The very first efforts to start a Greek Rugby League team began in Sydney in 2003. They played several matches against other Australian-based nations trying to make a start in the same manner.
In 2006, Rugby League was played for the very first time on Greek soil at Glyka Nera Stadium, on the outskirts of Athens. Greece played against Serbia and won 44-28 in a match sanctioned by the Rugby League European Federation and refereed by English international referee Phil Bentham.
They fielded a team in the Student World Cup in 2008 in Australia, then had no activity until 2012. In January 2012, some local Greeks started Greece’s very first team, named Promitheas. Soon after, AEK Kokkinias was founded. Meanwhile, the Sydney Greeks regrouped to play a friendly match against Vanuatu.
In April-June 2013, thanks to an online advertising campaign, there was a surge in new players coming to try the sport for the very first time. One the back of this influx, two new Athens clubs were formed, Pegasus Neos Kosmos and Aris Petroupolis. Rhodes Knights also defected from Rugby Union to make the 2013/14 season a 5-team competition. In October of that year, Greece played an international match against Hungary in Budapest. The match featured 9 Greek-Australians and 8 locals. Greece won 90-0 in a match that featured NRL player Braith Anasta and Super League’s Michael Korkidas.
The 2014/15 season also featured 5 teams. Pyrrichios Aspropyrgos joined, but AEK Kokkinias and Promitheas merged due to falling numbers in both clubs. There was also an attempt to start a second division as two clubs from southern Greece had formed; Neapoli Lakonias and Argos Wolves. They were joined in a 5-team division by B teams of Aris, Pegasus and Promitheas. Unfortunately after a promising start, both the Argos and Neapoli teams folded, due to the high travel costs and falling playing numbers. In April 2015, the unfortunate event of the split happened, which resulted in the majority of the players walking away and lodging a formal complaint with the RLEF. After a one year investigation, the old administration was expelled from the RLEF membership.
Players from Pegasus formed Attica Rhinos, Aris Petroupolis players formed the Aris Eagles and Rhodes Knights remained the same. These 3 clubs together formed the Greek Rugby League Association. They were joined in 2016 by Patras, who defected from Rugby Union to form a 4-team competition.
The Greek Rugby League Association was officially registered on the 28th of February 2017 board its made up of 6 members: George Stilianos, Aris Dardamanis, Michalis Chatziioannou, Eleni Papamanoli, Terry Liberopoulos and Steve Georgallis. After a long hiatus, the national team re-formed and played two matches in October 2017 in Belgrade against Bulgaria and Serbia. The team was made up 100% of local Greek players and defeated Bulgaria 68-8 and lost to Serbia 50-8.
In 2018 Larisa (AEL) joined an expanded 5-team national competition for the 2018/19 season. Stefanos Bastas became the first local Greek to earn a semi-professional contract in England, playinng for the Hemel Stags in 2018 and Doncaster in 2019. Women’s rugby league started to take off and the national team played its first-ever match in September 2019, losing to Turkey 40-4 in Edirne. Meanwhile the national team progressed to the 2021 World Cup after beating Serbia 82-6 in the final stage of the qualifiers.
The 2019/20 season features 7 teams as AEK and Athens City Raiders joined. The League is split into and east and west division, so as to reduce the costs of travel and also put teams of a similar standard together. There are now 3 active female teams; Patra, Aris and Raiders and the national team will play against Serbia in April in Larisa.
Team Groups
EN 
EL