| Sport: | Rugby league |
| Confed: | RFL BARLA |
| Founded: | (as BARLA National League) |
| Divisions: | Premier Division Division One Division Two Division Three |
| Teams: | 49 |
| Levels: | 4 |
| Domestic Cup: | Challenge Cup Conference Challenge Trophy BARLA National Cup |
| Tv: | ouRLeague |
| Current Season: | 2024 National Conference League |
The National Conference League (often abbreviated to the NCL) is an amateur rugby league competition in Great Britain. The competition is one of two fourth tier competitions in British rugby league and operates for amateur clubs based based in the sport's heartlands of Northern England.
The competition began in 1986 and was run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA). In 2012, the competition moved summer season in line with the professional game.[1] It is currently jointly run by BARLA and the Rugby Football League.
See main article: History of the National Conference League.
The league was founded as the BARLA National League for the 1986–87 season with 10 teams: Dudley Hill, Egremont Rangers, Heworth, Leigh Miners Welfare (now Leigh Miners Rangers), Milford Marlins, Millom, Pilkington Recs, West Hull, Wigan St Patrick's and Woolston Rovers. The original NCL concept was one team per town.
The league added a second division in 1989, and expanded to three divisions (now named premier, first and second as opposed to first and second) along with a rebrand to the current name of National Conference League in 1993.
The NCL move to a summer season. A reorganisation by the RFL resulted Rugby League Conference National Division becoming a new NCL 3rd division. This became the Southern Conference League in 2013, the second of the two fourth division leagues.
The National Conference League consists of four divisions. Teams can be promoted and relegated through all four divisions, and teams can also be relegated from Division Three into the regional leagues. For the 2018 season, there are three divisions of 12 teams, whilst the bottom tier consists of 13 teams.
Although it is considered the tier below League 1, teams are not promoted and relegated between the amateur NCL and the professional game, although NCL teams the Challenge Cup.
| Level | League(s)/Division(s) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Premier Division 12 clubs – 3 relegations | ||||||
| 2 | Division One 12 clubs – 3 promotions, 3 relegations | ||||||
| 3 | Division Two 12 clubs – 3 promotions, 3 relegations | ||||||
| 4 | Division Three 13 clubs – 3 promotions, bottom 2 clubs seek re-election | ||||||
The Premier Division play-offs follows a similar structure to that in the professional game. The Champions are decided in a top six play-off competition. In week 1 of the play-offs, the teams placed 3rd and 6th play each other as do the teams paced 4th and 5th, the winners qualify for the Elimination Semi-Final. In week 2 of the pay-offs, the teams that finished the regular season 1st and second play each other in the Qualifying Semi-Final and takes place on the same weekend. The winner of the Qualifying Semi-Final progresses to the Grand Final while the loser has another opportunity to get to the Grand Final by playing the winners of the Elimination Semi-Final in Week 3 of the play-offs.
The Division One, Division Two and Division Three play-offs are contested by the teams that finished 3rd to 6th during the regular season. The top two teams are promoted automatically. These Play-offs are straightforward knock-out competitions composed of two Semi-Finals, between the teams finishing 3rd and 6th in one and those that finished 4th and 5th on the other, before the winners contest the Final a week later. The winner of the Final is promoted.
| Premier Division | Division One | Division Two | Division Three |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egremont Rangers | Clock Face Miners | Barrow Island | Bentley |
| Heworth | Crosfields | Dewsbury Celtic | Beverley |
| Hunslet | Dewsbury Moor Maroons | Ellenborough | Distington |
| Kells | Hull Dockers | Millom | Drighlington |
| Lock Lane | Ince Rose Bridge | Myton Warriors | East Leeds |
| Rochdale Mayfield | Normanton Knights | Eastmoor Dragons | |
| Siddal | Oulton Raiders | Oldham St Annes | Featherstone Lions |
| Thatto Heath Crusaders | Skirlaugh | ||
| Wath Brow Hornets | Stanningley | Saddleworth Rangers | Leigh East |
| West Bowling | Waterhead Warriors | Shaw Cross Sharks | Milford |
| West Hull | Wigan St Patricks | Thornhill Trojans | Seaton Rangers |
| York Acorn | Woolston Rovers | Wigan St Judes | |
| PREMIER DIVISION | |||
| Club | Wins | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Hull | 9 | 1988–89, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2013, 2014, 2019 |
| 2 | Siddal | 5 | 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2016, 2017 |
| 3 | Woolston Rovers | 3 | 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 |
| 4 | Leigh East | 2 | 1990–91, 2009–10 |
| Leigh Miners Rangers | 2004–05, 2015 | ||
| Hunslet Club Parkside | 2018, 2022 | ||
| 5 | Thatto Heath Crusaders | 1 | 2010–11 |
| Wath Brow Hornets | 2012 | ||
| Heworth | 1986–87 | ||
| Milford Marlins | 1987–88 | ||
| Bradford Dudley Hill | 1989–90 | ||
| Wigan St Patricks | 1991–92 | ||
| Saddleworth Rangers | 1992–93 | ||
| Egremont Rangers | 1997–98 | ||
| Oulton Raiders | 2005–06 | ||
| Skirlaugh | 2006–07 | ||
| East Hull | 2007–08 | ||
| Hunslet ARLFC | 2023 | ||
| DIVISION ONE | |||
| Club | Wins | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oulton Raiders | 3 | 2005–06, 2010–11, 2014 |
| 2 | West Hull | 2 | 1991–92, 2005–06 |
| Rochdale Mayfield | 1992–93, 2006–07 | ||
| Thatto Heath Crusaders | 2002–03, 2016 | ||
| Wath Brow Hornets | 2003–04, 2008–09 | ||
| Kells | 2015, 2022 | ||
| 3 | Saddleworth Rangers | 1 | 1989–90 |
| Barrow | 1990–91 | ||
| Heworth | 1993–94 | ||
| Millom | 1994–95 | ||
| Beverley | 1995–96 | ||
| Askam | 1996–97 | ||
| Skirlaugh | 1997–98 | ||
| Redhill | 1998–99 | ||
| Leigh East | 2000–01 | ||
| West Bowling | 2001–02 | ||
| Shaw Cross Sharks | 2004–05 | ||
| West Hull | 2005–06 | ||
| Wigan St Judes | 2007–08 | ||
| Egremont Rangers | 2012 | ||
| East Leeds | 2013 | ||
| Hunslet Club Parkside | 2017 | ||
| Thornhill Trojans | 2018 | ||
| Pilkington Recs | 2019 | ||
| DIVISION TWO | ||
| Club | Wins | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Eastmoor Dragons | 2 | 1994–95, 1999–00 |
| Millom | 2 | 2007–08, 2015 |
| Oldham St Annes | 1 | 1993–94 |
| Wigan St Judes | 1 | 1995–96 |
| Redhill | 1 | 1996–97 |
| Featherstone Lions | 1 | 1997–98 |
| Ideal Isburgs | 1 | 1998–99 |
| Thatto Heath Crusaders | 1 | 2000–01 |
| Crosfield | 1 | 2001–02 |
| Wath Brow Hornets | 1 | 2002–03 |
| East Hull | 1 | 2003–04 |
| Ince Rose Bridge | 1 | 2004–05 |
| Castleford Panthers | 1 | 2005–06 |
| Waterhead | 1 | 2006–07 |
| Myton Warriors | 1 | 2008–09 |
| Eccles | 1 | 2009–10 |
| Hunslet Warriors | 1 | 2010–11 |
| East Leeds | 1 | 2012 |
| Normanton Knights | 1 | 2013 |
| Kells | 1 | 2014 |
| Hunslet Club Parkside | 1 | 2016 |
| Oulton Raiders | 1 | 2017 |
| Stanningley | 1 | 2018 |
| West Bowling | 1 | 2019 |
| Heworth | 1 | 2022 |
| DIVISION THREE | |||
| Club | Wins | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemel Stags | 1 | 2012 | |
| Kells | 1 | 2013 | |
| Featherstone Lions | 1 | 2014 | |
| Hunslet Club Parkside | 1 | 2015 | |
| Crosfield | 1 | 2016 | |
| West Bowling | 1 | 2017 | |
| Beverley | 1 | 2018 | |
| Woolston Rovers | 1 | 2019 | |
| East Leeds | 1 | 2022 |