Rugby Football League Championship

Not to be confused with the current Rugby League Championship, currently known as the Kingstone Press Championship due to sponsorship by Kingstone Press Cider.

**RFL Championship**
Country	England
Other club(s) from	France
Founded	1895
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Second Division
Domestic cup(s)	Challenge Cup
International cup(s)	World Club Series
Current champions	Leeds Rhinos (10th Tiltle)
Most championships	Wigan Warriors (20 Titles)
TV partners	Sky Sports
Website
Super League XXI

The Rugby Football League Championship was the major professional competition organised by the Rugby Football League in Great Britain. In 1996 it was superseded by the Super League and the Rugby League National Leagues. Winning Super League is still regarded as winning the championship, hence for completeness this article includes championships from the Super League era.

History

1895–1904: Foundations

Main article: History of rugby league

The first season of rugby league (1895–96) saw all the breakaway clubs play in a single league competition. The addition of new teams and the problems of travelling led to the league being split in two for the following season; into the Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League. This arrangement lasted until the 1901–02 season, when the top clubs from each league resigned and formed a single new competition. The following season the remaining clubs in the Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues were re-organised to form a second division.

1905–1970: Restructure

In 1905–06 the two divisions were re-combined into a single competition. Clubs played all the teams in their own county on a home-and-away basis, results counting towards the re-formed Yorkshire and Lancashire Leagues. They also organised inter-county fixtures on an individual basis; all results were collated into a single table for the Championship. In order to even up the competition a top-four play-off series was used to determine the Championship.

Apart from the interventions of the two world wars, this system was retained until the 1962–63 season, when the league briefly returned to a two divisional system. This lasted only two years, and in the 1964–65 season they returned to one large division subdivided into county leagues. The play-offs were expanded to the top 16 teams and the Harry Sunderland Trophy was introduced as the man-of-the-match award for the decider.

1970–1995: Premiership and reintroducing Second Division

In the 1973–74 season they once again went back to two divisions. The play-off and the Yorkshire and Lancashire League were abandoned, and a new play-off type competition, the Premiership, was introduced however the team finishing top of the Championship were crowned champions. During this period in the late 80's and early 90s Wigan dominated both the Championship and Challenge Cup.

1996–present: Super League

In 1996 the championship was replaced by the Super League. The remaining clubs later went on to form the Rugby League Championships.

Champions

Season	Final Information			League Leaders
Season	Champions	Score	Runners-up	League Leaders
1895–96	N/A	N/A	N/A	Manningham
1896–97	County Leagues
1897–98	County Leagues
1898–99	County Leagues
1899–00	County Leagues
1900–01	County Leagues
1901–02	N/A	N/A	N/A	Broughton Rangers
1902–03				Halifax
1903–04				Bradford F.C.
1904–05				Oldham
1905–06				Leigh
1906–07				Halifax
1907–08	Hunslet	12–7	Oldham	Oldham
1908–09	Wigan	7–3	Oldham	Wigan
1909–10	Oldham	13–7	Wigan	Oldham
1910–11	Oldham	20–7	Wigan	Wigan
1911–12	Huddersfield	13–5	Wigan	Huddersfield
1912–13	Huddersfield	29–2	Wigan	Huddersfield
1913–14	Salford	5–3	Huddersfield	Huddersfield
1914–15	Huddersfield	35–2	Leeds	Huddersfield
1918–19	County Leagues
1919–20	Hull	3–2	Huddersfield	Huddersfield
1920–21	Hull	16–14	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Kingston Rovers
1921–22	Wigan	13–2	Oldham	Oldham
1922–23	Hull Kingston Rovers	15–5	Huddersfield	Hull
1923–24	Batley	13–7	Wigan	Wigan
1924–25	Hull Kingston Rovers	9–5	Swinton	Swinton
1925–26	Wigan	22–10	Warrington	Wigan
1926–27	Swinton	13–8	St Helens Recs	St Helens Recs
1927–28	Swinton	11–0	Featherstone Rovers	Swinton
1928–29	Huddersfield	2–0	Leeds	Huddersfield
1929–30	Huddersfield	10–2	Leeds	St Helens
1930–31	Swinton	14–7	Leeds	Swinton
1931–32	St Helens	9–5	Huddersfield	Huddersfield
1932–33	Salford	15–5	Swinton	Salford
1933–34	Wigan	15–3	Salford	Salford
1934–35	Swinton	14–3	Warrington	Swinton
1935–36	Hull	21–2	Widnes	Hull
1936–37	Salford	13–11	Warrington	Salford
1937–38	Hunslet	8–2	Leeds	Hunslet
1938–39	Salford	8–6	Castleford	Salford
1939–40	County Leagues
1940–41	County Leagues
1941–42	N/A	N/A	N/A	Dewsbury
1942–43				Wigan
1943–44				Wakefield Trinity
1944–45				Bradford Northern
1945–46				Wigan
1946–47				Wigan
1947–48	Warrington	15–5	Bradford Northern	Wigan
1948–49	Huddersfield	13–12	Warrington	Warrington
1949–50	Wigan	20–2	Huddersfield	Wigan
1950–51	Workington Town	26–11	Warrington	Warrington
1951–52	Wigan	13–6	Bradford Northern	Bradford Northern
1952–53	St Helens	24–14	Halifax	St Helens
1953–54	Warrington	8–7	Halifax	Halifax
1954–55	Warrington	7–3	Oldham	Warrington
1955–56	Hull	10–9	Halifax	Warrington
1956–57	Oldham	15–14	Hull	Oldham
1957–58	Hull	20–3	Workington Town	Oldham
1958–59	St Helens	44–22	Hunslet	St Helens
1959–60	Wigan	27–3	Wakefield Trinity	St Helens
1960–61	Leeds	25–10	Warrington	Leeds
1961–62	Huddersfield	14–5	Wakefield Trinity	Wigan
1962–63	N/A	N/A	N/A	Swinton
1963–64	N/A	N/A	N/A	Swinton
1964–65	Halifax	15–7	St Helens	St Helens
1965–66	St Helens	35–12	Halifax	St Helens
1966–67	Wakefield Trinity	21–7	St Helens	Leeds
1967–68	Wakefield Trinity	17–10	Hull Kingston Rovers	Leeds
1968–69	Leeds	16–14	Castleford	Leeds
1969–70	St Helens	24–12	Leeds	Leeds
1970–71	St Helens	16–12	Wigan	Wigan
1971–72	Leeds	9–5	St Helens	Leeds
1972–73	Dewsbury	22–13	Leeds	Warrington
1973–74	N/A	N/A	N/A	Salford
1974–75				St Helens
1975–76				Salford
1976–77				Featherstone Rovers
1977–78				Widnes
1978–79				Hull Kingston Rovers
1979–80				Bradford Northern
1980–81				Bradford Northern
1981–82				Leigh
1982–83				Hull
1983–84				Hull Kingston Rovers
1984–85				Hull Kingston Rovers
1985–86				Halifax
1986–87				Wigan
1987–88				Widnes
1988–89				Widnes
1989–90				Wigan
1990–91				Wigan
1991–92				Wigan
1992–93				Wigan
1993–94				Wigan
1994–95				Wigan
1995–96				Wigan
1996				St Helens
1997				Bradford
1998	Wigan	10–4	Leeds	Wigan
1999	St Helens	8–6	Bradford	Bradford
2000	St Helens	29–16	Wigan	Wigan
2001	Bradford	37–6	Wigan	Bradford
2002	St Helens	19–18	Bradford	St Helens
2003	Bradford	25–12	Wigan	Bradford
2004	Leeds	16–8	Bradford	Leeds
2005	Bradford	15–6	Leeds	St Helens
2006	St Helens	26–4	Hull	St Helens
2007	Leeds	33–6	St Helens	St Helens
2008	Leeds	24–16	St Helens	St Helens
2009	Leeds	18–10	St Helens	Leeds
2010	Wigan	22–10	St Helens	Wigan
2011	Leeds	32–16	St Helens	Warrington
2012	Leeds	26–18	Warrington	Wigan
2013	Wigan	30–16	Warrington	Huddersfield
2014	St Helens	14–6	Wigan	St Helens
2015	Leeds	22–20	Wigan	Leeds

Winners

	Club	Wins	Runners up	Winning Years
1	Wigan	20	11	1908/09, 1921/22, 1925/26, 1933/34, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1949/50, 1951/52, 1959/60, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1998, 2010, 2013
2	St. Helens	13	8	1931/32, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1965/66, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014
3	Leeds	10	9	1960/61, 1968/69, 1971/72, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
4	Huddersfield	7	5	1911/12, 1912/13, 1914/15, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1948/49, 1961/62
5	Swinton	6	2	1926/27, 1927/28, 1930/31, 1934/35, 1962/63, 1963/64
6	Salford ^[1]	6	1	1913/14, 1932/33, 1936/37, 1938/39, 1973/74, 1975/76
7	Hull F.C.	6	2	1919/20, 1920/21, 1935/36, 1955/56, 1957/58, 1982/83
8	Bradford	6	5	1979/80, 1980/81, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005
9	Hull KR	5	2	1922/23, 1924/25, 1978/79, 1983/84, 1984/85
10	Oldham	4	4	1904/05, 1909/10, 1910/11, 1956/57
11	Halifax	4	4	1902/03, 1906/07, 1964/65, 1985/86
12	Warrington	3	8	1947/48, 1953/54, 1954/55
13	Widnes	3	1	1977/78, 1987/88, 1988/89
14	Hunslet	2	1	1907/08, 1937/38
15	Wakefield	2	2	1966/67, 1967/68
16	Leigh	2	0	1905/06, 1981/82
17	Broughton Rangers	1	0	1901/02
18	Manningham	1	0	1895/96
19	Bradford FC	1	0	1903/04
20	Batley	1	0	1923/24
21	Workington Town	1	1	1950/51
22	Dewsbury	1	0	1972/73
23	Featherstone Rovers	1	1	1976/77

Note. In the event of a tie, the team that won x amount of titles first is given preference.

Active English RFL Championship droughts

Teams in bold currently compete in the Super League. Titles prior to 1947 include the number of years it was won prior to World War II, and titles won prior to 1919, includes the number of years it was won prior to World War I.

Last English Championship
Seasons	Team	Last Championship	Era
89	Batley Bulldogs	1923-24	RFL Championship
75	Hunslet Hawks	1937-38	RFL Championship
62	Workington Town	1950-51	RFL Championship
59	Warrington Wolves	1954-55	RFL Championship
57	Oldham Roughyeds	1956-57	RFL Championship
54	Huddersfield Giants	1961-62	RFL Championship
52	Swinton Lions	1963-64	RFL Championship
49	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	1967-68	RFL Championship
44	Dewsbury Rams	1972-73	RFL Championship
41	Salford Red Devils	1975-76	RFL Championship
40	Featherstone Rovers	1976-77	RFL Championship
35	Leigh Centurions	1981-82	RFL Championship
34	Hull F.C.	1982-83	RFL Championship
32	Hull KR	1984-85	RFL Championship
31	Halifax RLFC	1985-86	RFL Championship
27	Widnes Vikings	1989-90	RFL Championship
10	Bradford Bulls	2005	Super League
2	Wigan Warriors	2013	Super League
1	St Helens RFC	2014	Super League
0	Leeds Rhinos	2015	Super League

Titles won by region

Region	Number of titles	Clubs
Lancashire	52	Wigan (20), St Helens (13), Salford (6), Swinton (6), Oldham (4), Leigh (2), Broughton Rangers (1)
Yorkshire	47	Leeds (10), Huddersfield (7), Bradford (6), Hull F.C. (6), Hull KR (5), Halifax (4), Hunslet (2), Wakefield Trinity (2), Bradford F.C. (1), Batley (1), Dewsbury (1), Featherstone Rovers (1), Manningham F.C. (1)
Cheshire	6	Warrington (3), Widnes (3)
Cumbria	1	Workington Town (1)

References

↑ "Salford Red Devils: Official Club Website". Salford Red Devils. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

Rugby league in Great Britain and Ireland

Nations and regions	Rugby league in England Rugby league in Ireland Rugby league in Scotland Rugby league in Wales Rugby league in Lancashire Rugby league in Yorkshire

Federations	Rugby Football League BARLA Rugby League Ireland Scotland Rugby League Wales Rugby League

National teams	Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales

Women's national teams	Great Britain England Ireland Scotland Wales

Leagues	Super League Championship League 1 National Conference League Conference League South Yorkshire Men's League Pennine League North West Men's League Cumberland League Midlands Rugby League North East Rugby League South West Rugby League West of England Rugby League East Men's League South Premier London & South East Men's League Scottish Conference League North Wales Conference South Wales Premiership Super 8 RFL Women's Rugby League

Cups	Challenge Cup BARLA National Cup Yorkshire County Cup Lancashire County Cup Cumbria County Cup Cumberland County Cup

Former competitions	RFL Championship Premiership Rugby League Conference Lancs/Yorks Cups Lancs/Yorks League League Cup Charity Shield BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Trans-Pennine Cup Championship Cup

Rugby Football League seasons

Rugby Football League era
(1895–1996)

					1895–96	1896–97	1897–98	1898–99	1899–00
1900–01	1901–02	1902–03	1903–04	1904–05	1905–06	1906–07	1907–08	1908–09	1909–10
1910–11	1911–12	1912–13	1913–14	1914–15	1915–16	1916–17	1917–18	1918–19	1919–20
1920–21	1921–22	1922–23	1923–24	1924–25	1925–26	1926–27	1927–28	1928–29	1929–30
1930–31	1931–32	1932–33	1933–34	1934–35	1935–36	1936–37	1937–38	1938–39	1939–40
1940–41	1941–42	1942–43	1943–44	1944–45	1945–46	1946–47	1947–48	1948–49	1949–50
1950–51	1951–52	1952–53	1953–54	1954–55	1955–56	1956–57	1957–58	1958–59	1959–60
1960–61	1961–62	1962–63	1963–64	1964–65	1965–66	1966–67	1967–68	1968–69	1969–70
1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80
1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90
1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96

Super League era
(1996–present)

					1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016

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