St Helens
Real club history, honours, and Grand Final appearances, sourced and cross-checked.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
St Helens — 15 Super League/British top-flight titles on record (most recently 2022).
Club Background
St Helens R.F.C. ("Saints") were founded on 19 November 1873 and became a founding member of the Northern Union in 1895. The club played at Knowsley Road from around 1890 until 2010, before moving to a new stadium (opened 2012, later Totally Wicked Stadium, now BrewDog Stadium). Saints are among rugby league's most decorated clubs, with 13 Challenge Cup wins and around 17 league championships (10 of them Super League titles). Their modern-era peak came under head coaches Justin Holbrook (2019 Grand Final win) and Kristian Woolf (2020-2022), with Saints becoming the first club to win four consecutive Super League Grand Finals (2019-2022). In 2025, under head coach Paul Wellens, Saints reached the play-off semi-finals but were eliminated 20-12 by Hull KR.
Grand Final / Championship Final appearances (1931-32-2022)
| Season | Result | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931-32 | Won | Huddersfield | 9-5 |
| 1952-53 | Won | Halifax | 24-14 |
| 1958-59 | Won | Hunslet | 44-22 |
| 1964-65 | Runner-up | Halifax | 15-7 |
| 1965-66 | Won | Halifax | 35-12 |
| 1966-67 | Runner-up | Wakefield Trinity | 21-9 |
| 1969-70 | Won | Leeds | 24-12 |
| 1970-71 | Won | Wigan | 16-12 |
| 1971-72 | Runner-up | Leeds | 9-5 |
| 1999 | Won | Bradford Bulls | 8-6 |
| 2000 | Won | Wigan Warriors | 29-16 |
| 2002 | Won | Bradford Bulls | 19-18 |
| 2006 | Won | Hull F.C. | 26-4 |
| 2007 | Runner-up | Leeds Rhinos | 33-6 |
| 2008 | Runner-up | Leeds Rhinos | 24-16 |
| 2009 | Runner-up | Leeds Rhinos | 18-10 |
| 2010 | Runner-up | Wigan Warriors | 22-10 |
| 2011 | Runner-up | Leeds Rhinos | 32-16 |
| 2014 | Won | Wigan Warriors | 14-6 |
| 2019 | Won | Salford Red Devils | 23-6 |
| 2020 | Won | Wigan Warriors | 8-4 |
| 2021 | Won | Catalans Dragons | 12-10 |
| 2022 | Won | Leeds Rhinos | 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
Founded in 1873 and one of the 22 founder members of the Northern Union in 1895, St Helens built a long history of success through the pre-Super League eras, winning league championships across the 1930s to 1970s and roughly 13 Challenge Cups. Saints played at Knowsley Road until 2010, when the club relocated ahead of a new purpose-built stadium opening in 2012 (initially Langtree Park, later Totally Wicked Stadium from 2017, and BrewDog Stadium from 2025).
Saints have also dominated the Super League era, winning the title in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2014, plus World Club Challenge titles in 2001 and 2007. The club's most recent golden era came 2019-2022, when Saints became the first side to win four consecutive Super League Grand Finals. Justin Holbrook coached the club to the 2019 win; Kristian Woolf took over from the 2020 season and led Saints to Grand Final wins in 2020, 2021 and 2022, completing the "four-peat" with a 24-12 win over Leeds Rhinos in 2022 at Old Trafford. Woolf departed at the end of 2022, and long-serving former player Paul Wellens took over as head coach for 2023. Key figures throughout this era included hooker James Roby, halfback Jonny Lomax, and winger Tommy Makinson. Saints also won the 2021 Challenge Cup and added a World Club Challenge title, beating Penrith Panthers 13-12 in February 2023.
In the seasons following the four-peat, Saints' form has been more mixed. In 2025, under Wellens, St Helens reached the play-off semi-finals but were beaten 20-12 by Hull KR, who progressed to face Wigan Warriors in the Grand Final.
Sourcing caveat: The aggregate totals of "17 league championships" and 13 Challenge Cups come from the club's own official history page and were not independently cross-verified against a second source in this pass — treat as club-reported figures. Coaching tenure boundary dates (Holbrook to Woolf to Wellens) are sourced from club/BBC reporting rather than a fully independent third source.
Sources
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