Halifax RLFC was formed in the town of the same name in 1873. The team went on to become the first ever winners of the Yorkshire Cup in 1878, and after this Halifax went on to win it four more times. Much to the delight of the team many players were supplied to the Yorkshire County side and five were chosen to play for the full England rugby union team. Halifax RLFC were the founding members of Northern Rugby Union in 1895. In 1896 the team moved to their traditional home of Thrum Hall, this is where the team will remained for the next 112 years. The first game was played in 1886 to 8,000 fans. In 1896 Halifax lost out on winning the first rugby league championship by a single point when they were beaten by Manningham. They continued to see a large amount of success on the field and Halifax saw one of their best ever teams move from victory to victory during the early 20th century. In 1902 to 1903 they achieved the double when they took the Challenge Cup and finished top of Division One.

Throughout the fifties Halifax RLFC were championship runners-up three times, Yorkshire Cup winners twice and they also went on to achieve victory in the Yorkshire League four times. In 1954 and 1956 they played in two finals at Wembley and in 1959 they hosted rivals Wigan at their own ground in Halifax to a record crowd of over 29,000 people. The Captain-coach of Halifax between 1985 and 1988 when the team saw a lot of success was Chris Anderson and Peter Roe took over the handling of the club from 1990 to 1991. The club set a record victory in October 1990 with an 82-8 win over Runcorn Highfield at Thrum Hall.

In 1996 Halifax joined the Super League and became known as the Halifax Blue Sox. However this proved very unpopular so they continue to go by the usual name of Halifax RLFC. They finished thid in the Super League in 1998 under the management of John Pendlebury. The team sold Thrum Hall for £1.5 million to the American company Wal-Mart for supermarket development in 1998 and moved to their new home at the Shay Stadium which they share with Halifax Town AFC. Halifax played a part in a special project alongside Salford City Reds in 2000 when both teams went to Florida to help develop awareness of rubgy league as a sport in America. The club returned to the traditional Halifax R.L.F.C. at the start of 2003. At the end of the 2003 season they were relegated from Super League to National League one.

Halifax had a lot of financial problems which meant they were unable to retain a full-time team and struggled in the new leagues. They only just managed to avoid relegation to National League Two in 2004 thanks to a last minute victory over York. The following years were less successful after a poor series of results including a record club loss to Hull Kingston Rovers. By 2006 Halifax was on the verge of bankruptcy when fans rallied behind the team that they loved and raised £55,000 to help keep the team afloat. Former chairman Howard Posner loaned the club a futher £35,000 to keep the name of Halifax RLFC alive.