If winning isn't important then why do we keep score?

This page features information on Warrington Wolves rugby league club.
It is not a complete history of the club by any means, nor is it intended to be. For more detailed

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Warrington Wolves   Some information from Wikipedia

History

Early years

Warrington Zingari was founded in 1879 by Timothy Grix of Chatburn. The committee of the newly formed club managed to get the use of a field fronting Sankey Street. The headquarters of the club were at the White Hart Hotel in Sankey Street.

The first match was an away game against the Walton side, played at Rice Field in Liverpool on 18 October, 1879. Walton won by three goals to nil. The first home game at Sankey Street was against Oughtrington, with Warrington gaining their first victory by three goals to one. In their first season Warrington played 11 games, won 7, lost 2 and drew 2. A year later, The Warrington Guardian newspaper purchased the land in Sankey Street for its new offices, and the club was forced to move to a new pitch at Wilderspool.

Another local club, Padgate Excelsior, amalgamated with Warrington in 1881-1882 to form a representative town side. After one season at Wilderspool, the club obtained another field at Slutchers Lane. A year later, Warrington moved back to Sankey Street to play in a field behind the town's post office. In 1883-1884, they moved for the fourth time, this time back to Wilderspool, the new pitch being just a short distance from the previous ground.

In 1884-1885, Warrington were strengthened again when the Warrington Wanderers club, joined the town side. In 1886, the club won its first silverware, the South West Lancashire and Border Towns Trophy.

Post WW2                                             

The early post-WW2 years saw a boom in rugby league in general, and the glory years of the Warrington club. Brian Bevan, winger,  made his debut for Warrington in 1945. Over the next 16 seasons he scored 740 tries for the club in 620 games. With other stars such as Harry Bath and Gerry Helme, the Wire won all the code's major honours, including the League Championship in 1947/8, 1953/4 and 1954/5. Warrington reached the 1948/49 Lancashire Cup Final but were beaten by Wigan. In the league Warrington lost only five matches all season.

Another good cup run took the Wire to the 1950 Challenge Cup Final. This time they were to play local rivals Widnes, beating them 19-nil.

In 1951/52 Ces Mountford was appointed as coach with a ten-year contract.

In 1954, a record 102,569 paid to see Warrington defeat Halifax 8-4 in the Challenge Cup Final replay at Odsal, Bradford, but thousands more got in for free.

The 1955/56 season saw a tournament entitled the ITV Floodlit Competition. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually beating Leigh 43-18 at Loftus Road.

On 19 January, 1957, Warrington launched a lottery, which played an important part in the club's finances in future seasons.

In the 1959/60 season, they won the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 22 years, playing all their games away from home. St. Helens were the final hurdle but the Wire managed a 5-4 win at Central Park.

In 1961, Warrington reached the final of the RL Championship held at Odsal, but Leeds had total control over the match and won 25-10. This also turned out to be the last match for long-serving coach Ces Mountford.

Ernest "Ernie" Ashcroft took over as coach for the 1961/62 season. Easter Monday 1962 saw Brian Bevan's last match for Warrington.

During the early part of the 1965/66 season, floodlights were installed and a friendly match against Wigan was arranged. They were officially switched on for the match on Tuesday 28 September, with Wigan winning the match. Warrington's home game against Widnes became the first rugby league match to be broadcast on BBC, albeit only to the south of England. Warrington beat Oldham 21-10 in the Lancashire Cup Semi-final, and went on to beat Rochdale Hornets at Knowsley Road 16-5.

1970s to early 1990s.

After a disastrous start to the 1970/71 season, coach Joe Egan decided to stand down, to be replaced by Peter Harvey. Alex Murphy joined Warrington as player-coach on 20 May, 1971. In January, 1974, the club beat Featherstone Rovers 4-0 at Salford in a new one-off competition, the Captain Morgan Trophy. In that season also, they won The Locker Cup (14-9 victory over Wigan) and the Players No. 6 Trophy (beating Rochdale Hornets 27-16 at Wigan). They were beaten in the first round of the BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy. Later in 1974, Murphy captained them to a 24-9 win in the Challenge Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers before retiring as a player. As coach in 1975, he took Warrington to the Challenge Cup Final again, but were defeated 14-7 by Widnes.

Poor league performance continued in 1977/78, but Warrington again made it to the Regal Trophy Final. Warrington beat Widnes 9-4. In 1978, Warrington appointed Billy Benyon as Alex Murphy's successor. A solid year round performance saw Warrington finish second in the league, losing only 8 matches all year.

The 1980/81 season brought the Lancashire Cup and the John Player Trophy. After consistently good performances in the league they were League Championship runners-up.

In 1990 Warrington made it to the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium and faced arch rivals Wigan. Warrington lost 34-16.

Warrington won the Regal Trophy in 1992 beating Bradford Northern 12-2 at Headingley, Leeds. Warrington did make it to the final of the Regal Trophy in 1994, but lost 40-10 to Wigan at McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield.

Super League 1996

With the advent of Super League, several mergers between clubs were proposed. Warrington were scheduled to merge with Widnes to form Cheshire who would compete in Super League. This was, however, resisted. Warrington were awarded a place in the Super League.

21st Century

Plans to move from Wilderspool Stadium were announced, with Burtonwood the likely site. The former Tetley Walker brewery on Winwick Road was chosen to be the new home for the club, and Tesco were to develop on the land with a superstore. A lengthy planning process finally ended with the Secretary of State giving the green light for the 14,206 capacity stadium and supermarket to be built.

Paul Cullen was appointed head coach in 2002, replacing David Plange.

In January 2003, at the Past Players Association Annual Dinner, the Warrington Hall of Fame was launched. The first twelve players inducted were:

Read profiles of the players at the official Warrington Wolves website.

Warrington's first season in the Halliwell Jones Stadium (2004) saw slight underachievement on the pitch, reflected in their finishing position of eighth in Super League, though they did make the semi finals of the Challenge Cup. However, they recorded a significant increase in their average attendances and midway through the season the club was purchased by events promoter Simon Moran. Moran immediately released fresh investment into the club, enabling coach Paul Cullen to sign Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for a club record fee for a reported £200,000. The club also purchased New Zealand internationals, Henry Fa'afili and Logan Swann.

Their best season in Super League has been Super League X (2005), where they finished in 4th place and earned a home tie in the playoffs. They are one of only a handful of clubs never to have been relegated from the top flight of rugby league throughout their long history.

Australian half-back Andrew 'Joey' Johns played 3 games for the club in 2005 when his Australian club Newcastle concluded their season. He wore the number 31 (the club was refused permission for Johns to wear 77) and is rumoured to have been paid around £40,000 per match for the Wolves. The signing caused controversy for a couple of reasons. If the Wolves had made the Super League Grand Final, it would have clashed with the Kangaroos Tri-Nations test against New Zealand in Sydney.

Also, many people questioned why the Wolves were allowed to bring in a player in time for the Super League play-offs after he had finished playing a full season in Australia. The signing and subsequent confusion over the rules led other Super League clubs to follow the example set by the Wolves by signed their own Antipodean players on short-term contracts.

On 22 September, 2006, the Wolves beat Leeds 18-17 at Headingley to progress to the second round of the play-offs, but failed to get any further. Warrington Wolves finished in 6th place in 2006. They were named as Club of the Year at a ceremony held in Manchester.

Adrian Morley joined the club in 2007 and the Wolves finished the season in 7th place. For 2008, the club signed Chris Hicks and Matt King. On 27 May, 2008, coach Paul Cullen left the club by The Wolves finished in 6th place in 2008 and were knocked out of the play-offs by Catalans Dragons, having been in 4th spot earlier in the season.

For the 2009 season, new signings included Garreth Carvell from Hull FC and Micky Higham from Wigan Warriors. Martin Gleeson departed the club for Wigan Warriors. As part of that deal, Richie Mathers returned to the Wolves following a short loan deal back in 2002. Stuart Reardon also left the club. On 5 March, 2009, following a 3-match series of defeats at the start of Super League XIV, leaving them bottom of the table, Warrington Wolves announced the appointment of Great Britain rugby league coach Tony Smith, as Head of Coaching. He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract heading the Wolves Coaching and Performance team. He will work alongside James Lowes, who takes on the role of First Team Coach. They have worked together in the past on the Great Britain team and it is hoped they can bring the club to future success. Smith will continue in his role as England Head Coach, but has stepped down as the RFL's technical director. Read his profile here.

Challenge Cup Final Winners 2009

The first score for the Giants did come from a Shaun Lunt try, after 9 minutes, with a goal from Brett Hodgson taking the score to 6-6. Next to score for Warrington was Michael Monaghan after 12 minutes, with Bridge converting for a 12-6 lead, followed by a try from Chris Hicks on 15 minutes, and Bridge's 3rd successful goal kick to make it 18-6 to Warrington. A try by Matt King was ruled out on 18 minutes after the video referee said it was a ball steal with two players in the tackle, and Huddersfield were also denied a try after 23 minutes, one of two tries disallowed for them. On 37 minutes Brett Hodgson scored a try for Huddersfield (the conversion was missed), making the half-time score 18-10 to the Wolves.

The score did not change again until the 60th minute when Vinnie Anderson scored under the sticks, with Bridge's 4th conversion taking the score to 24-10. Five minutes later Warrington were awarded a penalty within kicking distance of the goal for a high tackle, but Bridge was unable to convert on this occasion. Warrington were defending well, and with a knock-on and an offside by Huddersfield in the 68th and 71st minutes respectively, it looked all over for the Giants. A try from David Hodgson in the 77th minute (converted by Brett Hodgson) closed the gap to 8 points, making the score 24-16 to the Wolves. A familiar drop-goal from Lee Briers in the next minute sealed the victory for Warrington Wolves. The final score was 25-16.

Michael Monaghan became the third Australian to win the Lance Todd Trophy for Man of the Match. It was the first Challenge Cup victory for coach Tony Smith. Wolves captain Adrian Morley said the victory was the highlight of his hugely successful career. The victory ends a 35 year wait for fans and players alike. You have to go back to 1974 for Warrington's last win, when they beat Featherstone Rovers 24-9 under captain Alex Murphy, who was in the crowd at this year's final. In all, 78 coaches and two trains took Warrington fans to Wembley on the day, with many more booking into hotels and guest houses to make a bank holiday weekend of it in the capital city.

Huddersfield Giants had knocked out St Helens in a thrilling match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 9 August to gain their place in the final. Huddersfield's last victory in the Challenge Cup was in 1953, when they beat St Helens 15-10. The last time Warrington appeared at Wembley was 1990 when they were beaten by Wigan. Earlier in this year's competition on 30 May, Warington beat Hull 25-24 in their quarter-final match after a thrilling drop-goal Golden Point in extra time by Lee Briers. They were drawn against Wigan Warriors in the semi-final at Widnes on 8 August, beating them 39 points to 26, leading 28-8 at half-time.

Warrington finished outside the Top Eight in Super League 2009, missing out on the play-offs.

List of Warrington's Challenge Cup Finals

Super League Results               

Wilderspool Stadium   From Wikipedia   

It was scheduled for demolition when the club moved out in 2003, but the council kept it open, and Warrington Woolston Rovers and Warrington Wizards now play their home games there.

Halliwell Jones Stadium       

It was also a venue for women's Euro 2005 in football. During the 2007/8 football season it was home to Liverpool FC Reserve game matches, which had previously been played in Wrexham.

The stadium was notable for bucking the common trend of modern stadia by including standing areas rather than being an all-seater stadium. It has pitch dimensions of 120 metres x 74 metres.

After Warrington's success in the 2005 Super League, plans are already under way to extend the new stadium. Details of the plans include new executive seating above the "South Stand" and more seating arrangements. But it's not just about rugby. The stadium has conference rooms and is often booked by the community for meetings. School children have access to the very latest information technology for after school classes and projects. The club also has a successful women's team.

Building the Halliwell Jones Stadium

The remaining photos show the building sequence in 2003.

Player and Coach Profiles (past and present)   

Additional information will be added to some of the player profiles in time. If you wish to submit more about their Warrington careers, please use the Feedback link. For the current squad, and more profiles, link to the official Wolves website.

Tony Smith    Read more in Wikipedia.

Tony Smith (born 24 January, 1967, in Lismore, New South Wales) is a British-Australian former rugby league player and is now the head coach of the Great Britain national rugby league team. He is the younger brother of fellow rugby league coach, Brian Smith. In 2007, Smith was included in the Southstander.com Hall of Fame.

Paul Cullen (Player and Coach)     

Paul Cullen was a former player and coach of Warrington Wolves from 2002 to 2008. Cullen had played 348 times for the Wolves, and after spending time with Whitehaven, took over as coach in August 2002. His 5½ year reign made him the longest-serving coach in Super League at the time.

In 2006 he was appointed the Head Coach of England ahead of the Federation Shield tournament in the autumn.

On 27 May, 2008, it was announced he had parted company with Warrington Wolves by 'mutual consent' after a humiliating defeat by bottom of the table Castleford Tigers the day before, their first away-win of the season, and Wolves 6th loss in 7 Super League games. Fans staged a sit-in protest after the Castleford game. The club failed to win any silverware during Cullen's reign, even though they had some high-profile signings. His place was taken by Assistant Coach, James Lowes, until a permanent replacement could be found.

On Monday 9 March, 2009, Cullen took over as new Head Coach at Widnes Vikings on a two year contract.

Brian Bevan   Read more in Wikipedia.                               

Harry Bath   Read more in Wikipedia.                           

Harry Bath (born 1924) was an Australian player. His position of choice was as a second-row forward. He is commonly said to be the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for Australia.

Gerry Helme    Read more in

Gerry Helme (born 1923, died 19 December, 1981) played for Warrington and also represented Lancashire and Great Britain. Helme became the first player to win the Lance Todd Trophy twice, his second coming in the famous 1954 Challenge Cup Final replay. He also helped Great Britain to victory by scoring the match-winning try in the first-ever World Cup Final in 1954.

Alex Murphy   Read more in Wikipedia.                  

Alex Murphy (born St Helens, Lancashire, 22 April, 1939). He was a player and coach who enjoyed a prodigious career as a scrum-half, often as controversial as he was prolific. One scribe suggested “You either like him or loathe him but you certainly can’t ignore him!” 

Jonathan Davies    Read more in Wikipedia       

Jonathan D. Davies, MBE, (born 24 October 1962 in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire) is a Welsh retired rugby professional who represented his country in both rugby union and rugby league. A goal-kicking backline player in both codes, he played his club football in Wales, England and Australia.

Mike Gregory  Some information from Wikipedia.             

Michael Keith "Mike" Gregory (20 May, 1964 – 19 November, 2007), was a rugby league player and later coach; the former head coach of Wigan and player for Warrington and Great Britain.

Wire Legend Mike Gregory dies, aged 43, 19 Nov 2007

Warrington chairman, Lord Hoyle, paid tribute to Mike, saying: "I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Mike's death and my thoughts go out to his family and friends. Mike served our club with distinction as a player for 12 years, including captaining Warrington in their last Challenge Cup Final appearance in 1990. His brave battle against illness and his efforts to raise awareness of Progressive Muscular Atrophy has been an inspiration to us all. He will be greatly missed."

During his final years he wrote a book and also took part in many fundraising activities for disabled people. It was heartbreaking to see his demise on ITV1 Granada Reports on the day he died. He will be sadly missed by the rugby league world. Mike's funeral took place in Wigan on 23 November, 2007.

Martin Gleeson Read more in Wikipedia.                  

Martin Gleeson was born 28 May, 1980, in Wigan. He is rated as one of the top centres in international rugby league.

Andrew "Joey" Johns Read more in Wikipedia.       

Andrew "Joey" Johns (born 19 May, 1974) was an Australian player. He usually played half-back but has played in other positions at times throughout his career. In August 2005, it was announced that Johns would be joining Warrington Wolves on a short-term deal, playing in the final two games of the regular Super League and any playoff games the Wolves might get to. The Australian club, Newcastle Knights, first made him sign a new contract, making him available to captain the team until the end of 2008.

Lee Briers  Read more in Wikipedia.                           

Lee Briers was born 14 June, 1978, and is a former captain of the Wolves, playing at scrum-half. He previously played for St Helens, but moved to Warrington Wolves as a teenager in a deal worth £65,000.

Rugby League Links        

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