| Championship | |
| Current Season: | 2024 RFL Championship |
| Sport: | Rugby league |
| Country: | |
| Teams: | 14 |
| Relegation: | League One |
| Levels: | 2 |
| Domestic Cup: | Challenge Cup 1895 Cup |
| Champions: | London Broncos (1st title) |
| Most Champs: | Leigh Leopards (5 titles) |
| Tv: | |
| Website: | Championship |
The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League.[2]
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.
See 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.[3]
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:[4]
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.
| Championship clubs | ||||||
| Colours | Club | Established | Location | Stadium | Capacity* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow Raiders | 1875 | Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria | Craven Park | 6,000 | ||
| Batley Bulldogs | 1880 | Batley, West Yorkshire | 7,500 | |||
| Bradford Bulls | 1907 | Bradford, West Yorkshire | Odsal Stadium | 22,739 | ||
| Dewsbury Rams | 1898 | Dewsbury, West Yorkshire | Crown Flatt | 5,800 | ||
| Doncaster | 1951 | Doncaster, South Yorkshire | Eco Power Stadium | 15,231 | ||
| Featherstone Rovers | 1902 | Featherstone, West Yorkshire | Post Office Road | 8,000 | ||
| Halifax Panthers | 1873 | Halifax, West Yorkshire | The Shay | 14,000 | ||
| Sheffield Eagles | 1984 | Sheffield, South Yorkshire | Olympic Legacy Stadium | 3,000 | ||
| Swinton Lions | 1866 | Sale, Greater Manchester | Heywood Road | 3,387 | ||
| Toulouse Olympique | 1937 | Toulouse, Haute-Garonne | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 19,500 | ||
| Wakefield Trinity | 1873 | Wakefield, West Yorkshire | Belle Vue | 9,333 | ||
| Whitehaven | 1948 | Whitehaven, Cumbria | Recreation Ground | 7,500 | ||
| Widnes Vikings | 1875 | Widnes, Cheshire | Halton Stadium | 13,500 | ||
| York Knights | 2002 | York, North Yorkshire | York Community Stadium | 8,008 | ||
There are 14 clubs in the Championship. During the course of the season (usually from February to September) each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at their opponents. Altogether clubs play 26 games.
Teams receive two points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.
Teams are ranked by competition points, points difference (points scored less points conceded), points scored. The team finishing top after 26 games is awarded the League Leaders Shield while the two bottom teams are relegated to the League One
The play-offs have had various formats. Currently once every club has played 26 games, the top six teams qualify for the playoffs.
Round one sees 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th. The winners then progress to the semi finals where the teams finishing 1st and 2nd enter. The two winners of the semi-finals meet in the Grand Final.
See main article: Championship Grand Final.
See also: RFL Championship Leaders' Shield.
The champions of the Championship are determined by a playoff series at the end of the regular season. The team at the top of the league table at the end of regular season is awarded the League Leaders’ Shield. This has been the case for all but the four seasons of the Super 8s era where the league leaders were declared Champions and promotion was determined by The Qualifiers.
| width=1% | Year | width=10% | Champions | width=5% | Score | width=10% | Runners up | width=10% | Relegated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Salford | 31–14 | Leigh | Dewsbury | |||||
| 2004 | Leigh | 32–16 | Whitehaven | Keighley | |||||
| 2005 | Castleford | 36–8 | Whitehaven | Barrow Featherstone | |||||
| 2006 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 29–16 | Widnes | Oldham York | |||||
| 2007 | Castleford | 42–10 | Widnes | Rochdale Doncaster | |||||
| 2008 | Salford | 36–18 | Crusaders | Dewsbury | |||||
| 2009 | Barrow | 26–18 | Halifax | Doncaster Gateshead | |||||
| 2010 | Halifax | 23–22 | Featherstone | Keighley Whitehaven | |||||
| 2011 | Featherstone | 40–4 | Sheffield | Barrow Toulouse | |||||
| 2012 | Sheffield | 20–16 | Featherstone | None | |||||
| 2013 | Sheffield | 19–12 | Batley | York Hunslet | |||||
| 2014 | Leigh | 36–12 | Featherstone | Barrow Swinton Rochdale, North Wales Keighley | |||||
| 2015 | Leigh | N/A | Bradford | Doncaster Hunslet | |||||
| 2016 | Leigh | London | Workington Whitehaven | ||||||
| 2017 | Hull Kingston Rovers | London | Oldham Bradford | ||||||
| 2018 | Toronto | London | None | ||||||
| 2019 | Toronto | 24–6 | Featherstone | Barrow Rochdale | |||||
| 2020 | colspan=4. Leigh elevated to Super League | ||||||||
| 2021 | Toulouse | 34–12 | Featherstone | Oldham Swinton | |||||
| 2022 | Leigh | 44–12 | Batley | Dewsbury Workington | |||||
| 2023 | London | 18-14 | Toulouse | Keighley Newcastle |
| Club | Wins | runners up | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leigh Leopards | 5 | 1 | 2004, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022 |
| 2 | Sheffield Eagles | 2 | 2012, 2013 | |
| 3 | Salford Red Devils | 0 | 2003, 2008 | |
| Castleford Tigers | 2005, 2007 | |||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 2006, 2017 | |||
| Toronto Wolfpack | 2018, 2019 | |||
| 4 | Featherstone Rovers | 1 | 5 | 2011 |
| 5 | London Broncos | 3 | 2023 | |
| 6 | Halifax Panthers | 1 | 2010 | |
| Toulouse Olympique | 2021 | |||
| 7 | Barrow Raiders | 0 | 2009 | |
| 8 | Whitehaven | 0 | 2 | - |
| Widnes Vikings | ||||
| Batley Bulldogs | ||||
| 9 | Crusaders | 1 | ||
| Bradford Bulls |
The Championship has been sponsored four times since its inception in 2003. Betfred are the current title sponsor.
The title sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. There have been seven different title sponsors since the league's formation:
| Period | Sponsor | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2008 | Nuffield | LHF Healthplan National League 1 | |
| 2009–2012 | Co-operative Group | Co-operative Championship | |
| 2013–2017 | Kingstone Press Cider | Kingstone Press Championship | |
| 2018–2023 | Betfred | Betfred Championship |
The official rugby ball supplier is Steeden.[5]
| Period | Broadcaster | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–2011 | Sky Sports Premier Sports | |
| 2012–2013 | Premier Sports | |
| 2014 | Sky Sports (Grand Final Only) | |
| 2015–2021 | Sky Sports | |
| 2022 | Premier Sports | |
| 2023 | Viaplay Sports |
Sky Sports and Premier Sports shared the TV rights to the Championship between 2008 and 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 on 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.
A two-year broadcast deal with Premier Sports for 2022 and 2023 was signed at the end of 2021. Premier show a live match every Monday as well as all seven matches from the Summer Bash. The deal also includes the broadcasting rights to play-off matches and the Million Pound Game.[6]
Premier Sports became part of Viaplay late in 2022 and was marketed as Viaplay Sports for the 2023 season.[7]
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.
See main article: RFL Reserve Championship. In 2014 and 2015 Super League clubs were unhappy with the Dual registration system and wanted to form an 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.
Clubs in both the Super League and the Championships benefit from the new dual registration system which was introduced for the 2013 season.[8] 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.
See 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 Head of the Match Officials Department and Technical Director.