Warrington-Widnes friendly marred by crowd trouble

Warrington Wolves’ pre-season friendly against local rivals Widnes Vikings was marred by crowd trouble, with referee Jack Smith calling time a few minutes early as a result.

Friday night saw Wire host their Championship neighbours in what has become an annual pre-season friendly at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Having squared off this time last year during pre-season, the two sides were also pitted against each other in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup, with Widnes pushing Warrington close at the DCBL Stadium.

In this year’s friendly at the HJ, the Super League side cantered to a 50-12 victory utilising a mixture of their first-team squad and reserves, with the job effectively done by half-time with the score at 28-0.

But the action on the field was overshadowed in the second half by an ongoing battle between the two sets of fans which began as a jovial war of words and came close to boiling over into a physical clash.

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Warrington Wolves-Widnes Vikings friendly marred by crowd trouble

With only a handful of stewards separating the travelling fans and the home fans, a number of Vikings supporters managed to leap the barrier and got onto the field, with some home supporters attempting but failing in their efforts to do the same.

With cups and other objects thrown between the two stands as the rivalry threatened to boil over off the field, referee Smith was forced to halt the game at one point in the second half with the ball – and all of the players – at the other end.

Play resumed within a minute or so as all supporters on the field were ushered back into their respective stands.

But when Warrington scored their last try of the night in front of the travelling Widnes supporters, referee Smith blew the full-time whistle circa two minutes early once the resulting conversion had been kicked.

It’s believed that the trouble then continued outside the ground, with police involved.

This article was first published at 9.58pm on January 9, 2026.

Since then, both clubs have released statements in relation to Friday night’s events, with a 17-year-old having been hospitalised.

Warrington Wolves’ club statement can be viewed HERE.

Widnes Vikings’ club statement can be viewed HERE.