Editing Rugby league (section)

=== Europe ===
The [[Rugby League European Federation]] are responsible for developing rugby league in [[Europe]].<ref>[http://www.rlef.eu.com/index.php RLEF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220032208/http://www.rlef.eu.com/index.php|date=20 December 2011}}. Rlef.eu.com. Retrieved 20 August 2013.</ref>
{{location map+|Northern England|float=right|width=300|caption=Rugby league is most popular along the [[M62 motorway|M62]] corridor in the north of England where the sport originated. Icons shown are the location of teams competing in the [[2025 Super League season|2025 Super League]] (barring [[Catalans Dragons]]) all located along the M62 Corridor.|places=
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.491|long=-2.529|label=<div style="position:relative;top:-10px;right:+5px">[[Leigh Leopards|Leigh]]</div>}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.547778|long=-2.653889|label_size=100|label=[[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]]|position=left}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.469444|long=-2.375|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:+5px;right:+2px">[[Salford Red Devils|Salford]]</div>}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.447492|long=-2.726078|label_size=100|label=[[St Helens R.F.C.|St. Helens]]|position=left}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.395|long=-2.595556|label_size=100|label= <div style="position:relative;top:+12px;right:+10px">[[Warrington Wolves|Warrington]]</div>}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.746111|long=-0.367778|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:+4px;right:+7px">[[Hull F.C.|Hull]]</div>|position=top}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.753889|long=-0.264722|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:-10px;right:+5px;">[[Hull Kingston Rovers|Hull KR]]</div>|position=right}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.730343|long=-1.340831|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:-4px;right:+4px;">[[Castleford Tigers|Castleford]]</div>}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.655586|long=-1.766964|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:-5px;left:+2px;">[[Huddersfield Giants|Huddersfield]]
</div>|position=left}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.817947|long=-1.583588|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:+3px;">[[Leeds Rhinos|Leeds]]</div>|position=top}}
{{location map~|Northern England|lat=53.669821|long=-1.479525|label_size=100|label=<div style="position:relative;top:+12px;right:+10px;">[[Wakefield Trinity|Wakefield]]</div>}}
}}

In England, rugby league has traditionally been associated with the historic northern counties of [[Yorkshire]], [[Lancashire]], and [[Cumberland]], where the game originated, especially in towns and cities along the [[M62 motorway|M62 corridor]].<ref name="heartlands"/> Its popularity has also increased elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC Sport|title=Interest growing in Conference|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/2266867.stm|access-date=14 December 2008|date=14 December 2008|first=Dave|last=Woods}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|publisher=Active Surrey|title=Rugby League Activity|url=http://www.activesurrey.com/content-1973|access-date=14 December 2008|date=14 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228231649/http://www.activesurrey.com/content-1973|archive-date=28 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|publisher=Rugby Football League|title=Engage Super League Attracts Strong Viewing in 2008|url=http://therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_item.php?id=10137|access-date=14 December 2008|date=14 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718203735/http://therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_item.php?id=10137|archive-date=18 July 2011}}</ref> {{As of|2024}}, only two of the twelve Super League teams are based outside of these traditional counties: [[Catalans Dragons]] and [[London Broncos]]. One other team from outside the United Kingdom, [[Toulouse Olympique]], competes in the [[British rugby league system]], although not at the highest tier Super League level, but rather in the second tier [[RFL Championship|Championship]].

Super League average attendances are in the 8,000 to 9,500 range. The average Super League match attendance in 2014 was 8,365.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rugby union and rugby league compared ahead of Manchester showdown between England v Uruguay and Super League final|url=http://www.cityam.com/226244/rugby-union-and-rugby-league-compared-ahead-of-manchester-showdown-between-world-cup-2015-and-super-league-final|publisher=CityAM|date=8 December 2017}}</ref> In 2018 average Super League match attendance was 8,547.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/super-league-average-attendances-for-2018-revealed-and-its-not-good-reading-18712/|title=Super League average attendances for 2018 revealed - and it's not good reading!|date=9 January 2019}}</ref> Ranked the [[Sport in the United Kingdom#Popularity|eighth most popular sport in the UK]] overall,<ref>[http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/928/Rugby-Union-Britains-Second-Most-Popular-Sport.aspx MORI Sports Tracker - Interest in Sports] ''Ipsos MORI'' Retrieved 2 March 2018</ref> rugby league is the 27th most popular participation sport in England according to figures released by [[Sport England]]; the total number of rugby league participants in England aged 16 and over was 44,900 in 2017.<ref name="Participation"/> This is a 39% drop from 10 years ago.<ref name="Participation">{{cite news|title=What is the most popular sport in England?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2017/02/15/popular-sport-england/rugby-league/|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2017/02/15/popular-sport-england/rugby-league/|archive-date=11 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|agency=The Telegraph|date=8 December 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> While the sport is largely concentrated in the north of England there have been complaints about its lack of profile in the British media. On the eve of the [[2017 Rugby League World Cup final]] where England would face Australia, English amateur rugby league coach Ben Dawson stated, "we're in the final of a World Cup. First time in more than 30 years and there's no coverage anywhere".<ref>{{cite news|title=Rugby League World Cup: The final hardly anyone seems to be talking about|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42191891/rugby-league-world-cup-the-final-hardly-anyone-seems-to-be-talking-about|agency=BBC|date=28 March 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Thomas Bosc 2013 (1).JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|[[France national rugby league team|France]] vs [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] in the [[2013 Rugby League World Cup]] at [[Parc des Sports (Avignon)]]]]

France first played rugby league as late as 1934, where in the five years prior to the [[Second World War]], the sport's popularity increased as Frenchmen became disenchanted with the state of French rugby union in the 1930s.<ref name="BBCFranceHistory">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2307043.stm|title=French rugby league fights for rights|publisher=news.bbc.co.uk (BBC News)|access-date=18 July 2009|last=Schofield|first=Hugh|date=8 October 2002}}</ref> However, after the Allied Forces were defeated by Germany in June 1940, the [[Vichy regime]] in the south seized assets belonging to rugby league authorities and clubs and banned the sport for its association with the left-wing [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front]] government that had governed France before the war.<ref name="BBCFranceHistory" /> The sport was unbanned after the [[Liberation of Paris]] in August 1944 and the collapse of the Vichy regime, although it was still actively marginalised by the French authorities until the 1990s.<ref name="BBCFranceHistory" /> Despite this, the national side appeared in the finals of the 1954 and 1968 World Cups, and the country hosted the 1954 event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/RLP/Worldcup/1954worldcup.htm|title=Rugby League Planet – 1954 Rugby League World Cup|publisher=rugbyleagueplanet.com|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=13 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713072347/http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/RLP/Worldcup/1954worldcup.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/RLP/Worldcup/1968worldcup.htm|title=Rugby League Planet – 1968 Rugby League World Cup|publisher=rugbyleagueplanet.com|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-date=30 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730084053/http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/RLP/Worldcup/1968worldcup.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1996, a French team, [[Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League|Paris Saint-Germain]] was one of eleven teams which formed the new Super League, although the club was dissolved in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/print.php?type=N&item_id=718|title=Step Back in Time: Catalans (H)|publisher=wigan.rlfans.com (cherryandwhite.co.uk)|access-date=18 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730012703/http://wigan.rlfans.com/print.php?type=N&item_id=718|archive-date=30 July 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2006, the Super League admitted the Catalans Dragons, a team from Perpignan in the southern [[Languedoc-Roussillon]] region.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/3748507.stm|title=French join Super League|publisher=news.bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport)|access-date=18 July 2009|date=26 May 2004}}</ref> They have subsequently reached the [[2007 Challenge Cup Final]] and made the playoffs of the 2008 [[Super League XIII]] season. The success of the Dragons in Super League has initiated a renaissance in French rugby league, with new-found enthusiasm for the sport in the south of the country where most of the [[Super XIII]] teams are based. In other parts of Europe, the game is played at semi-professional and amateur level.