Widnes Vikings currently play in National League One and are based in the Cheshire town of Widnes. The Vikings moniker is not original but was added at a later date as part of a branding exercise. The Widnes Vikings can trace their lineage back to 1873 when they were originally known as the Farnworth & Appleton Cricket and Football Club. They only took their towns name in 1876 and were often referred to as "The Chemicals" or sometimes "The Chemics". Throughout the latter stages of the 1800's they moved from ground to ground starting at Albert Road before moving to Simms Cross, followed by Millfield, then a season at the Widnes Cricket Club, and then finally to Naughton Park. The Vikings were also one of the founding members of the Northern Union that broke away from the RFU, and their first game as members of the new union was against Runcorn in 1895 which they lost 15-4. The Widnes Vikings had a high turnover of players as they would train new players and then sell them to help balance the books, but fortunately rubgy was very popular in the area so there was never a shortage of new players. In 1902 the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues were merged and Widnes were added to the first division.

The team had their first major success in 1919-1920 when they took the Lancashire League trophy. The 1920's saw Widnes Vikings hit a rocky patch, however byt he 1930's they had improved to the point of beating St Helens 10-3 to win the CHallenge Cup. The team also took their first trip to Wembley to play in the Challenge Cup final against St Helens. Widnes took the cup 10-3 and went on to visit Wembley again in 1934 however lost this second time to Hunslet. In the 1950's the team also saw visits to Wembley when they were beaten 19-0 by Warrington. The Widnes Vikings hit more financial hardship and resorted to selling their players to richer teams to help balance the books. By 1964 Widnes held the record for the most games played at Wembley, and in the first round two replays were required before they beat Leigh. They went on to beat Liverpool in the second round, and draw against Swinton in front of 19,000 people at Naughton Park. After a string of replays Widnes Vikings took victory 15-3. They took their first trophy success in eighteen years against Hull Kingston Rovers when they won 13-5 in front of almost 85,000 people. The 1970's are often referred to as the golden age for Widnes Vikings with local players taking the team to a number of important victories including the Floodlit Trophy, Lancashire Cup, and Challenge Cup.

In modern times the Widnes Vikings have seen changing fortunes from year to year. In the 1989-1990 season the Vikings beat Wigan at Anfield 27-22 and then travelled to France to play against Le Pontet. This allowed Widnes Vikings to be selected to meet Australias Grand Final winners Canberra in the Northern Hemisphere challenge. After a rocky start to the game Widnes Vikings stormed ahead taking victory 30-18 to become the first World Cup champions. Once again financial difficulties forced the team to sell 25 first team players to help raise some funds and balance the books. This had an immediate knock-on effect with the team falling to 12th place in the Division One league table, just avoiding relegation. When the Super Leage was announced Widnes Vikings were a source of some contention with the team repeatedly being in, out and in and out again of the new league. They then merged with Warrington, then broke apart to become a seperate team again. This disruption had an effect on performance on the field and the Widnes Vikings struggled in the new First Division and finished in the relegation zone. The Widnes Vikings took this time to rebuilt their stadium with a state of the art all seater complex. By 1999 the team just missed out on a place in the grand final and were performing much better due to increased morale amongst the team. The Vikings finally earned promotion to the Super League in 2001 when they beat Oldham Roughyeds 24-12 in the NFP Grand Final. They finished their first Super League season in 9th place but managed to avoid relegation. Unfortunately in 2005 they were relegated back down to the second tier. In 2007 Widnes Vikings won the Northern Rail Cup against Whitehaven RLFC and went on to play in the National League One grand final against Castleford Tigers. After loosing in this game the Widnes Vikings went into voluntary administration.