Rugby League Cares are making a birthday request of fans ahead of next weekend’s Charity Round – a £2 donation to support the Seriously Injured Players Fund, as the sport celebrates its 131st anniversary.
The Seriously Injured Players Fund is the new name for the Rugby League Benevolent Fund, which was founded in 2005 after Danny Scott and the late Matt King OBE had suffered life-changing injuries on the field, and has since supported dozens of players and their families, for as long as required - in many cases for life.
Throughout its existence, the Fund has been driven by the generosity of the Rugby League family – and in 2026, the Rugby Football League and Rugby League Commercial have supported the introduction of a sport-wide Charity Round to coincide with the anniversary of the Northern Union breakaway in August 1895 which represented the birth of the code.
The Charity Round kicks off on Thursday night at Wigan’s Brick Community Stadium with a repeat of the last two Betfred Super League Grand Finals between the Warriors and Hull KR, and concludes on Bank Holiday Monday with the 1895 Cup Final between London Broncos and Widnes Vikings.
There will be a range of ways to support the Seriously Injured Players Fund for fans attending matches over the Charity Round – and anyone can click on this Just Giving link Seriously Injured Players Fund is fundraising for RFL Benevolent Fund - both for donations of £2 (or more!), or to back the four long-term beneficiaries of the Fund who will be defying their injuries to take part in a gruelling Armbike Challenge over the weekend - On their bikes – for the Seriously Injured Players Fund .
Tim Adams MBE, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Rugby League Cares and the Seriously Injured Players Fund, said:
“In a lifetime in sport, nothing has made me more proud or honoured than my involvement in the introduction and development of the way the sport of Rugby League can now support players and their families on the thankfully rare occasions that serious injuries occur.
“It was the injuries suffered in 2004 by Danny Scott playing for Moldgreen and Matt King on his debut for the London Broncos Academy that made us realise something had to be done – and led to the introduction of the Rugby League Benevolent Fund the following year.
“In the subsequent two decades, we have been able to support dozens of players and their families, responding to incidents at all levels of the sport – although the majority have been in the community game.
“We simply would not have been able to do that without the generosity of the sport’s passionate supporters and the wider Rugby League family - and the Charity Round is a significant new initiative to ensure we can continue to provide that support.
“One of the aims and achievements of the Fund is to support players in remaining connected to the sport, and to each other. There could be no better example of that than the way several of the beneficiaries have volunteered to support the Charity Round with their cycling challenge – and it’s been wonderful to hear of professional and community clubs who will be supporting them next weekend.
“As we celebrate the 21st birthday of what has become the Seriously Injured Players Fund, we are grateful to the RFL, RL Commercial and clubs at all levels for supporting the sport’s first Charity Round – and we hope it will provide the opportunity for the whole sport to come together, on the anniversary of the foundation of Rugby League in 1895, to celebrate the best of our great sport.”