Headingley Carnegie Stadium is the second largest club Rugby Union stadium in England. 1999 saw the return of international Rugby Union to Headingley Carnegie when England 'A' played Scotland 'A'. The last such game to be played at this famous stadium was in 1893 when Scotland beat England by two drop goals with the home side failing to score in 8-0 whitewash in front of 30,000 spectators.

Since 1996, Headingley Carnegie Stadium has been the home of the city's premier Rugby Union side. Leeds RUFC was formed in June 1991 with the first match taking place on 1st September 1992 against Hull Ionians, following the amalgamation of Roundhay and Headingley to form the new club.

Headingley had started in 1877 after several youngsters became interested in rugby after watching Leeds St. Johns, later to become Leeds Rhinos. Their inaugural game was in November against the Saints second team. In 1889, Headingley was disbanded when Leeds St. Johns moved into the area and built Headingley Stadium and later dropped the St. Johns from their name. However, Headingley bounced back and led the way in finding major fixtures outside Yorkshire and in 1901 their fixture list including a game against the famous Blackheath club.

Roundhay were formed in 1924 and moved to their grounds at Chandos Park in the 1930's.

Forty internationals graced both clubs, combined, with perhaps the best known being Peter Winterbottom, Ian McGeechan and Chris Rea who played for Headingley. Brian Moore played for Roundhay before his moved down to Nottingham and his selection for England.

The next major evolution in the history of the club came in an eventful 1996 when the arrival of Welsh international Phil Davies coincided with a move to Headingley Carnegie, thus ending Rugby Union's 101 year absence from the stadium.

In July 1998 Leeds RUFC became part of the World's first rugby partnership with the creation of Leeds Rugby Limited. The company encompassed Leeds Rhinos Rugby League team and the then newly named Tykes. 

Davies gained promotion to the second division within two years and then set about laying the foundations for an assault on the Premiership. In the first season Leeds managed sixth place but gained international recognition with the capture of Rugby League star Wendell Sailor on a short term contract, a the future Wallaby scored 13 tries in 10 games. The following season Leeds lost out to Rotherham by four points for promotion to the top flight. However in 2000-01 the wait was over and Leeds took their place at the top table of English rugby. 

And so the day dawned, 2nd September 2001 with English rugby giants Bath coming to Headingley Carnegie on the opening day of the season. The Leeds team put in a historic performance and shook English rugby to the core with a 10-6 victory. Phil Davies and his team though were under no illusions and knew their first season in the Zurich Premiership would be a tough learning curve but Leeds surprised many with their abilities and picked up further wins against Saracens, Quins and Leicester. The first season though was just an aperitif for what was to follow.

In only their second season in the top flight, Leeds incredibly finished fifth in 2002-2003 gaining a place in the Heineken Cup, the World's leading club rugby tournament and in the process announced the club's arrival.

The following season, Leeds had six players selected for international duty at the 2003 World Cup and hooker Mark Regan was part of the England squad which brought the Webb Ellis trophy back to Twickenham.

It was only four years previously in 1999 that the Leeds achieved their first ever international when captain Stuart Reid played for Scotland in their victory over France in Paris. And in 2001 Tom Palmer became the first ever England international for Leeds when he appeared as a substitute against the USA in San Fransico.

By the 2004-05 season the Leeds squad had a number of internationals in their ranks, including Argentinean Diego Albanese, Scotland 's Gordon Ross and they had also recruited another World Cup winner in Iain Balshaw for the new season. They began their Premiership campaign with a home defeat to Gloucester and, after a number of bad results, the season became a relegation battle for Leeds. However inspired performances in the closing stages of the Premiership saw Leeds claim victories over Bath, Leicester and Harlequins to retain their Premiership status. Aside from the disappointment in the league Leeds, won their first ever piece of silverware when they defeated Bath in their first ever Twickenham final and lifted the Powergen Cup, thanks to tries from Chris Bell and Andre Snyman.

In the close season Leeds looked to further bolster their pack for the new Guinness Premiership and recruited an international super star in All Black Justin Marshal and a British Lion in Gordon Bulloch. However, the attempt to spread their wings cost Leeds dear and the season ended in relegation and the departure of club legends Phil Davies and Mike Shelley.

Former player Stuart Lancaster was installed as the new Director of Rugby having achieved notable acclaim with the club's Academy system. He was left with just six senior first team players following relegation but achieved what some thought was impossible by bringing Leeds back into the Guinness Premiership at the first time of asking in May 2007.

In 2007 the club entered another new exciting era with Leeds Metropolitan University taking a 51% share in the club and renaming the team Leeds Carnegie for their return to the top flight.  The venture saw some of the highest attendances recorded for Rugby Union games at Headingley Carnegie and brought with it some unique opportunities for both players and supporters thanks to the groundbreaking partnership.

On the field despite some brave performances the team struggled to compete against much more experienced opposition and were once again relegated from the Premiership.  Highlights of the season included the club's best ever run in the European Challenge Cup, a first ever win over Newcastle Falcons at Headingley Carnegie and the emergence of another crop of young talented players with the likes of Danny Paul and Calum Clark playing major roles in the first team squad.  The end of the 2007-08 brought with it the end of an era for two of the clubs most influential figures, with captain Stuart Hooper leaving Leeds to join Bath whilst Director of Rugby Stuart Lancaster ended a sixteen year association with the club to join the coaching set up with England as their Head of Elite Player Development.