Championship (rugby league)

Championship
Country  England
Founded 2003
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 2
Promotion to Super League
Relegation to League 1
Domestic cup(s) Challenge Cup
League cup(s) Championship Shield
Current champions
Leigh Centurions (3rd Title)
Most championships
Leigh Centurions (3 Titles)
TV partners Sky Sports
Website championship
2016 RFL Championship

The Championship, known as the Kingstone Press Championship after its title sponsor Kingstone Press Cider, is a professional rugby league competition based in the United Kingdom. It acts as the country's second-tier competition below the Super League, and has a system of promotion and relegation with the third-tier competition, League 1. It is organized by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in the UK, and currently consists of 12 teams. The current champions are Leigh Centurions.

The current incarnation of second division rugby league in England dates to 2003, when the Northern Ford Premiership was split into National League One and National League Two. In 2009 the league names were changed to the Championship and Championship 1, with the latter being rechristened League 1 in 2015.

History

1902–1973: Establishment and regular competition

Second division rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom have been played at various times since 1902, and have been in place annually since 1973. When Super League began in 1996, the second division continued to operate a system of promotion and relegation with the new competition. In 1999 the second-tier competition below the Super League was renamed the Northern Ford Premiership (NFP) when Northern Ford Dealers acquired the naming rights.

2002–2008: National Leagues

In 2003, the NFP was re-organised into National Leagues One and Two. Teams that finished in the top ten league positions of the 2002 Northern Ford Premiership joined National League One and the bottom eight joined National League Two. They were joined by London Skolars from the Rugby League Conference, who entered National League Two, and York City Knights, who replaced the defunct York Wasps (who had folded mid-season in 2002) and also joined National League Two in 2003, creating two ten-team leagues which operated a system of promotion and relegation between themselves while also maintaining the promotion and relegation between National League One and Super League. At the same time, National League Three was created with teams from the Rugby League Conference and from the British Amateur Rugby League Association amateur leagues. It was intended that there would be promotion and relegation between National League Two and National League Three when League Three became more established, however this never eventuated.

The record crowd for a club game at this level of competition was set in 2008 at the Stobart Stadium when Widnes Vikings defeated Salford City Reds 20–18 in front of 8,189. The crowd record for regular season attendance was also broken in 2008 with an average of 2,205 spectators at each game.

2009–2014: The Championship and licensing

In 2009 the league was rebranded from National League One to The Championship and the system of automatic promotion and relegation with Super League was scrapped and replaced by a licensing system which saw clubs awarded a Super League place based on their facilities, finances and overall strength over a three-year period. In this way Salford City Reds and Celtic Crusaders were awarded places in an expanded 14-team Super League competition beginning in 2009 (although both these clubs contested the 2008 National League 1 Grand Final and so would have also been promoted under the previous automatic system).

A play-off structure was used to determine the winners of the Championship. Two teams were relegated from the Championship (except in 2012), being replaced by the team finishing top of Championship 1 and the winner of a play-off structure involving the six teams finishing behind the league leaders in Championship 1. The Championship play-offs would be followed by the Championship Grand Final to decide who were the champions.

First licensing period

From 2009 through 2011 two teams were relegated from the Championship to Championship 1. At the end of the three-year period, Widnes Vikings were promoted via the licensing system to replace Crusaders for the 2012 Super League season.

Second licensing period

In 2012, the Championship was expanded to 14 teams to accommodate an expansion of Championship 1.

2015–Present: Super 8s

Main article: Rugby League Super 8s

In 2013, Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs in the competition to 12 and return to an amended system of promotion and relegation with a 12-club Championship competition. These changes came into effect for the 2015 season.[1]

Under the amended structure, the 12 Super League and 12 Championship clubs play a regular season of 23 rounds, including a Magic Weekend for both divisions. Following the conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs then compete in a play-off series where they split into 3 divisions of 8 based upon league position:[2][3]

Clubs

Championship clubs
Colours Club Established City Stadium Capacity*
 Batley Bulldogs 1880 Batley, West Yorkshire Fox's Biscuits Stadium 7,500
 Bradford Bulls 1907 Bradford, West Yorkshire Provident Stadium 27,491
 Dewsbury Rams 1898 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire Tetleys Stadium 5,800
 Featherstone Rovers 1902 Featherstone, West Yorkshire Bigfellas Stadium 8,000
 Halifax 1873 Halifax, West Yorkshire The Mbi Shay 14,000
 Leigh Centurions 1878 Leigh, Greater Manchester Leigh Sports Village 11,000
 London Broncos 1980 Ealing, London Trailfinders Sports Ground 3,176
 Oldham Roughyeds 1876 Stalybridge, Greater Manchester Bower Fold 6,500
 Sheffield Eagles 1984 Sheffield, South Yorkshire Bawtry Road 3,000
 Swinton Lions 1866 Sale, Greater Manchester Heywood Road 5,400
 Whitehaven 1948 Whitehaven, Cumbria Recreation Ground 7,500
 Workington Town 1945 Workington, Cumbria Zebra Claims Stadium 10,000

Structure

Regular season

The 12 teams compete in the Championship. They play each other once home and away interrupted by the Summer Bash. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. After the 23 rounds the top four teams play the bottom four teams in the Super League in the Qualifiers. The bottom eight teams play each other for the Championship Shield.

Summer Bash

Main article: The Summer Bash

In 2015 the Championship staged its own Magic Weekend held at Bloomfield Road where all 12 Championship clubs play an extra round usually against a rival.[4]

Stadium Location Country Highest attendance Average attendance
Bloomfield RoadBlackpoolEngland8,6507,000

Super 8s

Main article: The Qualifiers

The Qualifiers Super 8s sees the bottom 4 teams from the original Super League table mixed with the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals are reset to 0 and each team plays 7 games each, playing every other team once. After 7 games each the teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will gain qualification to the next years Super League season. the teams finishing 4th and 5th will play in the "Million Pound Game" at the home of the 4th place team. This one game fixture will see the winner earn a place in the next year Super League season, whilst the loser, along with teams finishing 6th, 7th and 8th will be relegated to the next years Championship competition.

Position Qualification
1 Super League Place
2 Super League Place
3 Super League Place
4 Million Pound Game
5 Million Pound Game
6 Championship Place
7 Championship Place
8 Championship Place
Main article: Championship Shield

The remaining 8 teams in the Championship who do not make the top 8 will carry the points they earn in the regular season forward and play each other once more. The top four teams will then enter a playoff for the Championship Shield. The bottom 2 teams will then be relegated to League 1.

Position Qualification
1 Play-off Place
2 Play-off Place
3 Play-off Place
4 Play-off Place
5 Unable to Qualify for Play-offs
6 Unable to Qualify for Play-offs
7 Relegated
8 Relegated

Results

See also Rugby Football League Championship Second Division for winners of the old Second Division.

2003–2008

Season Winners Promoted Relegated Relegated from Super League
2003
Salford
Salford
Dewsbury
Halifax
2004
Leigh
Leigh
Keighley
Castleford
2005
Whitehaven
Castleford
Barrow
Featherstone Rovers
Widnes
Leigh
2006
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers
Oldham
York
Castleford
2007
Castleford
Castleford
Rochdale Hornets
Doncaster
Salford
2008
Salford
Salford
Crusaders
Dewsbury
 N/A

2009–2014

Season Grand Final Winners League Leaders Successful Super League Applicant Relegated from Super League Relegated
2009
Barrow
Barrow
 N/A N/A
Doncaster
Newcastle
2010
Halifax
Featherstone Rovers
Keighley
Whitehaven
2011
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Widnes
Barrow
Toulouse
2012
Sheffield Eagles
Featherstone Rovers
 N/A N/A
2013
Sheffield Eagles
Featherstone Rovers
York
Hunslet
2014
Leigh
Leigh
Bradford
London
Barrow
Swinton
Rochdale Hornets
North Wales
Keighley

2015-Onwards

Season Champions Promoted Relegated Championship Shield Winner Relegated from Super League
2015
Leigh
 N/A
Doncaster
Hunslet
Featherstone Rovers
N/A
2016 TBD 0–4 Teams 2 Teams TBD 0–4 Teams

Winners

Club Wins Winning years
1
Leigh
3 2004, 2014, 2015
2
Salford
2 2003, 2008
3
Sheffield Eagles
2 2012, 2013
4
Whitehaven
1 2005
5
Hull Kingston Rovers
1 2006
6
Castleford
1 2007
7
Barrow
1 2009
8
Halifax
1 2010
9
Featherstone Rovers
1 2011

Sponsor

The Championship has had four sponsors since 1995. Between 2003 and 2008 it was called the LHF Healthplan National League 1 before it was renamed the Championship in 2009 and sponsored by Cooperative.

Period Sponsor Name
1995-2002 Northern Ford Dealership Northern Ford Premiership
2003–2008 LHF Healthplan LHF Healthplan National League 1
2009–2012 Cooperative Group Cooperative Championship
2013–2017 Kingstone Press Cider Kingstone Press Championship

Media

TV

Sky Sports and Premier Sports shared the TV rights to the Championship between 2008 to 2012. After Sky only showed the Championship and Championship 1 Grand Finals while games were broadcast on Premier Sports until 2013. There was no TV coverage in the Championship in 2014. In 2015 Sky Sports won the rights to show the Championship including The Summer Bash, Championship Shield and The Qualifiers in a seven-year deal.

Period Broadcaster
2008–2011 Sky Sports
Premier Sports
2012–2013 Premier Sports
2014 Sky Sports
(Grand Final Only)
2015–2021 Sky Sports

Radio

Regional radio stations have coverage of the Championship clubs but mostly only cover Super League clubs in the same area and give updates of Championship scores and results.

Academies

Reserve League

In 2014 and 2015 Super League clubs were unhappy with the Dual registration system and wanted to form a Under 23 reserve leagues between the Under 19s and 1st team. Wigan, Warrington and St Helens were the first teams to propose the return of the reserve league where players could move from the under 19s and play with professional players before playing in the 1st team. A reserve league was set up in 2016 with a mixture of Super League, Championship and League 1 teams.

Dual registration

Clubs in both the Super League and the Championships benefit from the new dual registration system which was introduced for the 2013 season.[5] The new system is intended to complement the existing player loan system.

Dual registration refers to an arrangement between clubs whereby a player continues to be registered to his current Super League club and is also registered to play for a club in the Championship. The system is aimed at young Super League players who are thought to be not quite ready to make the step up to ‘week in, week out’ Super League first team duties but for whom first team match experience is likely to be beneficial for their development.

Match officials

Main article: RFL Match officials

All rugby league matches are governed by the laws set out by the RFL; these laws are enforced by match officials. Former Super League and International Referee Steve Ganson is the current Acting Head of the Match Officials Department and Technical Director. Former Hull player and Huddersfield Head Coach Jon Sharp was the previous Head of the Match Officials Department of the RFL. Sharp was sacked in July 2015 and took up the role of Head Coach at Featherstone Rovers. He assumed his role at the RFL following Stuart Cummings' departure in March 2013 having previously held the role of Match Officials Coach & Technical Director.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Super League to become a 12-team competition from 2015. Superleague.co.uk (11 July 2013). Retrieved on 20 August 2013.
  2. ↑ http://media.therfl.co.uk/docs/Policy%20Review%20-%20September%202013.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-league/25780498
  4. ↑ BBC Sport (19 May 2005). "Super League set for 2009 changes". BBC. Retrieved 18 July 2008.
  5. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/feb/09/super-league-championship-dual-registration

External links

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