Leeds Rhinos
Real club history, honours, and Grand Final appearances, sourced and cross-checked.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Leeds Rhinos — 8 Super League/British top-flight titles on record (most recently 2017).
Club Background
Leeds Rhinos trace their roots to 1870 as Leeds St John's, becoming one of the founding members of the Northern Union (rugby league's forerunner) in 1895. The club has played at Headingley since 1890, one of the sport's most storied grounds. Known simply as "Leeds" for over a century, the club rebranded as Leeds Rhinos in 1997 following Super League's 1996 launch. Leeds became the dominant force of the Super League era, winning eight Grand Finals between 2004 and 2017 (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017) — more than any other club — including a treble of Grand Final, Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge in 2015. In 2025 Leeds finished 4th and were eliminated in the play-off Eliminator.
Grand Final / Championship Final appearances (1998-2022)
| Season | Result | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Runner-up | Wigan Warriors | 10-4 |
| 2004 | Won | Bradford Bulls | 16-8 |
| 2005 | Runner-up | Bradford Bulls | 15-6 |
| 2007 | Won | St Helens | 33-6 |
| 2008 | Won | St Helens | 24-16 |
| 2009 | Won | St Helens | 18-10 |
| 2011 | Won | St Helens | 32-16 |
| 2012 | Won | Warrington Wolves | 26-18 |
| 2015 | Won | Wigan Warriors | 22-20 |
| 2017 | Won | Castleford Tigers | 24-6 |
| 2022 | Runner-up | St Helens | 24-12 |
Covers Grand Final/Championship Final appearances only, from our Super League & British Champions list — a fuller historical ladder-position archive for Super League (mirroring what this site already has for the NRL) is planned, direct follow-up work.
Club history
Leeds' rugby history begins with Leeds St John's in 1870, and the club — playing as "Leeds" — was among the 22 breakaway clubs that formed the Northern Union in 1895. Headingley has been the club's home continuously since 1890, one of the longest tenures of any rugby ground in the world; the stadium underwent major redevelopment between 2017 and 2019.
The most transformative moment in the modern era came in 1997, when the club rebranded from "Leeds" to "Leeds Rhinos" as part of the wider repositioning of clubs following Super League's 1996 launch. The 2000s-2010s produced sustained dominance under coaches Tony Smith and Brian McClennan, with Grand Final wins in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 — eight titles, the most of any Super League club. Talismanic figures of this era included long-serving captain Kevin Sinfield (2012 Golden Boot winner), Rob Burrow (later a prominent motor neurone disease awareness campaigner), Kylie Leuluai and Danny McGuire.
More recently, Leeds' fortunes have been mixed. In the 2025 Super League season, Leeds finished 4th in the regular season and were eliminated in the play-off Eliminator, losing 16-14 to St Helens on 27 September 2025 after conceding two late tries, one after the full-time siren.
Sourcing caveat: Leeds did NOT reach the 2025 Grand Final — that fixture (Hull KR 24-6 Wigan Warriors) was contested by two other clubs; Leeds were eliminated 16-14 by St Helens in the play-off Eliminator. Specific interwar (1920s-30s) Championship/Yorkshire Cup title years are referenced loosely in secondary sources without a fully consistent year-by-year list, so no specific interwar trophy years are asserted here as confirmed fact.
Sources
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