Wigan Warriors Women
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club |
| Founded | Thursday 21st November 1872, (Women’s team created in 2017) |
| Current details | |
| Ground |
|
| Coach | Denis Betts |
| Captain | Victoria Molyneux |
| Competition | Women's Super League |
| 2025 Season | 1st (Champions) |
| Current season | |
| Records | |
| Women's Super League | 2 (2018, 2025) |
| RFL Women's Nines | 2 (2024, 2025) |
| Challenge Cup | 1 (2025) |
| League Leaders Shield | 1 (2025) |
Wigan Warriors Women are the official women's team of the Wigan Warriors club. The team is one of eleven teams the club currently boasts. The team was created in 2017 and had its first season in 2018. The club competes in the RFL Women's Super League which the team won during its first season.[1]
The team plays its home games at Robin Park Arena, Wigan which doubles as the elite performance facility for many of the Wigan club's teams.
The team are the current holders of the Womens Challenge Cup, the RFL Women's Nines, (winning the tournament on 28 July 2024 at Craven Park, Hull, and again in 2025), the League Leaders Shield, and the Women's Super League
In 2023, England international Vicky Molyneux became the first female inductee into the club's Hall of Fame.
History
Wigan Warriors women's team was established in October 2017 ahead of the 2018 RFL Women's Super League.[1] The team won the league championship in their inaugural season beating Leeds Rhinos 18–16 in the Grand Final at the Manchester Regional Arena.[2] At the end of the 2023 season, vice-captain Vicky Molyneux became the first female player to enter the Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame.[3] The team played their first match at the DW Stadium during the opening game of the 2024 Super League in a 18–4 victory over Barrow Raiders.[4] Midway through the 2024 season, the club moved their training base to Edge Hall Road which had been redeveloped into an elite women's training facility by Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic.[5] In May 2025, The Guardian praised the club for establishing itself as regular challenges amongst the traditional top three of St Helens, Leeds, and York, described it as a "watershed moment" for the women's game.[6] The club finished the 2025 season as treble winners following a 2025 Super League Grand Final victory over St Helens, after beating them in the Challenge Cup final earlier in the year, and lifting the League Leaders' Shield. They did so as an amateur side, with the aforementioned "traditional top three" having become semi-professional in the last few years.[7][8]
Teams
Wigan Warriors Women are one of 11 teams operated by Wigan Warriors, the others are:[9]
- Women's academy (under 19s)
- Men's first team
- Men's Reserves
- Men's Academy (under 18s)
- Men's Scholarship (under 16s)
- College development squad (men and women aged 16–18)
- Physical disability
- Learning disability
- Wheelchair (mixed)
- Wheelchair A (wheelchair reserve team)
- Touch Rugby
Players
| First team squad | Coaching staff | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Head coach
| |||||||
Seasons
| Season | League | Play-offs | Challenge Cup |
9s | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | ||||
| 2018 | Super League | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 324 | 128 | 19 | 2nd | Won in Grand Final | SF | N/a |
| 2019 | Super League | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 328 | 224 | 13 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | QF | |
| 2020 | Super League | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Super League | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 254 | 186 | 10 | 5th | Did not qualify | QF | |
| 2022 | Super League | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 104 | 313 | 4 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | QF | QR[10] |
| 2023 | Super League | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 116 | 250 | 7 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | SF[11] | RU[12] |
| 2024 | Super League | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 532 | 144 | 18 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | SF[13] | W |
| 2025 | Super League | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 752 | 120 | 25 | 1st | Won in Grand Final | W[14] | W |
Honours
Leagues
- Women's Super League
- Grand Final
- Winners (2): 2018, 2025
- League Leader's Shield
- Winners (1): 2025
- Runners-up (1): 2018
- Grand Final
Cups
- Women's Challenge Cup
- Winners (1): 2025
- RFL Women's Nines
- Winners (2): 2024, 2025
- Runners-up (1): 2023
References
- ^ a b "Women's Super League: Wigan Warriors to set up women's rugby league team". BBC Sport. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Wigan Warriors crowned Women's Super League champions". Rugby Football League. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/67323269
- ^ "Women create history with win". 19 April 2024.
- ^ "Wigan Athletic & Wigan Warriors to invest in a new Women & Girls elite training centre". 15 May 2024.
- ^ "Women's Super League is light years bheind Australia but kicks off with hope". The Guardian. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/articles/c89dny1jkdwo
- ^ https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/wigan-vs-st-helens/report/61691
- ^ "Wigan Warriors announce groundbreaking record". Rugby League News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
- ^ "Success at Women's Rugby League Nines". Rugby Football League. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Women's Challenge Cup: Leeds Rhinos overcome resolute Wigan Warriors to reach final". BBC Sport. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Leeds Rhinos lift first Women's Rugby League trophy of 2023". Rugby Football League. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Leeds beat Wigan to book third straight final v Saints". BBC Sport. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ "Wigan thrash Saints to win first Women's Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 7 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.