Wigan St. Patricks is an amateur

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

football club based in the Scholes area of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

. The first team plays in the

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

Division One . In 1986, the club was one of ten founder members of the

BARLA The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...

National Amateur League (now known as the

). The club is renowned for producing talented young players. More than 50 former St Pats players have gone on to play for the town's professional team,

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

, including internationals Joe Egan,

Liam Farrell Liam Matthew Farrell (born 2 July 1990) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Wigan Warriors in the Super League, and has played for the England Knights and England at international level. He has spent time on loan ...

Sean O'Loughlin Sean O'Loughlin (born 24 November 1982) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a loose forward for and captained the Wigan Warriors in the Super League, and has also played for Great Britain and England at int ...

Josh Charnley Joshua Charnley (born 26 June 1991) is an English international professional rugby league footballer who plays on the for the Leigh Leopards in the Super League. He previously played for the Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors, with whom he ...

Sam Tomkins Sam Tomkins (born 23 March 1989) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and occasional for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and England at international level. He is the two time and current and r ...

and Tom Davies. In 2014, St Pats reached the third round of 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 were drawn against

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

. Although St Pats were drawn at home, the club played the fixture at Leigh Sports Village, as their own ground did not meet the RFL's minimum requirements to host the fixture. St Pats were defeated 6–74. In January 2015, the club announced that they would not be taking part in the

2015 Challenge Cup The 2015 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th staging of the rugby league tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs. T ...

, as "it was not in the players or clubs interest to enter the competition this year". Although cup matches against professional opposition usually generate a significant financial windfall for amateur teams, St Pats revealed they had made just £63 from their Challenge Cup game against Leigh in the previous year due to the costs of hosting the game at another venue. In 2017, St Pats' first round Challenge Cup tie against

Leigh Miners Rangers Leigh Miners Rangers are a community amateur rugby league football club from Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the National Conference League, the National Conference Premier Division ...

was broadcast online on the

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

website, and was the first time the opening round of the Challenge Cup had been shown live.

Honours

Premier Division ** Winners (1): 1991–92 *

Challenge Cup ** Winners (1): 1991–92 *

BARLA National Cup The BARLA National Cup is a knock-out competition for amateur rugby league clubs in Great Britain. It is administered by the British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for soci ...

** Winners (1): 1987–88 * BARLA Lancashire Cup ** Winners (1): 1983–84

References

External links

Wigan St. Patricks websiteSt Pats on the NCL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigan St. Patricks BARLA teams Sport in Wigan Rugby clubs established in 1910 1910 establishments in England Rugby league teams in Greater Manchester English rugby league teams