Following the closure of the Rugby League Heritage Centre in 2013, rugby league was left without a national museum in the United Kingdom - the country where the sport originated.[1] The contents of the heritage centre were secured by the charity Rugby League Cares with the aid of a £97,200 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.[2]
Rugby League Cares used the grant to organise a touring exhibition "Rugby League Heritage On Tour" which has shown parts of the collection at various venues across the United Kingdom since 2014.[1]
In March 2016 Rugby League Cares announced that Kevin Moore, director of the National Football Museum would lead a feasibility study into establishing a new national museum for rugby league as well providing a home for the Rugby League Hall of Fame.[3][1] The location of the museum was announced in September 2016 as Bradford City Hall, in conjunction with Bradford City Council.[4] However, in 2020, this proposal was dropped, with instead a new plan to incorporate the museum into the disused George Hotel, Huddersfield, where the Rugby Football League was originally founded in 1895.[5]