The 2011 St Helens R.F.C. season was the club's 137th in their history; their 116th in rugby league. They were in contention for the Super League title (with this also being their 16th consecutive year in Super League) as well as the 110th edition of the Challenge Cup and, as announced in May 2011, the new Rugby League 9s tournament, to take place across June. The 2011 season was also the clubs' first since unofficially rebranding as Saints RL, following on from their move away from their home of 120 years, Knowsley Road, to relocate to Widnes, Cheshire and the Halton Stadium, which they shared with Widnes Vikings. This was Australian Royce Simmons first year as head coach of the club, taking over from fellow Australian Mick Potter, who had two years in charge. The position of club captain at St Helens was shared by Paul Wellens and James Graham, following the retirement of club legend Keiron Cunningham at the end of the 2010 season. They began their season by taking on bitter rivals Wigan Warriors at the Magic Weekend, in a rerun of their defeat at the 2010 Super League Grand Final, a game that ended in a 16–16 draw.
Pre-season
St Helens ended 2010 with yet another Grand Final defeat, their fourth in a row, to bitter rivals Wigan. It was evident that the personnel at the club, combined with the suitability of Mick Potter's position had become surplus to requirements at St Helens, and widespread changes took place. Potter announced mid-2010 that he would be leaving for Bradford Bulls, his replacement, Royce Simmons; someone who had worked under Tim Sheens for many years at Wests Tigers and with the Australian national side. The very fact that St Helens had been, in many fans' eyes 'reduced' to looking for assistant coaches in the NRL drew a little bit of criticism, but overall, the feeling was positive over Simmons' appointment. The coach would not be the only change either. Club legend Keiron Cunningham retired from playing at the age of 33, after 16 years of paying first team rugby for St Helens, with centre Matt Gidley doing likewise, and returning to Australia. A number of others were to leave too; a combination of age and not being good enough for squad selection under Simmons costing the St Helens careers of 12 of the 2010 squad, most notably, arguably, Maurie Fa'asavalu, who switched codes with Harlequins. The influx was far fewer than the outgoing numbers during the transfer period, with only three names coming into the squad for 2011 from other clubs; these being prop Josh Perry, England centre Michael Shenton, and fellow England cap and prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, from Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Castleford Tigers and Harlequins respectively. There were also four new faces in the first team by means of the reserve and academy system at St Helens. Pre-season fixtures announced included a game against Huddersfield Giants at the Halton Stadium on 29 January and the Karalius Cup game against Widnes, again at the Stobart, on the 23rd.
Sponsors
St Helens are sponsored in the main by Medicash, after previously being sponsored by both Frontline and the Liverpool-based health care company on the home and away jerseys respectively. However, Medicash took over compete sponsorship of both the away and home strips for 2011. The jerseys themselves will are manufactured by ISC, after 7 years with Puma. St Helens also welcomed Alexandra Business Park and Ruskin Leisure Park as partners for the 2011 season.
Below is a list of St Helens sponsors and partners for 2011: