Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has revealed the one achievement he wanted to tick off in 2025, and despite not winning a trophy, he has done just that.
In fact, he completed his goal after the first round of the Super League season, as his Leigh side defeated local rivals Wigan Warriors for the first time since their rebrand in 2023.
Under their previous moniker, the Centurions, they defeated the Warriors in 2017 in a high-scoring affair, with their last victory before that coming in 1984.
Beaumont, who took control of the club in 2014, spoke to Wigan councillor Chris Ready on the ‘Ready and Willing Podcast’ to discuss life as the Leopards owner, and it was there that he revealed his sole 2025 ambition for the club.
The Leigh owner revealed that, on a warm weather training camp in Lanzarote in pre-season, he held a conversation to the playing group where they all discussed their hopes and ambitions for the upcoming year.
However, it wasn’t silverware on the 54-year-old’s mind, but getting the victory over their closest rivals.
He said: “We spoke about our goals, our cultures as clubs do and I always give my expectation of what I want us to achieve as a group and what the carrot is for doing it.
“This year, I literally said I want to do one thing we’ve not done as Leopards. There’s only one thing we’ve not achieved in terms of [winning] against other teams and that’s beat Wigan. We’ve not beat Wigan in three years as Leigh Leopards and everyone else we’d seen that happen.”
“I knew, and Rads [Kris Radlinski] and Waney [Shaun Wane] have told me that they see us as a threat, so they bring that Grand Final mentality when they play us. I take that as a compliment.
“I said to the boys out there – I just want us to achieve that this year. Let’s just get the Wigan one off our back because, if we do it in round one, everybody will get some belief.
“Wigan are a machine that, if you’re going to beat them, play them earlier in the season, but they brought everything… It was unreal for a round one game of rugby, and it was what the sport needed to elevate the season.
In one of the best games of the 2025 season, Leigh edged out the Warriors in a 1-0 thriller, with Gareth O’Brien’s drop goal in golden point being the moment that finally separated the two sides.
Whilst it wasn’t pretty, Beaumont thought it was a perfect way to start the year. He said: “It’s not going to attract the neutral, but anybody who watches and knows rugby, that was just purism.”
Leigh would go on to get their second win of the year over Wigan, as they won 18-8 in the reverse fixture. However, it would be the Cherry and Whites who got the last laugh in 2025, as they knocked out Beaumont’s Leigh in the semi-finals, denying them of their first ever place at Old Trafford.
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