Rugby league transfer record

The Rugby league transfer record is the highest-ever sum of money paid by a club to purchase the contract, and therefore the playing services, of another club's player. It has been re-set almost every decade since the sport became professional around the start of the 20th century. Between the 1930s and 1980s international transfer bans were imposed, removed and renewed at different times due to the sport's governing bodies' fears of excessive talent drain overseas. In 1998, the sport's transfer system was changed to allow any player aged 24 or over to move between clubs at the end of their contract without a fee being paid.^[1][2] As a result, transfer fees in rugby league became much more uncommon. The current transfer record is held by Sam Tomkins, for whom the New Zealand Warriors paid £700,000 to the Wigan Warriors in 2013.^[3]

Record progression

Date	Player	From	To	Fee	Notes
1901	Lomas, JamesJames Lomas	Bramley	Salford	£100[4]
1911	Lomas, JamesJames Lomas	Salford	Oldham	£300
April 1913	Batten, BillyBilly Batten	Hunslet	Hull	£600[5]
November 1921	Buck, HaroldHarold Buck	Hunslet	Leeds	£1,000[4]
January 1930	Smith, StanStan Smith	Wakefield Trinity	Leeds	£1,075
March 1934	Brogden, StanStan Brogden	Huddersfield	Leeds	£1,200
1937	Hey, VicVic Hey	Ipswich (Queensland)	Leeds	£1,400[6]	[lower-alpha 1]
October 1937	Belshaw, BillyBilly Belshaw	Liverpool Stanley	Warrington	£1,450
1947	Davies, BillBill Davies	Huddersfield	Dewsbury	£1,650[7]
1947	Hudson, BillBill Hudson	Batley	Wigan	£2,000
January 1948	Ledgard, JimmyJimmy Ledgard	Dewsbury	Leigh	£2,650
October 1948	Owens, IkeIke Owens	Leeds	Castleford	£2,750
January 1949	McCormick, StanStan McCormick	Belle Vue Rangers	St Helens	£4,000[8]
November 1949	Naughton, AlbertAlbert Naughton	Widnes	Warrington	£4,600[9]
April 1950	Ryan, BruceBruce Ryan	Hull	Leeds	£4,750
October 1950	Egan, JoeJoe Egan	Wigan	Leigh	£5,000[10]
1952	Jones, LewisLewis Jones	Llanelli	Leeds	£6,000[11]
October 1957	Sullivan, MickMick Sullivan	Huddersfield	Wigan	£9,500[11]
March 1959	Southward, IkeIke Southward	Workington Town	Oldham	£10,650[12]
January 1961	Sullivan, MickMick Sullivan	Wigan	St Helens	£11,000[11]
January 1961	Southward, IkeIke Southward	Oldham	Workington Town	£11,002 10s[12]
January 1961	Shaw, BrianBrian Shaw	Hunslet	Leeds	£13,250[13]	[lower-alpha 2]
December 1968	Dixon, ColinColin Dixon	Halifax	Salford	£15,000	[lower-alpha 3]
October 1969	Charlton, PaulPaul Charlton	Workington Town	Salford	£12,500[14]
1971	Reilly, MalMal Reilly	Castleford	Manly-Warringah	£15,000[15]
July 1973	Ashurst, BillBill Ashurst	Wigan	Penrith Panthers	£15,000
1973	Stephenson, MikeMike Stephenson	Dewsbury	Penrith Panthers	£20,000
January 1978	Norton, SteveSteve Norton	Castleford	Hull	£25,000	[lower-alpha 4]
December 1978	Hogan, PhilPhil Hogan	Barrow	Hull Kingston Rovers	£33,000
January 1980	Casey, LenLen Casey	Bradford Northern	Hull Kingston Rovers	£38,000[16]
June 1980	Skerrett, TrevorTrevor Skerrett	Wakefield Trinity	Hull	£40,000
June 1981	Fairbairn, GeorgeGeorge Fairbairn	Wigan	Hull Kingston Rovers	£72,500
September 1985	Hanley, ElleryEllery Hanley	Bradford	Wigan	£150,000	[lower-alpha 5]
January 1986	Lydon, JoeJoe Lydon	Widnes	Wigan	£100,000
January 1987	Gregory, AndyAndy Gregory	Warrington	Wigan	£130,000
June 1987	Crooks, LeeLee Crooks	Hull	Leeds	£150,000[17]
October 1987	Schofield, GarryGarry Schofield	Hull	Leeds	£155,000[18]
1989	Steadman, GrahamGraham Steadman	Featherstone Rovers	Castleford	£170,000	[lower-alpha 6]
September 1991	Hanley, ElleryEllery Hanley	Wigan	Leeds	£250,000
January 1992	Offiah, MartinMartin Offiah	Widnes	Wigan	£440,000[11]
November 1995	Newlove, PaulPaul Newlove	Bradford Bulls	St Helens	£500,000[19]	[lower-alpha 7]
June 2006	Fielden, StuartStuart Fielden	Bradford Bulls	Wigan Warriors	£450,000[20]
September 2013	Tomkins, SamSam Tomkins	Wigan Warriors	New Zealand Warriors	£700,000[3]

Notes

1. This was a "signing on fee" and was at the time higher than the world record transfer fee.
2. Shaw was signed for £9,500 cash, and included a player exchange deal which saw Leeds players Bernard Prior and Norman Burton join Hunslet.
3. Dixon was signed for £12,000 cash, and included a player exchange deal which saw Salford player Mike Kelly join Halifax.
4. Hull player Jimmy Crampton joined Castleford as part of this deal.
5. Hanley was signed for £85,000 cash, and included a player exchange deal which saw Wigan players Steve Donlan and Phil Ford join Bradford.
6. Castleford paid an initial fee of £145,000 for Steadman, and agreed to play an additional £25,000 if he played a Test for Great Britain.
7. Newlove was signed for £250,000 cash, and included a player exchange deal which saw Saints players Paul Loughlin, Bernard Dwyer and Sonny Nickle join Bradford.

References

1. Hadfield, Dave (25 June 1998). "Rugby League: Super League delays decision on TV deal". The Independent. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
2. "'Bosman' deal for rugby". The People. 7 June 1998. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
3. "Sam Tomkins to leave Wigan Warriors for New Zealand Warriors in world record deal after World Cup". Telegraph. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
4. Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". The Independent. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
5. "Billy Batten". Hull FC. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
6. Collins, Tony (2006). Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 24.
7. Collins, Tony (2006). Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 87.
8. Dooley, Dave. "Stan McCormick". Saints Heritage Society. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
9. Skentelbery, Gary. "Wolves season review 2006". Warrington Worldwide. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
10. Collins, Tony (2006). Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 87.
11. skysports.com (31 October 2013). "Lewis Jones, Martin Offiah, Garry Schofield and Mick Sullivan to join the Rugby League Hall of Fame". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
12. "Lord Of The Wings". News & Star. 24 March 2006. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
13. "Brian Shaw RIP". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
14. "Paul Charlton joins Workington Town Hall of Fame". News & Star. CN Group. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
15. Collins, Tony (2006). Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 127.
16. "Casey named in Greatest Ever 13". Hull Kingston Rovers RLFC. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
17. Richards, Martin (27 January 1997). "Lee makes up for those wasted years". The Mirror (London).
18. "Four living legends inducted into RL Hall of Fame". Super League. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
19. Hadfield, Dave (30 November 1995). "World record fee for Newlove". The Independent. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
20. Hadfield, Dave (22 June 2006). "Desperate Wigan capture Fielden for record £450,000". The Independent. Retrieved 24 December 2013.