A Guide To Premiership Rugby In England 2025
Author: Josh Stewart
Last Updated: January 21, 2023
Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership, is the top tier of the English Rugby system. The competition consists of 12 teams and was first introduced in 1987. Rugby has become more popular with punters over the year’s with most bookmakers offering a huge range of betting options on Rugby games
History
Incredibly representatives of the RFU did not initially want to introduce the league format into Rugby Union. The reason being they believed it would increase ‘dirty’ play and add pressure on clubs to pay players.
However, as far back as 1972 the RFU introduced cup competitions, followed by regional merit tables and then finally national merit tables. The full Rugby pyramid has drastically increased since 1987 and there is now around 1000 clubs filling up 108 leagues. By 1994 the top league had a full home and away roster, around the same time Sky Sports bought TV rights. That deal continued until BT Sports bought the rights in 2013-2014.
Current Clubs, Stadiums & Average Attendance
| Current Club | Stadium | Average Attendance |
| Bath | The Recreation Ground | 14,500 |
| Bristol Bears | Ashton Gate | 27,000 |
| Exeter Chiefs | Sandy Park | 12,800 |
| Gloucester | Kingsholm | 16,155 |
| Harlequins | Twickenham | 14,800 |
| Leicester Tigers | Welford Road | 25,800 |
| London Irish | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 |
| Northampton Saints | Franklin’s Gardens | 15,249 |
| Sale Sharks | AJ Bell Stadium | 12,000 |
| Saracens | Allianz Park | 10,000 |
| Wasps | Ricoh Arena | 32,753 |
| Worcester Warriors | Sixways Stadium | 11,499 |
Premiership Rugby Winners
Of the existing bath of Premiership Rugby winners, Leicester Tigers have won 10 league titles. Wasps and Bath have won six, Saracens five and Sale,, Northampton, Harlequins and Exeter. It is worth noting that between 1987 and 2002 the team that finished top of the league were crowned champions. Since then the league winners have been determined by a Premiership Final at Twickenham.
Premiership Rugby Record Holders
Unsurprisingly the top ten record appearance holders are all English. Richard Wigglesworth currently holds the record on 276 and is still playing. The record points holder is Charlie Hodgson who accrued 2623 points for Saracens and Sale between 2000-2016. Gareth Steenson is the active player with most points and is currently on 1569. Tom Varndell has scored the most tries and notched 92 for Leicester, Wasps and Bristol between 2004-2017. Sale Sharks Chris Ashton is only 10 tries behind on 82.
