Leigh Leopards is a professional rugby league team which competes in the Super League. Originally known simply as Leigh, and more recently as Leigh Centurions, the club is sometimes referred to by rugby league fans as the "Leythers". The club plays home matches at Leigh Sports Village, in Greater Manchester. The team traditionally plays in red and white, though recent Leopards kits are comprised primarily of black and white, with some red, and feature a distinctive leopard-skin pattern.
📜 Leigh Leopards History
Leigh Leopards was founded in 1878, and played its first matches at Bucks Farm, in the Pennington area. In 1985, the team became a founder member of the Northern Rugby Football Union, following rugby's "schism" that same year. Leigh did not immediately enjoy a fruitful time in the new First Division, with the club enduring struggles over player contracts, and a 22-match run in the 1902-1903 season during which the team failed to score a try. However, just a couple of years later in the 1905-1906 season, Leigh won its first championship, taking the First Division title shortly after losing in the Lancashire Cup final.
The club's next major honour came in the 1920-1921 season, when an unfancied Leigh side beat Halifax 13-0 to win the Challenge Cup. Following World War Two, the club's fortunes fluctuated, with multiple relegations and promotions and 2 Lancashire Cup wins, prior to 1970. The 1970-1971 brought another Lancashire Cup win, but it also saw Leigh win its second Challenge Cup title, with a 24-7 victory over a strong Leeds side securing the silverware.
Just over 10 years later, during the 1981-1982 season, Leigh recorded another double, this time winning both the First Division championship and another Lancashire Cup.
Leigh would soon struggle to maintain top flight status, however; like many clubs, Leigh rebranded itself for the Super League era, taking on the moniker "Centurions", however the team would not participate in the new top flight for its first 8 years. Leigh eventually gained promotion prior to the 2005 season, after multiple grand final losses in the years before. At the end of the 2022 season, Leigh changed its name from Leigh Centurions to Leigh Leopards.
