Date | R | Home v Away | - |
---|---|---|---|
05/18 14:00 | 8 | 툴루즈 올림픽 13 v 배로우 보더 레이더즈 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | 위드네스 바이킹즈 v 화이트헤이븐 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | 듀스베리 램즈 v 페테르스톤 로버즈 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | Doncaster v 바틀레이 불독스 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | 브래드포드 불즈 v 셰필즈 이글즈 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | 요크 시티 v 핼리팩스 팬더즈 | View |
05/19 14:00 | 8 | 웨이크필드 v 스윈턴 라이언즈 | View |
05/24 18:30 | 9 | 셰필즈 이글즈 v 듀스베리 램즈 | View |
05/25 17:00 | 9 | 툴루즈 올림픽 13 v 위드네스 바이킹즈 | View |
05/26 14:00 | 9 | 핼리팩스 팬더즈 v Doncaster | View |
05/26 14:00 | 9 | 배로우 보더 레이더즈 v 페테르스톤 로버즈 | View |
05/26 14:00 | 9 | 바틀레이 불독스 v 브래드포드 불즈 | View |
05/26 14:00 | 9 | 스윈턴 라이언즈 v 요크 시티 | View |
05/26 14:00 | 9 | 화이트헤이븐 v 웨이크필드 | View |
05/31 19:00 | 10 | 웨이크필드 v 듀스베리 램즈 | View |
06/01 17:00 | 10 | 핼리팩스 팬더즈 v 툴루즈 올림픽 13 | View |
06/02 14:00 | 10 | 브래드포드 불즈 v 배로우 보더 레이더즈 | View |
06/02 14:00 | 10 | Doncaster v 화이트헤이븐 | View |
06/02 14:00 | 10 | 바틀레이 불독스 v 셰필즈 이글즈 | View |
06/02 14:00 | 10 | 페테르스톤 로버즈 v 스윈턴 라이언즈 | View |
06/02 14:00 | 10 | 요크 시티 v 위드네스 바이킹즈 | View |
06/15 17:00 | 11 | 배로우 보더 레이더즈 v 핼리팩스 팬더즈 | View |
06/15 17:00 | 11 | 툴루즈 올림픽 13 v Doncaster | View |
06/16 14:00 | 11 | 셰필즈 이글즈 v 페테르스톤 로버즈 | View |
06/16 14:00 | 11 | 화이트헤이븐 v 브래드포드 불즈 | View |
06/16 14:00 | 11 | 스윈턴 라이언즈 v 바틀레이 불독스 | View |
06/16 14:00 | 11 | 듀스베리 램즈 v 요크 시티 | View |
06/16 14:00 | 11 | 위드네스 바이킹즈 v 웨이크필드 | View |
06/22 14:00 | 12 | 바틀레이 불독스 v 툴루즈 올림픽 13 | View |
06/23 14:00 | 12 | 페테르스톤 로버즈 v 요크 시티 | View |
The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain after the Super League.
Introduced in 2003 as National League One, it replaced the existing Second Division. It was rebranded as the Championship in 2009.
The league consists of 14 teams, with the winner decided by a playoff and relegation to League One. The current champions are London Broncos, winners of the 2023 season after beating Toulouse Olympique in the Championship Grand Final to win promotion to Super League 2024.
Second division rugby league competitions 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.
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.
In 2009 Super League was expanded to 14 teams, with two additional teams being promoted from National League One. In turn, two additional teams were promoted from National League Two to National League One at the end of the 2008 season, reducing the number of teams in National League Two to 10. National Leagues One and Two were then rebranded as the Championship and Championship 1 respectively, with the change being implemented in time for the 2009 season. Championship 1 was later rebranded to League 1. During this period, a system of licensing was put in place which meant there was no automatic system of promotion and relegation between the Championship and Super League, although promotion and relegation continued between the Championship and League 1. Widnes Vikings were promoted to Super League from the Championship via the licensing system in 2011.
The record crowd for a club game at this level of competition was set in 2017 at KCOM Craven Park for the opening fixture of the season between Hull Kingston Rovers and Bradford Bulls with Rovers winning 54–24 in front of a crowd of 8,817. The crowd record for regular season attendance was also broken in 2008 with an average of 2,205 spectators at each game.
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.
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:
This section does not cite any sources.(September 2018) |
On 14 September 2018, an EGM was called to discuss the future of the sport and a change in structure, as the clubs were in favour of scrapping the Super 8s in favour of a more conventional structure. Two proposals were put forward: one by Super League and one by the Championship and League 1;
Super League proposal: The Super League proposed staying with 12 teams who play each other home and away plus Magic Weekend and 6 loop fixtures (29 games). They also proposed a return to a top-5 playoff and the 12th placed team being relegated.
Championship & League 1 proposal: The alternative proposal was that Super League would expand to 14 clubs playing 29 games ending with a top-5 playoff. The team finishing 14th would be relegated and 13th would play 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship in a relegation playoff.
After a vote, the Super League proposal was voted through was implemented for the 2019 season. The Championship clubs then voted for a top 5 playoff being used to decide which team will be promoted to Super League.