The Cumberland League is a series of rugby league divisions in the traditional county of Cumberland.
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The league is run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA). Teams from the Cumberland league can apply for election to the National Conference League if they meet minimum criteria.
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 (Whitehaven) to Chair the new competition and R. Nixon (Maryport) was elected Hon. Secretary.
The participants in that first season, 1899/1900, were Brookland Rovers, Maryport, Seaton, Whitehaven, Whitehaven Rec and Workington. Neither of the Whitehaven clubs nor Workington have any connection with Whitehaven and Workington Town who currently play in the Co-operative Championship and Championship One respectively.
The first winners were the Maryport.