The Harry Jepson Trophy is a

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 contested by teams from successor leagues to the

Rugby League Conference The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, ...

. It is named after

Harry Jepson Harry Jepson (4 February 1920 – 29 August 2016) was an English rugby league administrator and president of Leeds Rhinos. Early life Born in Hunslet, Leeds, Jepson was educated at Cockburn High School and subsequently worked for Leeds City C ...

History

The Harry Jepson trophy was first contested in 1997 by members of the then Southern Conference. The conference was renamed the Rugby League Conference in 1998 and it began to expand from its initial base in the

South of England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

and the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. The winners of the various regional divisions would enter a play-off system culminating in a Grand Final for the trophy. In 2005, the Conference changed structure with the formation of Premier Divisions for the stronger teams, the Harry Jepson trophy was then competed for by the winners of the Premier divisions with the regional division winners playing-off for the RLC Regional trophy. In 2012, the national Conference was replaced by locally administered regional leagues but the Harry Jepson trophy continued to be contested by teams in some of these new regional leagues.

2012 structure

The winners of the Scottish Conference League Premier Division, the

North East Rugby League The North East Rugby League Premier Divisions is the top league in a 2 division structure in rugby league's tier 4. It is competed for by teams in the North East of England, Cumbria and North Yorkshire though in the past occasionally teams from W ...

Premier Division, the

Midlands Rugby League The Midlands Rugby League Premier Division is the highest level of amateur rugby league in the English Midlands. It was previously the Midlands Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. Many of the clubs run juniors in the Midlands Junio ...

Premier Division, the London & South East Men's League, the

West of England West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan N ...

, the South Premier and the East Rugby League played-off in a knock-out tournament that ended in a Grand Final.

Past winners

* 1997 North London Skolars * 1998 Crawley Jets * 1999

Chester Wolves Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

* 2000 Crawley Jets * 2001 Teesside Steelers * 2002

Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club jointly based in Birmingham and Coventry, West Midlands, England. They were founded as the Coventry Bears in 1998 and entered the third tier of the British rugby league system, ...

* 2003

Bridgend Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known as Bridgend Blue Bulls RLFC between 2003 and 2012) are a rugby league side based in Pyle, Wales. They play in the Welsh Premier of the Rugby League Conference. They are the most successful amateur rugby league team in Wal ...

* 2004

Widnes Saints Widnes Saints are a rugby league team based in Widnes, Cheshire. They play in the North West Premier Division of the Rugby League Conference. History Widnes Saints were formed in 2004 operating from the Widnes St Maries premises. The club joi ...

* 2005

* 2006

South London Storm South London Storm is a rugby league club who play and train at Archbishop Lanfranc School in the London Borough of Croydon, they currently compete in the London and South East Merit League. Founded in 1997, Storm have been voted Rugby League ...

* 2007

St Albans Centurions The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans. Founded in 1996, they first played in various loca ...

* 2008 Nottingham Outlaws * 2009

West London Sharks West London Sharks RLFC was a rugby league team based in Chiswick, London. West London Sharks are now playing at Chiswick RFU, Dukes Meadow, in Chiswick under the name of South West London Chargers. They compete in the South Premier Division of t ...

* 2010

* 2011

Parkside Hawks Parkside Hawks was a rugby league team based in Hunslet, Leeds. They played in the Rugby League Conference Yorkshire Premier, Yorkshire division of the Rugby League Conference. History Parkside Hawks were formed in 2009 as a joint venture betwe ...

* 2012

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

A * 2013

South West London Chargers London Chargers R.L.F.C. are a rugby league side based in South West London who currently (2022) compete in the Southern Conference League, a tier 4 competition. They were known as the South West London Chargers up until November 2015. They ...

* 2014

* 2015

* 2016

Wests Warriors Wests may refer to: *Wests (drink), a New Zealand beverage manufacturer *Wests Panthers, an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane Western Suburbs *Wests Tigers, an Australian rugby league team in the NRL, from Inner West and West ...

*2017

London & South East London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

(Played as a regional representative competition.

References

{{reflist Rugby League Conference Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom

History

2012 structure

Past winners

See also

References