The Championship, known as the
Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
competition.
It is the
second-tier competition organised by the
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
, the governing body for the sport in England, and consists of 14 teams, with promotion to the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
and relegation to the third-tier competition,
League One. The league announced a two-year sponsorship deal with the bookmaking company
Betfred ahead of the
2018 season. The current champions are
Leigh Centurions
The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League.
The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...
, winners of the 2022 season after beating
Batley Bulldogs in the
Million Pound Game
Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...
to win promotion to Super League 2023.
From 2003 to 2009, the competition was known as National League One.
History
1902–1973: Establishment and regular competition
Second division rugby league competitions have been played at various times since 1902, and have been in place annually since 1973. When
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
began in 1996, the second division continued to operate a system of
promotion and relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
with the new competition. In 1999, the second-tier competition below the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
was renamed the
Northern Ford Premiership
The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003.
During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...
(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
The 2002 Northern Ford Premiership season was the second tier of British rugby league during the 2002 season. The competition began with nineteen teams, but York Wasps folded early in the season. Huddersfield Giants winning the Grand Final. This w ...
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
The York Wasps (known simply as York from 1868 to 1989, Ryedale-York from 1989 to 1996 and York Wasps from 1996 to 2002) was an English professional rugby league club based in York. At the start of the 2002 season, the club was dissolved. A ne ...
(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.
2009–2014: Championship
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.
2015–2018: 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.
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:
*The bottom 4 Super League clubs and the top 4 Championship clubs compete in
The Qualifiers. They play each other once (either home or away) to determine which four of the clubs will compete in Super League the following year.
*The remaining (bottom 8) Championship clubs compete for the
Championship Shield and to avoid relegation to
League 1. Two clubs will be relegated each year.
2019–onwards: Return of playoffs
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.
Clubs
*''Seat capacity for other sports, concerts and events may differ.''
Structure
Regular season
The 14 teams compete in the Championship. They play each other once home and away interrupted by the
Summer Bash
The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league. It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015.
Concept ...
. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. At the end of the season the bottom two teams are relegated and the top 5 take part in the playoffs.
Summer Bash
In 2015 the Championship staged its own
Magic Weekend held at
Bloomfield Road where all 14 Championship clubs play an extra round usually against a rival.
Play-offs
The current play-off system was previously used between 2003 and 2006 and is used by the Super League.
Results
The champions of the Championship, and the team promoted to the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
(except during the licensing period), is 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
RFL Championship Leaders' Shield
The RFL Championship Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Championship in the sport of rugby league football. Currently the Shield is awarded to the team finishing top of the Championship at the end of the r ...
. 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.
Winners
Sponsor
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:
The official
rugby ball supplier is
Steeden
Steeden Sports is an Australian sports equipment manufacturing company, mainly focused on rugby league. The company is mostly known for its rugby league footballs. Steeden was established in Queensland in 1958, when twins Eric and Raymond Steeden ...
.
Media
TV
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
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
The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league. It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015.
Concep ...
,
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 will 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
*Only Super League players can be dual registered and the receiving club must be a club in the Championships, meaning that Super League to Super League club dual registrations are not available.
*A dual registered player will be eligible to play and train with both clubs in a format agreed between the clubs, subject to registration, salary cap and competition eligibility rules.
*The player is restricted to playing in one fixture per scheduled round of fixtures in any given week and would not be eligible to play for his Super League club on a Thursday and in a Championship fixture at the weekend, for example.
*A receiving club will be limited to a total of five dual registered players per matchday squad.
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
Steve Ganson (born 4 January 1970 in St. Helens, Lancashire, England) is a former rugby league referee, and current Head of Match Officials and Technical Director with the English Rugby Football League. He is the second professional referee fr ...
is the current Head of the Match Officials Department and Technical Director.
See also
*
British rugby league system
The British rugby league system is based on a five-tier structure administered by the Rugby Football League.
There is no system of automatic promotion and relegation between all five tiers although teams have moved between them in the past. Since ...
*
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
*
Rugby League Conference
*
Northern Ford Premiership
The Rugby Football League Championship Second Division was founded in 1902 and was the second tier of professional rugby league in the UK until 2003.
During the 1990s a third division was established and there is automatic promotion between ...
*
Championship Cup
The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
*
Rugby League Reserve Team Championship The Rugby League Reserve Team Championship is a rugby league competition for the reserve teams of the British-based Super League clubs. Having a reserve team is a compulsory part of the minimum criteria to hold a Super League licence, but Catalans D ...
*
List of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom
This article features a listing of all professional sports teams based in the United Kingdom, in addition to teams from other countries that compete in professional leagues featuring teams from the United Kingdom.
Football Premier League
EFL ...
Notes
References
External links
Official Championship websiteRFL Championship coverageScores from Sky SportsRugbyLeague.org Championship Fans Forums
{{Rugby League in Canada
1996 establishments in Europe
Sports leagues established in 1996
European rugby league competitions
Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom
Rugby Football League Championship
Professional sports leagues in the United Kingdom
Professional sports leagues in France
Professional sports leagues in Canada
Multi-national professional sports leagues