The Blackpool Panthers were members of the second competition of the Northern Union in 1898/1899. A Blackpool team did not join Rugby League until December of 1950 when Blackpool Borough were accepted into the Rugby League for the 1954-1955 season. The Panthers moniker was chosen at a much later date and was not a part of the original teams name. The group relocated to Springfield Park in April 1987 and were known as Springfield Borough. They played very well on the field and were well respected off the field but the move was deemed not a success so they played as Chorley Borough for the duration of the 1988-1989 season. The team once again changed name to become Trafford Borough when they moved to Moss Lane in Altrincham for the 1989-1990 season. This move was a cause of some friction and eventually led to a boardroom split with five of the directors resigning to form a new club located in Chorley. Trafford Borough then moved to Blackpool before they were relegated to join the amateur teams. Their first game as a professional club was on 11 April 1993.

The initial Chorley team were based in Victory Park and their first game was against Trafford Borough in the Lancashire Cup. The club became the Chorley Borough in 1991 and in 1993 when the rugby league was split into two divisions Chorley Borough, Blackpool Gladiators and Nottingham City were demoted to the National Conference. In 1996 the Lancashire Lynx side were bought out by Preston NOrth End and they moved to Deepdale. The team went on to play in the final of the Anglo-French Treize Tournoi in 1998 and finished top of the Second Division Champtionship. The club was sold to Chorley Sporting Club Ltd at the end of the 1999-2000 season when the name was changed to Chorley Lynx and they returned to Victory Park. In 2001 Chorley were knocked out of the third round of the Challenge Cup by Woolston Rovers in a 22-8 defeat. This was the teams 30th consecutive defeat. In 2003 the side finished second in National League two.

The Blackpool West Coast Panthers were created in 2005 initially as a seperate, brand new team rather than a team to be known as a continuation of the old Chorley team. They were promoted into the National League Two for the 2005 season. The team was composed of mostly former Chorley players, and the fans who followed the team were also previously Chorley fans. The team moved into the new Bloomfield Road ground on a two year tenancy. Blackpool struggled very badly on the playing field and finished at the bottom of National League two and did not gain any fans from the Blackpool area. The team then moved to share a ground with the Preston Grasshoppers rugby union side thanks to poor finances. In the 2006 season Blackpool finished bottom of National League Two once again after only winning four games in the season. By June 2007 the team had not wona  game in 25 matches.