a new crop of talent, with players such as
Jonny Lomax and
Lee Gaskell stepping up to fill the gaps left by senior players and earning rave reviews for their performances. In 2012, the club moved into their new home at
Langtree Park. However, the season started with a terrible run of results, which culminated in Royce Simmons being sacked in March. With assistant coach
Kieron Purtill also leaving, the coaching
reins were taken up by youth coach Mike Rush for the remainder of the 2012 season, with Keiron Cunningham acting as his assistant. Following St Helens's defeat by Wigan in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup, which ended a run of 11 consecutive semi-final appearances, it was announced that
Nathan Brown would be taking over as head coach for 2013, with Rush moving back into his previous role. At the end of the
Super League XIX regular season, St Helens claimed the
League Leaders' Shield and reached the
2014 Super League Grand Final against Wigan where they won the match 14–6 claiming their 13th premiership. In the
Super League XXIII season, St Helens claimed the
League Leader's Shield and
Ben Barba who had joined the club that year won the
Man of Steel award. St Helens were favourites to reach another grand final but were upset in the preliminary final by Warrington 18–13 at Langtree Park. During the
Super League XXIV season, St Helens reached the
Challenge Cup final against Warrington but lost the match 18–4 at
Wembley Stadium.
The "Four-Peat" and World Club Challenge At the end of the
Super League XXIV regular season, St Helens won the
League Leader's Shield for a second consecutive year after finished 16 points clear of second placed
Wigan. St Helens would go on to reach the
2019 Super League Grand Final at
Old Trafford against
Salford. St Helens won the match 23–6 securing their 14th championship. At the end of the 2020 season, St Helens finished second behind league leaders Wigan. After easily accounting for
Catalans Dragons in the semi-final, St Helens played against Wigan in the
2020 Super League Grand Final. With only seconds remaining and with the scores locked at 4–4, St Helens scored a try after the siren through Jack Welsby to win back to back championships in the most dramatic of circumstances. On 17 July 2021, St. Helens won the Challenge Cup for the first time in 13 years beating Castleford in the final 26–12. St. Helens had trailed the match at half-time 12–6. St Helens finished the
2021 Super League season in second place on the table. They then went on to defeat
Catalan Dragons 12–10 in a hotly-contested Grand Final, securing the club's first league and cup double since 2006 and an historic 'three-peat' – becoming only the second team in the summer era to win three consecutive championships. St Helens ended the
2022 regular season as League Leaders, thus earning them a bye to the semi-finals. They beat Salford 19–12, to reach their 4th consecutive Grand Final. They faced
Leeds in the
Grand Final, after Leeds beat Catalans in the eliminators, and Wigan in the semi-final. St Helens won the match 24–12, to win their fourth final in a row, and by doing so, they become the first team in Super League history to win four in a row. Before the start of the 2023 Super League season, St Helens travelled to Australia for the
2023 World Club Challenge. A week before the match, St Helens played one pre-season trial fixture against
St. George Illawarra which St Helens won 30–18 at
WIN Stadium. In the week leading up to the World Club Challenge game against
Penrith, many pundits, former players and coaches predicted St Helens would lose the match heavily with
Phil Gould stating "Penrith should be allowed to declare at half-time". St Helens would go on to win the World Club Challenge game 13–12 in golden point extra-time to claim their third trophy in the competition. St Helens had led the match 12–0 until a late try by Penrith took the game into extra-time.
Post 2023 World Club Challenge In the
2023 Super League season, St Helens finished third on the table equal on points with league leaders Wigan and the Catalans Dragons. In the elimination playoff, the club defeated Warrington which set up a match with Catalans at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. St Helens lead the match until the final minute when Catalans player Sam Tomkins scored a try underneath the posts to win the match for Catalans and end St Helens four-year dominance of the competition. St Helens began the
2024 Super League season strongly winning six of their opening seven games. However, injuries in the middle of the season to key players saw results drop. On 26 July 2024, St Helens were defeated by Leigh 46–4 which meant the club had lost five matches in a row for the first time since the Super League era began. St Helens would finish the 2024 Super League season in sixth place on the table, their lowest finish of the Super League era. The club were eliminated in the first week of the
playoffs against Warrington. St Helens were not expected to win the game but took Warrington to golden point extra-time where
George Williams would kick the winning drop goal for Warrington. In the
2025 Super League season, St Helens would finish 5th on the table. In the playoff eliminator against Leeds, the club trailed by 10 points with less than nine minutes remaining before they scored two tries to win the match 16–14. The final try was scored after the full-time siren and was reminiscent of the "wide to west" try which was scored by the club 25 years prior. In the semi-final against league leaders Hull Kingston Rovers, the club would succumb to a 20–12 loss which ended their season. ==Academy==