There is a long history of Rugby League being played in Cumbria right back to the formation of the Northern Union. Whitehaven originally had it's own team, known as Whitehaven Recreation that competed in the Challenge Cup in the opening years of the 20th century. The more modern Whitehaven RLFC can trace their direct routes to 1948 when they were formed and admitted into the Rugby League. They took victory in their first game beating Hull 5-0 in front of 9,000 fans. The team was initially referred to as the Colliers as their ground was owned by the Miners Welfare organisation. This link has proved a barrier to the future expansion plans of the club because the ground cannot be extended to meet with Super League guidelines. After the way Whitehaven gradually rebuilt itself and turned itself into a major player in the leagues, with the team going on to take a string of victories including against the Australian tourists 14-11 in 1956 but also some losses, such as the defeat at the hands of Leeds in the Challenge Cup semi-final before 50,000 people at Odsal.

The team saw a steady decline through the 60's and early 70's as Whitehaven struggled to keep up the pace with their competitors. The later 1970's saw the club get back on its feet with a string of victories against the biggest names in Rugby League like St Helens, Wigan and Bradford at their home stadium, The Recreation Ground. In later years the club has seen something of a revival with two promotions to the top division in the 1980's and a finish 3rd in Division One in 1997.

As with most of the proposed merges when the Super League was announced Whitehaven resisted the proposed merger with Barrow, Carlisle and Workington. This proved a contentious issue with a whole board of Directors rejecting a merger proposal with Whitehaven and then resigning. When Paul Cullen arrived as a coach from Warrinton in the latter stages of 2000 the club began moving upwards again and earned a position in National League One for the forthcoming 2003 season. In the 2004 season Whitehaven remained undefeated at home in the league and were beaten to the top spot by Leigh in the Arriva Trains cup. They just missed out on promotion to the Super League when they lost 32-16 against Leigh Centurions. In the 2004 season Whitehaven pipped Castleford Tigers to the top spot for promotion and they took home their first major trophy when they won National League One. By 2006 Whitehaven were the first winners of the Ike Southward Trophy and made it to the final of the Northern Rail Cup.