The Warrington Wolves–Wigan Warriors rivalry is a local rugby league rivalry based in Lancashire, England. The two clubs are some of the most successful in England, and annually compete in the Locker Cup to celebrate their rivalry.

History

The competitive history of the two clubs began on 18 January 1873 when the then two-month-old Wigan Warriors played their first match against Warrington Wolves (who would not form an official team for another three years). Both clubs were founding members of the NRFU, and have enjoyed a fierce rivalry throughout their history. Both sides also have other major rivalries, Warrington vs Widnes Vikings and Wigan vs St Helens, which at times has dampened the rivalry between them. However it was Wigan's dominance in during the late 1980s and 90s which caused the largest taming of the rivalry. It was only in 2009 and 2010 following Warrington's back-to-back victory in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

and the club's subsequently establishing themselves as a Super League Top Four Club which saw the rivalry heat up again as both teams started simultaneously competing for top honours. In the decade that followed, the clubs contested three Super League Grand Finals in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. The rivalry has said to have been at its peak between 2011 and 2013. Halliwell Jones Stadium

Head to head

:''Statistics correct as of 19/8/22'' In all competitions, competitive and uncompetitive:

Meetings in major finals

* 1925–26 NFRL Division One Championship Final: Wigan 22–10 Warrington *

1948–49 Lancashire Cup 1948–49 was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 14–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of L ...

Final: Wigan 14–8 Warrington *

1950–51 Lancashire Cup 1950–51 was the thirty-eighth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 28-5 The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of La ...

Final: Wigan 28–5 Warrington *

1989–90 Challenge Cup The 1990 Challenge Cup was the 89th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, the final was contested by Wigan Warriors, Wigan and Warrington Wolves, Warr ...

Final: Wigan 36–14 Warrington * 1985–86 Lancashire Cup Final: Wigan 34–8 Warrington * 1986–87 Premiership Final: Wigan 8–0 Warrington * 1987–88 Lancashire Cup Final: Wigan 28–16 Warrington *

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warrio ...

: Wigan 30–16 Warrington *

2016 Super League Grand Final The 2016 Super League Grand Final was the 19th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XXI season. It was held on Saturday 8 October 2016, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. Brit ...

: Wigan 12–6 Warrington *

2018 Super League Grand Final The 2018 Super League Grand Final was the 21st official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIII. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 13 October 2018, kick off 18.00. The final was contested by Warrington Wolves a ...

: Wigan 12–4 Warrington

Collective honours

:''As of the

2024 World Club Challenge The 2024 World Club Challenge was the 30th staging of the World Club Challenge, an annual rugby league match between the reigning champions of the Super League and the National Rugby League. The Wigan Warriors hosted the Penrith Panthers at ...

Locker Cup

The Locker Cup (previously the Wardonia Cup until 1972) is a friendly tournament contested by rugby league clubs Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors introduced in 1938. The single game tournament was played as a preseason friendly alternating between the club's home grounds annually until the switch to summer rugby in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. It was brought back for Magic Weekend 2019, but was cancelled a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then it has been played for during the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

season. ;Results

Gallery

References

Warrington Wolves Wigan Warriors Rugby league rivalries Sports rivalries in the United Kingdom {{DEFAULTSORT:Warrington Wolves-Wigan Warriors rivalry