Wigan Warriors Club Captain, Liam Farrell, Set to Retire

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Liam Ferrell
Liam Ferrell (Credit Gerard Barrau via Wikipedia)

Wigan’s captain Liam Farrell has announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2026 season. The 36-year-old revealed his plans on the 7th of September, and he hopes to go out on a high by claiming yet another trophy with his hometown team, Wigan Warriors.

At the time of writing, there is one game of the regular season to go, and Farrell and his side lead the Super League standings by two points. Their final clash is at home against midtable Catalans Dragons, so they have every chance of landing the League Leaders’ Shield. However, the prize that Farrell will really be targeting is the Super League title itself.

They are favourites to win both, which would complete a treble after they beat Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final in May. That would be a fitting way for Farrell to end his career, and while few sports stars, even the best of the best, get to end their careers in fairytale fashion, the Wigan-born star may just get to bow out in style.

Honours Galore for One-Club Legend


Whatever happens in the final few weeks of the season, Farrell will retire as one of the most decorated players in history. Born in Wigan in 1990, he has spent his entire career with the Warriors. He did play a handful of games for Widnes during a loan spell in 2010, at the start of his career. However, it would be unreasonable to let that short stint away from his home deny him the tag of one-club hero.

He has won it all with the Warriors and played a key part in re-establishing them as the game’s dominant force, after periods where Leeds Rhinos and St Helens have been on top. His career has not been all sunshine and rainbows, although he did win his first Super League title in his very first year as a pro.

He played in the 2010 Grand Final success over Saints, and the second row must have thought it was all too easy. That year his side also won the League Leaders’ Shield, while in 2011 they won the Challenge Cup. They did the double in 2013, winning the Super League Grand Final and the Challenge Cup. The next decade was not quite as successful, although Farrell and the Warriors still won the title in 2016 and 2018, plus the World Club Challenge in 2017.

The 2020s have seen the game’s historically most-successful club back to their best, though. Wigan and Farrell won the Grand Final in 2023 and 2024, having also finished top of the pile during the regular season on both occasions. 2024 was a truly remarkable campaign though, as Farrell, who had been appointed club captain in December 2022, skippered his team to the quadruple.

In addition to the League Leaders’ Shield and Super League title, they also won the Challenge Cup and Club World Cup, something no other side has managed. It was one of the finest seasons by any side in the history of rugby league, and the captain played in all the big games.

Another treble in his final campaign would bookend his career perfectly, meaning he claimed the Super League title in both his first and last seasons with the Warriors. Leeds Rhinos and others will believe they can stop them, but it will be far easier said than done, with Farrell sure to give every last ounce of effort to sign off his career with a flourish.

Sadly, that may have to be from the sidelines though. Farrell has not played since June due to injury and did not seem optimistic about his chances of playing again tis term. He said, “It’s one of them – who knows?” adding that he would be seeing a specialist and hoping for the best. Reiterating our thoughts about few getting the end to their careers they would have dreamed of, he said, “Careers don’t always end how you want them to end. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love it to end that way, but we’ll wait and see what the next few weeks bring.”

A Wigan Warrior Through and Through

  • Super League Title – 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024
  • Challenge Cup – 2011, 2013, 2022, 2024, 2026
  • World Club Challenge – 2017, 2024
  • League Leaders’ Shield – 2010, 2012, 2020, 2023, 2024
  • Super League Dream Team – 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Excluding his five League Leaders’ Shields, Farrell has won 13 major honours with his beloved Wigan. He will hope to get off that unlucky mark with one more win in the Grand Final. On top of that, he won the Harry Sunderland Trophy (for Man of the Match in the Grand Final) in 2016. Perhaps surprisingly, he has only been named Players’ Player of the Year for his club once, in 2021.

He has played well over 400 games for the Cherry and Whites but said that,

Playing one game for Wigan was always the goal for me. If I had have done that and never played again I’d have been immensely proud, my family would have been proud and we’d have gone back to being Wigan fans.

Given his astonishing career and phenomenal record as skipper, it is hard to even imagine quite how proud he and his family must be.