Cumbria Rugby League
Cumbria Rugby League[Millom RLFC|] is a series of summer rugby league competitions for amateur teams in Cumbria.
The main competition in Cumbria is the Iggesund Cumberland ARL, which has existed since 1899. Along with the Cumberland ARL, Cumbria Rugby League also runs the Barrow and District Leagues along with the West Cumbria Youth League. The leagues are jointly administered with the British Amateur Rugby League Association.
Cumbria Rugby League itself was formed during the Rugby Football League's 2012 restructuring of amateur rugby league in Great Britain.
History
The Cumberland League has been in existence, in one form or another, since 1899.Millom, in 1897, was the first club in the county to defect from rugby union to Northern Union, they were followed a year later by Workington, Maryport, Whitehaven, Seaton, Brookland Rovers and Wath Brow. The first three named joined with Lancaster and the Furness clubs Barrow, Dalton and Askam to form the North Western League in 1898/99. The first champions were Millom who finished just ahead of Barrow.
On 10 May 1899 the Cumberland clubs met at the Grapes Hotel in Workington and agreed to form a Cumberland Senior League for the following season. They voted W.E. Mason to chair the new competition and R. Nixon was elected Hon. Secretary.
The participants in that first season, 1899/1900, were Brookland Rovers, Maryport, Seaton, Whitehaven, Whitehaven Rec and Workington.
In 2024, suggestions were made that the league could return to winter due to a number of fixtures cancellations caused by clubs being unable to field teams in the summer months.
Cumbria Men's League
In 2013, a short lived "Cumbria Men's League" was created for the higher performing teams of the Cumberland ARL competition. Winners are:- 2013: Walney Central
- 2014: Walney Central
- 2015: Walney Central
- 2016: Distington ARLFC
- 2017: Hensingham ARLFC